English 102
Critical Thinking, Reading, and Writing

WEEK SEVEN

OVERVIEW: EVALUATIONS
READING ASSIGNMENT AND REMINDERS

OVERVIEW:

This is an especially good chapter for your upcoming midterm, so I'd suggest making an outline of the sections for easy reference, just for your own use later on. We will likely so some of the activities in class, so please don't miss the class visit.

On page 114, under Establishing the Definition I'd like to add one aspect. The text says that a definition and argument of the term is important when your audience consists of people with different expertise from yours or different values. I'd like to add that this is also indicated when the values and expertise of the audience is not known. This is the case with teachers. You may have a good feel for your teacher's values and expertise, but you never know for certain, so I always say err on the side of caution. In English classes, terms should be defined because the subject matter of the papers is often open to interpretation, so a well defined term is almost always a good idea.

The entire page discussing Presenting the Definition (115) is important information. I focused on the subjectivity section because that is where students often have difficulty discussing a preference for something. When you discuss literature, for example (their example was singing), you need to be able to express an aesthetic opinion in a way that is as precise, concrete, and objective as possible. Otherwise, it's not argument, merely opinion, and there is a difference. I have seen people say something was "really good" or "really pretty". What does THAT mean?

Pay attention to the information on page 117, "Ranking the Qualities". This will be important in your future papers. On page 118, it would seem to be a contradiction that an evaluative argument would be mostly factual. However, that is what separates argument from opinion or personal taste, which by itself cannot be argued. So, you will use facts to support your evaluation after you have discovered the WHY of your opinion yourself!

On page 120,the identification of effect may also be useful for you in papers for future classes.The Varieties of Evaluation is also important (121). They are ETHICAL, AESTHETIC, AND FUNCTIONAL, as well as the subcategory of INTERPRETATION and Interpretation are types you use for evaluating literature and art, which you will do later in the class. You learn to give reasons for your opinion as referenced above. Excellence in any field does involve some objective standards; it's the application of these standards where people disagree. The use of standards also helps people who don't know where to start in literary analysis!

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READING ASSIGNMENTS AND REMINDERS:

Mayberry: Chapter 8 Evaluations in Mayberry

REMINDERS:

Mini group assignment #2 is due next week. See Week 5 for info.
Make sure you are ready for the midterm. Read the story and notes again thoroughly.

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Page was last updated: 11/06/02