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Evaluation Arguments

Housekeeping:

Project Four

What's the Difference Between Evaluations and Proposals?

Strictly speaking, evaluation arguments are focused on judgments (this is how you should feel about something), whereas proposal argumets are focused on actions (this is what you should). In practice, however, a judgment about an object often suggests a particular action and suggesting a particular action implies a judgment of some sort (thus, evaluation arguments often contain proposals and vice-versa). In other words, the real difference might one of emphasis or degree rather than kind. Proposals tend to prioritize the action that should be taken in response to a problematic issue (appropriate for situations where a problem may be clear, but the solution to it is unclear) whereas evaluations focus on whether or not a particular thing "is" problematic (or good or bad) an often what positive or negative consequences occur from this phenomena.

How do we invent Evaluation arguments?

Much like definitional arguments ("Is X a Y?"), evaluations usually also involve a criteria-match structure structure, but in this case you are not providing the criteria that a thing must meet to be defined in a category, but the criteria it must meet to be evaluated as a "good" or "bad" instance of whatever category to which it already belongs. In other words, it follows the structure "X is (not) a good Y because it (fails to) meet(s) criteria Q, R, P."

• Pick a item to be evaluated
• Find out the stakes involved in the claim (is this evaluation controversial and/or interesting to others? Who would be opposed to this evaluation and why?)
• Develop criteria for evaluating that item (which make it good or bad? which are most important? which are obvious and which ones do you have to argue for? Which are most likely to impact your audience?)

Categories of Criteria: As with definition arguments, evaluation arguments usually proceed through some variation on criteria-match strategies. However, rather than creating criteria that allows you to place something inside or outside of a category, criteria for evaluation arguments provide the best methods for judging a particular thing or issue. We can typically put evaluative critieria into one of three categories:

• Ethical

• Aesthetic 

• Practical

Go Green - Evaluating Environmentalism

Most Americans agree that protecting the environment is a good thing. Although different environmentalist groups emphasize the dangers of failing to preserve natural resources, the real challenge of these arguments is in offering solutions (proposing how) the problem should be solved. On the other hand, once a proposal is made, individuals must evaluate the quality of that proposal - whether it is a good or bad idea (is it feasible, is it sustainable, is it cost-effective...) - and then decide what course of action to take in order to best protect the environment.  

Environmentalism: Eco-friendly to Eco-terrorism - proposals for a Greener Earth!

The environmentalist groups Environmental Defense Fund, Greenpeace, and (eco-terroist group) Earth Liberation Front, all propose plans for reducing (or eliminating) America's reliance on fossil fuels.

Group Assignment:

• Break into groups.

• Using the assigned reading from last night create CRITERIA for a good source of renewable energy.  What constitutes a "good" eco-friendly strategy.    
• http://www.sirc.org/articles/recycle.htm
• Death_of_Environmentalism.pdf  
• EDF mission statement: EDF Fact Sheet .pdf   
• Link to Greenpeace mission statement: http://www.greenpeace.org/international/en/campaigns/   
• ELF: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Earth_Liberation_Front   

• Use the criteria you come up with to EVALUATE one of the three articles below (refer back to the criteria-matching above):  

In-Class Reading:

1. Environmental Defense Fund:  
1. Link to "Ushering in a New Era for Coal" http://www.edf.org/article.cfm?contentID=6025   
2. Greenpeace:
1. GP Solar Gernation 2010.pdf
1. link to article http://www.greenpeace.org/international/en/publications/reports/Solar-Generation-2010/
3. Earth Liberation Front:
1. link to ELF Press Office http://www.elfpressoffice.org/ - select "Renewable Energy" option
2. link to ELF http://earth-liberation-front.org/  

Project Four: Evaluation Argument 

Researching Project Four

For Tuesday: Second 1020 Public Debate Thunderdome!!!!

Tuesday's Topic: Attendance Policy (WSU allows individual departments to set attendance; i.e., individual departments can decide to penalized students via their grades if they miss one or more classes. E.g., the english department, requires instructors to penalize students for missing more than one week's worth of classes. Is this fair? Awesome? Strange? Tasty? Is this a productive, fair, and useful policy?  

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