Understand the difference between narrative arguments
Major Essay 3: Consumer Review of a School or Educational Experience
(900-1200 words not counting Works Cited)
Total Point Value: 100 points
Why you’re doing this: You’re doing this to understand the difference between narrative arguments, which we explored in our last assignment, and evaluative arguments, which you’ll need to create in future writing in your discipline and profession.
What you’re doing: In our everyday lives as consumers, we encounter products, performances, places, and experiences, and we readily make judgments about them. Whether we explain why we liked and/or didn’t like a movie, a play, a book, a meal at a restaurant, a haircut, or the jeans we purchased, we’re generating evaluations just like those that professional reviewers generate. Published reviews base judgments of quality on an array of criteria. For instance, a movie reviewer might see special effects as a criterion by which to judge the quality of a movie; a book reviewer might consider originality of character development; etc. The possible criteria by which to judge a thing’s quality are many, and each reviewer determines the criteria for evaluation. Each reviewer, too, elaborates on judgments with evidence. For this assignment, write a review of a school or an educational experience for the readership of the educational section of a local magazine or newspaper. Inevitably, you’ll also be writing for your classmates, your instructor, and the readers of your e-portfolio, many of whom are area residents who could really benefit from the consumer review you’re writing. Be sure to adhere to genre conventions and guidelines outlined here:
1. Develop a catchy opening that allows you to establish credibility with your audience. How will college students know you’re speaking to them as a credible source? What kind of tone and style will help you connect with your audience?
2. Provide a rhetorical description. Rhetorical descriptions slow down time to paint a vivid picture of what’s being described. They’re rhetorical because they make the audience feel certain emotions that the writer wants them to feel. For instance, if you were doing a restaurant review, take notes about little details of your experience when you visit the restaurant for a meal so that you can get your readers smelling and tasting the food with you through your writing.
3. Explain your perspective on the quality of the object of your review. You might praise the object in ways and critique it in others to show the sophistication of your nuanced perspective. Write in a lively tone and style that brings your perspective to life.
4. Support claims you make about the school’s quality and significance with evidence. Evidence might include quotes from the website or teacher, descriptions of your own observations, and/or the published perspectives of others. Use an array of evidence to make your argument as persuasive as possible.
5. Cite any sources you opt to use according to MLA style. Use at least one online or print source that helps you make your case in this essay. Quote or paraphrase from the source at least once to start getting acquainted with conventions of MLA-style citation.
You’ll likely find the reviews we discuss in class to be useful in thinking about what shape you want your own review to take. To understand my values as a grader of this assignment, see the rubric for major essays that appears earlier in this syllabus. Points equal a grade as follows:
A 94 – 100 B 84 – 86 C 70 – 76
A- 90 – 93 B- 80 – 83 D 64 – 69
B+ 87 – 89 C+ 77 – 79 F 63 and Below
