Essay 2: Writing to Evaluate and Review

Onega/ENG 102
Week 5
Essay 2: Writing to Evaluate and Review
Good critical writing is measured by the perception and evaluation
of the subject; bad critical writing by the necessity of maintaining
the professional standing of the critic.
–Raymond Chandler
It is a human thing, isn’t it, to read something, watch something, hear something and then
immediately react to whatever it is we have read, watched, or heard. After all, it is largely
through those reactions that we make sense of the world. More formalized reactions are the
‘stuff’ of evaluations and reviews. Think, for instance, how many times you shared with your
friends your thoughts about the newest movie, the latest game, the most recent book. You offer
your opinion; you provide some justification for that opinion; and then you delineate reasons that
your opinion has validity. You do, in other words, an evaluation and review. And that is what
this week’s essay assignment asks you to do in a perhaps more polished and more extensive
sort of way. You will, in other words, write an evaluation/review based on your choice of one of
the topics below.
Due: Sunday, Week 5, at 11:59 pm
Topics (choose 1):
• Evaluate the validity of Arthur Miller’s own claim about his play, Death of a Salesman:
“Willy was representative everywhere, in every kind of system, of ourselves in this time.”
That is, restate Miller’s claim in your introduction, agree/disagree with that claim in your
thesis, and then follow all that with specific and detailed support from the play (and/or
the movie, if you wish) for your thesis in your body paragraphs.
• Using Death of a Salesman, in either play or film version, as your ‘source,’ identify the
chief argument—that is, identify the ‘point’—of the play/film. Some questions that will
help you in your thinking include: What is the movie’s message? Who comprises its
primary audience? What commentary on society is it making? Does it deal with a social
issue? A spiritual one? A personal one? Then, once you have identified this ‘point’ in
your thesis, your body paragraphs will be used to show how the play/film actually
asserts/maintains/clarifies/exposes that point. Be sure that you are attentive to the need
for specificity, as generalities will not serve you well.
• Read AND watch Death of a Salesman. Then, in a strong clear-cut thesis, assert which
version you prefer and/or find superior. Remember that you will need to identify specific
criteria for even attempting such an assertion (preferably in your introduction and/or
thesis) and that these criteria will need to be supported in your body paragraphs.
• Doing a very brief and simple google and/or library database search, find a critical
review of Death of a Salesman, in either staged or filmed format, in which the reviewer
asserts whether or not the play/film was good or bad, well-done or poorly done, worth
seeing or not. Then, after summarizing the review in your introduction, provide a thesis
in which you let your reader know whether or not you agree with the review, and then
spend your body paragraphs showing how/why that is so.
Requirements:
• At least three quotations (from either the play or film), properly cited and documented,
both internally and on a Works Cited/References page
• At least 700 words, though closer to 750 would likely be better, in that the writing would
be fuller, more thorough, and more developed
• MLA format, please, which means that you must adhere to the formatting, citing, and
documenting requirements of that system
• Please remember that writing for evaluation and review demands constant and ongoing
attention to both content and style. That is, not only must you attend with great care to
what you say, but so too must you carefully craft how you say it.
Other things: The first weeks of class discussion by way of a “Writing Overview” will stand you
in good stead as you work on this assignment. So too will you want to review the relevant
chapters in your handbook and textbook, as well as the information provided in this week’s
lecture material.
Submission: When you submit the final revised draft of your Essay 3, please follow the
directions from the handout called “How to Submit Your Essay 3.”
Grading Criteria: I will primarily be looking at these things: specificity of content, organization
of ideas, development of discussion, format of work, and style of presentation. The grading
information in the syllabus provides more information about each of those components. The
Handout in the Essay 2 folder in Week 5 called “Checklist” is also helpful.