Our next unit will deal with EVALUATIONS. Of the various permutations of the genre, you are probably more familiar with them as reviews. And, of the many types of things that are reviewed, you are probably familiar with reviews of works of art (i.e., books, films, music) and places (i.e., attractions, restaurants, hotels, etc.).
For this final essay, you will compose a brief (4-5 page) review of a topic of your choosing. The parameters: you may choose to evaluate an album that loosely fits under the umbrella of southern music (Option A), or you may evaluate a place here in the metro Atlanta area. Topics might include: a building, a park, a development, a restaurant, a club, a farmer's market, etc.
Remember, a review is a type of argument: your essay should make a CLAIM about the topic and then support that claim with evidence.
As we work toward writing the essay, we will use the blog as a place to workshop ideas. This week, you will write a short evaluation of a song or album; next week, you will evaluate a PLACE--a building, a park, a development. You will choose one of these blogs and develop it into your essay.
Briefly...
Blog for this week: Select an artist that interests you, and then find a review. In your posting, you should examine how this particular review functions as an example of the genre. You will need to address most of the following questions:
- what is the claim?
- what evidence does the author provide to support the claim?
- what contextual evidence does s/he provide?
- how does s/he hold your attention?
- what sort of nontextual elements (illustrations, images, embedded songs) does the author employ?
- what are the standards that the author employs?
- does the author use any specialized language? If so, explain how understandable it is, what else you need to know, etc.
Blogs will be a rich source of music criticism....you should have no trouble finding something to write about.
Next week's blog: evaluation of a place
Find a review of the general type of place you might write about (i.e., if you want to write a restaurant review, read a restaurant review; if you're evaluating a place, read an architectural review). Ask the same questions as last week:
- what is the claim?
- what evidence does the author provide to support the claim?
- what contextual evidence does s/he provide?
- how does s/he hold your attention?
- what sort of nontextual elements does the author employ?
- what are the standards that the author employs?
- does the author use any specialized language? If so, explain how understandable it is, what else you need to know, etc.
Schedule for the final paper:
Topic due: Friday, Nov. 14
First draft due: Friday, Nov. 21
Peer Review: Monday, Nov. 24
Final Draft: Wednesday, Nov. 26.
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