Analysis and Evaluation: Judging Texts with Reasons
What this domain asks of you
Analysis and Evaluation asks you to go beyond description: to explain how a text works and how well it works. The concepts you must understand are: technique and effect (language choices and what they do to a reader), evidence and reasoning, bias and perspective, reliability of sources, and judgement (a stated position supported by reasons).
Traps to watch
- Feature-spotting. Naming a technique ("the writer uses a rhetorical question") without explaining its effect earns little. Always answer: so what?
- Opinion without reasons. "It was a boring article" is not evaluation. Say what failed, for whom, and why.
- Confusing bias with falsehood. A biased text can still be accurate; evaluate slant and selection, not just facts.
- Ignoring audience fit. A text can be well written but wrong for its audience - that is a legitimate evaluation point.
Worked example
Consider an opinion piece arguing that homework should be abolished, which cites one parent and no research. A descriptive answer lists the techniques. An evaluative answer says: "The piece is persuasive at sentence level - short paragraphs and direct address create momentum - but its evidence base is thin: a single anecdote stands in for data, so a sceptical reader is likely to resist the conclusion even while admiring the style." That separates craft from substance.
Rule of thumb
Use Technique – Effect – Judgement: identify the choice, explain its effect on the intended reader, then state whether it succeeds and why.
Building judgement
Weigh strengths against weaknesses explicitly, and keep your overall verdict consistent with the evidence you have presented.