How to Write a Theme of Evaluation
An evaluation is similar to a judgment; it is an appraisal of the value of a work; it is what you think about the work, what you like or dislike, what is good, bad or mediocre, what is right or wrong. An evaluation requires you to take a critical position and defend that position on rational and logical grounds.
Your essay should demonstrate the following components:
1. identification of a problem, issue, or concept;
2. appropriate, convincing evidence based on credible sources;
3. analyzation of relationships among information and concepts;
4. conclusions supported by evidence and analysis;
5. logical, sequential organization message;
6. precise, engaging diction, clarity, and well-constructed sentences;
7. adherence to standard English grammar.
8. Citations should follow MLA formatting.
Your evaluation should be typed, double-spaced; you are to organize your evaluation using the following format: The 3.5 composition
The 3.5 composition is organized around three (3) points developed within five (5) paragraphs.
1. Paragraph one is the introduction and contains your central idea (a central idea is a sentence that is your reaction to the assignment; it is the dominating idea that unifies the essay into a logical whole; it is what you think of the reading) and thesis sentence (a thesis is a one sentence statement that should appear at the end of the first paragraph; in your thesis you should list three[3] points you want to demonstrate about the reading and that supports your central idea).
2. Paragraph two you elaborate on point one in the thesis sentence.
3. Paragraph three you elaborate on point two in the thesis sentence.
4. Paragraph four you elaborate on point three in the thesis sentence.
5. And, paragraph five is your conclusion.
Below is an example of an evaluation written in the 3.5 composition style.
An Evaluation of Black Elk Speaks
1 Black Elk Speaks is a book that recalls the period described between about 1867 and 1890, when the westward expansion produced the defeat and finally the humiliation of the Indian nations that had owned the western prairies before that time. In 1931, Black Elk, then a man of 68, related his story to his son, who translated it into English. The account is autobiography, history, meditation, and revelation. The book is authenticity itself, a unique and powerful record of responses and recollections of an Oglala Sioux warrior and visionary. Though the entire work is unique, Black Elk’s reality and authenticity may be seen in his view of the Indian wars, his faith in his mystic powers, and his simple eloquence.
2 As an historic account, Black Elk Speaks presents a view of history that is a truthful antidote to the view of the Indian wars that the western movie has promoted. As Black Elk saw it, the white man’s thirst for gold and for land produced violence, conquest, and broken promises. The military defeats by the U.S. Army turned Indian against Indian, and resulted in impoverishment, flight, and death by starvation or massacre. With their buffalo and their ponies gone, the Indians had little choice but move onto reservations. Though the victor has always made “right,” it has rarely been little more than half right, and the direct, personal account of Black Elk provides a truthful restorative.
3 The work is also an account of Black Elk’s inner vision of truth. Feeling that he had a unique role to play in the betterment of his Sioux nation, he apparently thought that the descriptions of his visions were of principal value. He was a man with mystic powers, and apparently used them to affect cures and to predict the future. Many sophisticated readers might dismiss this aspect as superstition, but this was an age where more and more people were coming to recognize the mysterious, hidden sources of human power. It would therefore be arbitrary to deny the authenticity of Black Elk’s descriptions of his mysterious powers.
4 Finally, it is Black Elk’s straightforward, direct eloquence that is the best, most convincing aspect of the book. Everything that one might require from a great writer is here: conciseness, accuracy, strong feeling, irony, humor, pathos, use of images, vividness. Nothing is done to excess; Black Elk is a lover of detail, but just the right amount and he did not engage in his emotions to the point of sentimentality. For example, his description of the dead after the senseless slaughter at Wounded Knee displays controlled bitterness and pathos. Especially unforgettable are his description of the power of a circle and his lament over the loss of his people’s dream.
5 An evaluation of Black Elk Speaks would not be complete without an emphasis on its power to evoke an almost overwhelming sorrow and regret over the loss that it describes. Today people are finding much value in a pluralistic culture, and as a result the values represented by Black Elk seem more worthy than ever of being followed and cherished. It is painful, almost too painful for words, to read in Black Elk’s narrative just how the civilization that held these values was snuffed out. Truly, a book that so successfully provokes these thoughts is worthy of being enshrined in one’s heart. Black Elk Speaks demonstrates that there is a whole tradition that has been ignored in our histories of literature.
