Writers of evaluative essays focus on conveying the results of their evaluation processes to their readers. As you prepare your draft, you’ll decide how to convey the overall result of your evaluation, present and define your criteria, share the evidence on which you’ve based your judgments, design your essay, and frame your evaluation for your readers.

Your draft will be strongly influenced by the purpose of your evaluation. If your intention is to help readers understand whether something has succeeded or failed, for example, consider how your readers will react to your judgments. If you are arguing that a project has failed, you might want to discuss whether the project should be carried out with specific changes or whether it should be abandoned altogether. If you are offering your judgments about which of several options is best, you might want to discuss the trade-offs associated with accepting your judgment. And if you are trying to help readers understand how your subject might be improved or refined, you might want to include guidance about how to put those improvements or refinements into practice.