Pass Check: Evaluation
Judge how successfully a writer achieves an effect, using evidence to support a personal critical viewpoint.
Evaluation
Making a judgement about how successful or effective a text is at achieving its purpose.
Critical statement
A viewpoint given in the exam question that the student must judge and respond to.
To what extent
A phrase asking the student to weigh up how far they agree with a given statement.
Balanced judgement
An evaluation that considers different aspects of a text rather than a single one-sided view.
Evaluative language
Words expressing degree of success, e.g. 'convincingly', 'effectively', 'partially succeeds'.
Overall effect
The complete impression a text leaves on a reader once all methods are considered together.
Selective evidence
Choosing the most relevant quotations that best support the evaluative judgement being made.
Personal response
The student's own critical opinion, which must be supported by evidence rather than just stated.
Quick check
Mixed quiz
1. A statement reads: 'The writer makes the storm seem dangerous.' Which sentence would be a suitable piece of evidence?
2. Statement: 'The city is presented as overwhelming.' Evidence: 'Horns blared, crowds pushed past, and the lights never seemed to dim.' Which explanation best links this evidence to the statement?
3. Which explanation best evaluates why using dialogue instead of description can be effective in revealing a character's rudeness?
4. Statement: 'The character's confidence is shown through her actions.' Which quotation, when explained well, gives the strongest evidence?
5. Given the statement 'the character is presented as lonely', which quotation is the strongest evidence?
6. Two students disagree about whether a villain is 'purely evil' or 'sympathetically written'. Which approach shows the highest level of evaluation?
7. A student argues a character's final act of kindness 'redeems' their earlier cruelty. Which evaluation best challenges this view convincingly?
8. Which piece of evidence would most strongly support a nuanced judgement that a character is 'neither wholly good nor wholly bad'?