This assignment is designed to help you evaluate information and entertainment provided through various media. By becoming wary consumers of media messages, you can avoid some of the manipulative and deceitful practices that can be harmful to individuals and society. Each of you will select a media event to write about. You will also give persuasive speech related to your essay.
Assignment:
Select a particular media event (e.g., a movie, TV show, magazine,
network news broadcast, newspaper, etc.) and write a 4-5 page evaluative
essay. The essay must be typed, double-spaced, and in a 12-point font.
(Although you will submit electronically, I'll still expect the essay
to conform to this format.) Consider the following topics:
Privacy/Censorship in the Media
Step 1
A. Your goal is to learn the necessity of establishing standards of
evaluation before making a judgment. In case you are not sure what I mean
by standards of evaluation, look at the bottom of this sheet.
C. Conduct library research to discover more about one of your topics.
Step 2:
Having chosen a topic, bring to class a list of evaluative criteria you intend to apply to your subject matter.
Evaluation Criteria (used for my grading of your essay)
1. The writer has a thesis that is clearly stated and appropriately qualified.
2. The writer has developed and expressed appropriate standards of judgment.
3. The writer provides necessary
background information about the media event being
described and asserts an overall
judgment.
4. The writer provides reasons and supporting evidence for the judgment.
5. The writer establishes credibility through the selective use of sources.
6. The writer’s viewpoint is consistent throughout the paper.
7. The writer uses a lively and appropriate style.
8. The writer adheres to the conventions of Standard Written English.
Because of the abundance of messages we encounter each day, all of us rely on others to guide our choices in what to read and what to view. Whether we trust in the advice of professional reviewers or in the comments we get from our friends, most of us are influenced by the opinions of others. In the evaluation speech you are to review a media event and to provide a careful description of its best and worst features. As well as being informative, you should also strive to be interesting. If you have read or listened to television and movie reviews, you know this is a genre in which wit, humor, and even invective, are highly prized. Pay particular attention to the section of Chapter 8 in Mastering Public Speaking to the need for clarity, vividness, and credibility in your presentation. Your speech should be no longer 4-5 minutes long. If possible, bring the item you are reviewing to class. However, no more than 60 seconds of your review can be in the form of video clips.
Your speech will be evaluated on these ten criteria:
1. Topic/thesis: Is your thesis clear, original, significant?
2. Development/Analysis: Have you adapted the speech to your
audience? Are you well informed about your topic? Have you established
appropriate criteria for your evaluation and do you apply them systematically?
3. Supporting materials: Do you have sufficient supporting materials (e.g., excerpts from your source)? Are your supporting materials sufficient? relevant to the thesis? properly cited? Are visuals used effectively?
4. Organization: Do you have an effective introduction and conclusion? Are your main points clear? Do you make smooth transitions as you move from one idea to the next?
5. Style: Is your language vivid and interesting? Is your grammar
and usage correct?
Are your word choices appropriate? Have you tried to be as concise
as possible?
6. Eye Contact: Is your eye contact consistent? evenly distributed across the audience? Do you seem aware of audience feedback?
7. Movement/Appearance: Is your facial expression appropriate to the subject matter? Do you make purposeful gestures and movements? Do you have good posture? Are you wearing the appropriate clothes?
8. Voice: Is you voice expressive? Do you vary your tone and pitch? Do you pause or change inflection for emphasis where appropriate? Do you have adequate volume (i.e., not letting your voice trail off at the end of sentences)?
9. Articulation/Pronunciation: Do you have precise articulation and correct pronunciation?
10. Fluency: Is your delivery spontaneous and conversational or does it sound memorized and lifeless? Are there noticeable lapses as you try to remember what comes next. Do you stumble over your words? Have you kept an appropriate rate—neither too fast nor too slow?