Who Cares What Other’s Think

Evaluations: I Loved It! It Sucked! Here’s Why… by Christopher Smith Evaluations are reviews, and reviews are evaluations. They’re something we’re all familiar with and not only see, but also do, on a regular basis. We might not write anything down, but all of us are evaluating on the fly at just about every moment. Think about it: You walk into your friend’s home for the first time. You notice the color of their walls (Why would anyone be into hot pink and green for a kitchen?). You see the size of their television (Holy crap! I know where I’m going to be watching every movie from here on out.) Their loveable dachshund decides to make your leg its latest lover, and they say nothing (Don’t they know how to train these things?) Whether or not you intend to, you’re evaluating these things: The choices your friends have made, the quality of what they own, the niceness of the car you see crawling down the street, the ease of use of a new power tool, the tastiness of a dish at a restaurant you’ve never tried before. We judge. We evaluate. It’s what we do, because we have the ability to compare and contrast similar items1. Evaluations are our opportunity to judge something with the written word, deciding whether or not it’s good, bad, mediocre, average, and on based on set criteria that we use to review our subject. Who Cares What Other’s Think For one, you should care, as a well-written and composed evaluation can do a number of things for us. Solid reviews can do any—or all—of the following: ● Save Us Time: Rather than having to go through a store—or even online—making notes and comparing one item with another, we can quickly see what others and/or professionals think of an object, which can help speed up our decision process on whether or not to partake/buy/watch/listen/eat/etc. or not. ● Help Make an Informed Decision: A good evaluation will let us see the positives and negatives of anything. We’ll know the pros and cons of the item being reviewed, and we’ll be able to know exactly what to expect—and whether or not we can live with the shortcomings. ● Save Us Money: If something is crap, then we didn’t have to waste our money to buy it, get it home, only to find such a thing out. We can avoid the lemons and go straight for the lemonade2. ● Help Us Discover New Things: It might not be something we normally bother with or are aware of, but reviews can sometimes give an object more exposure. Often, we’re more willing to read a quick blurb or a few words about something to find out more about 1 2 Captain Pickard is so much better than Captain Kirk. Of course, Simply Lemonade, pink, is the best there is. it rather than track the item down and check it out for ourselves. This makes it easier to find new things, as even a simple “Customers Who Bought This Item, Also Bought…” through Amazon can work in this fashion3. ● Slices, Dices, and Makes Julienne Fries4! It’s true that an evaluation can do some great things for its readers, but that’s only if all the pieces are in place. I Told You That It Sucks, What More Do You Want From Me? There are some people in our lives that can tell us, “That movie is so good! You have to see it.” And we do, taking their word for it because we trust the source. We also have other people in our lives that will say, “Oh, God, that was the worst book I’ve ever read. Don’t bother.” And we instantly go out and buy the thing, because we know how our tastes compare to the source’s. However, when compiling a review for the masses, there are some specific items necessary for our evaluations to do everything we promised they would5. To make our attempt more successful, we should include the following: ● Necessary Background Information/History on Topic: Of course, all good essays will have an introduction, breaking our readers into our specific topic, tone, and point of our words. However, with evaluations, it’s good to note specifics in the topic’s history—especially when reviewing an album or film or other such media. Is this the director’s first film? Is the company known for manufacturing table saws—or is this a new branch? Is it the fourth album from a band? Does this brand of shoe have an excellent track record? The second novel in a series? Such information will give further grounding for a reader about where your topic has come from. ● Criteria6: When we have all the time in the world, we can review the whole of an item, breaking it down piece by piece and examining each aspect, rating it as we see fit. Most of the time, though, our readers don’t have all the time in the world and—honestly—don’t care much about many aspects one can review. It then falls on us, the writers, to establish a set of criteria to evaluate our topic on. ○ For example: If you decided to review a film, there are many different aspects we can look at to evaluate said film. We could examine the directing, the cinematography, the story, the acting, writing, music, special effects, and on down the credit list. Again, readers don’t have time for a breakdown of every single aspect of the film. Instead, they want to see the highlights, where you, the writer, pick what you think are the most important aspects, say, directing, acting, and special effects. You not only have to name them, but you also have to define then 3 This is a solid way to discover new graphic novels, if one is so inclined. Well, no, but since that seems to be something all good products can do… Don’t believe me? The merchant in Disney’s Aladdin seems to think so. 5 The last thing we want is to go all politician and promise things that aren’t delivered. Unless, of course, you want to be a politician. Then, you should still deliver on the promises you make. It’s good manners. 6 This is the plural form. There are no “criterias.” The singular form is “criterion.” 4 and show their importance. When you have such a long list to choose from, readers need to see why you chose as you have and why they should care based on those criteria. ○ The following is a brief guide to creating your criteria: ■ Once you have your topic, ask yourself, “What is necessary to have a perfect [coffee shop, meal, TV show, video game, shoe, etc.?” ■ Brainstorm a quick list of answers to that question, then hone your list down to the best items. Three to five is a good number, depending on the length of your essay. (A random rule of thumb is one criterion for every 150 - 200 words.) The best of your brainstormed list will act as your criteria. ■ For each criteria, give a short explanation (a sentence or so) that tells why those criteria are the most important in deciding whether or not a [Board game, magazine, couch, etc.] can be called “good.” Basically, tell us why you chose to discuss the Number of Power Outlets, Menu, and Staff to evaluate a coffee shop instead of focusing on Taste of Coffee, Atmosphere, Location, Lighting, Restrooms, or Price. ● Specific Evidence from Topic: Once your criteria have been established, you then need to “compare” your topic with your criteria. Where is an example in the film of good directing? Where does the power drill fail? What is a particularly tasty item from a restaurant’s menu? When are the song lyrics too cheesy or manipulative? What particular shots in the film are so gorgeous? How many settings does the fan have, and why does that make it good or bad? Again, for each of your criteria, you need to pull specific and concrete examples to show WHAT the topic is. This can include technical specs, your experiences with the topic, how long you’ve owned it, how you’ve used it—or abused it, and anything else considered concrete and specific. ○ Remember: When compiling the evidence, it’s not so much about whether or not something is inherently good or bad, but simply what it is. Show your readers what your topic has to offer. By doing so, they’ll be able to make their own informed decision. ● Final Word: Here’s where you can make your recommendation for or against a topic. You’ve established your criteria by showing their importance and defining them. You’ve given evidence about the topic to show what it is. Now you can decide, would you recommend this topic? Would you tell your readers to run away screaming? Did you decide that it’s not a bad thing, but it’s not necessarily good, either? Whatever you decide, let your readers know exactly where you stand. Put all these things together, and you’ll rock a Tetris7 for the evaluation, raising your high score and clearing off space to earn even more points8. A Structured Review 7 One of the greatest puzzle games ever created. Also, the original song, “Korobeiniki,” will stick in your head for days at a time. 8 Yes, life is calculated by the points you earn. Don’t ask who is keeping track, but someone must be. Right? Once again, you’ll see that our basic structure works quite well as a starting point for an essay. Without further ado, here’s that structure modified for an evaluation: ● Introduction ○ Introduce topic, give a preview of most important criteria, possibly hint at recommendation ● Criterion A (Second Most Important Criterion) ○ Concrete evidence from topic and how it relates to Criterion A ● Criterion B ○ Concrete evidence from topic and how it relates to Criterion B ● Criterion C ○ Concrete evidence from topic and how it relates to Criterion C ● Criterion … Z (MOST Important Criterion) ○ Concrete evidence from topic and how it relates to Criterion Z ● Conclusion ○ Retouch on highlights of pros and cons, give final advice/recommendation Just like that, you’ve reviewed something, provided solid evidence and information for your readers, and—possibly—helped them partake of something wonderful or avoid something horrible. Explain Yourself—or Don’t When it comes to our evaluation’s audience, it’s not as likely that you’ll be offending anyone—unless, of course, you’re evaluating a religion or politician or some other “touchy” subject9. For the most part, though, you probably won’t be saying anything too controversial, as the nature of an evaluation, remember, is to simply show what the item is. What we do want to keep in mind is that of our target audience’s knowledge on a topic. This, like other essays, will limit what we need to define and explain compared to what we don’t. For example, when evaluating a computer for techies, you can use all the RAM and CPU and Terabyte-talk that you want, without worrying that you won’t be understood. However, if you want to write for the average Joe, they may need to understand the difference between a solid-state hard drive and a hybrid hard drive, which might require a few extra sentences of explanation. In the end, it boils down to common sense—or personal experience. Consider how often you have to explain yourself in a conversation. When you say something like, “I love the beat of that song!” Do you ever have anyone ask, “What’s a beat?” Compared to saying something like, “The switch from ⅔ time to ⅞ on the downbeat in the second movement is simply astounding!” You might have a few folks scratching their heads. (Then again, it all depends on your audience. They may simply nod in agreement.) 9 Then again, those in the video game world do tend to obsess and take sides in the console wars. Define what needs definition; let the common terms lie. ‘Nuff said. Now get out there and judge the world to your heart’s content. Just be sure to use evidence.