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Consider Genre and Design

Like other academic essays, evaluative essays can benefit from thoughtful consideration of design. Bear in mind your readers’ expectations about design elements such as wide margins, double-spaced lines, page numbers, and a readable body font. In addition, consider the benefits of using headings and subheadings and bulleted and numbered lists.

Headings and subheadings can help readers understand the organization of the essay, serve as transitional devices between sections and subsections, and add visual interest to what would otherwise be pages of unbroken text.
Numbered and bulleted lists display brief passages of related information using numbers or symbols (usually round “bullets”). The surrounding white space draws the eye to the list, highlighting the information for your readers, while the brief content in each entry can make concepts or processes easier to understand.

These design elements can make significant contributions to the readability and overall effectiveness of your essay. Headings and subheadings identify and briefly summarize the sections of your essay, helping readers to compare the judgments you’ve made in different sections of your essay. Numbered and bulleted lists allow you to present evidence or a series of judgments about a subject in a compact form. If you use similar lists — for example, of strengths and weaknesses or of costs and benefits — in different sections of your essay, readers will find it easier to locate and compare the lists.

You can find discussions of document design in Chapters 16, 17, and 18.