THE EVALUATION ESSAY

This version of the five paragraph essay provides kids with a way to pass judgment. It works well with book reports, film reviews, etc. It follows the same form as the five paragraph essay, but the train of thought is different, more valid, I think, because final judgment is not made until the final paragraph.

The student selects and explains his criteria. Starting with a Topic Sentence that goes something like this: "There are three things I look for in a good adventure book," the student goes on to explain three criteria that he has chosen.

The lesson which introduces this can be fun. Just ask the kids why they like a particular movie or book and help them make a list of possible criteria: characters I can relate to; interesting locales; clever plot elements, suspense, etc. In the opening paragraph, they explain the three criteria in concrete terms.

In each of the three paragraphs, have the student apply his criteria to the book or material in question. Topic Sentences might be along these lines: THE CALL OF THE WILD had a great deal of suspense. The student then fills in three events from the book that he considers suspenseful.

In the case of a negative review, the student can show places where the selected criteria failed to achieve the desired effect--places where things weren't suspenseful enough, or where the plot was unrealistic, or the characters not acting as they've been portrayed.

This paragraph requires final thought from the students. They summarize their results, then come up with a final statement of evaluation. It may be something like this: GONE WITH THE WIND had an interesting historical plot. It had great characters. Suspense was lacking, however. It was a pretty good book, but I wouldn't recommend it to lovers of suspense.

A SAMPLE EVALUATION ESSAY 

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