How to Write an Author Assessment
Understand the purpose of your author assessment., Read the piece you are being asked to assess., Take notes on your first impressions, once you have finished reading it once., Return to the work and read it a second time.
Step-by-Step Guide
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Step 1: Understand the purpose of your author assessment.
Your assessment should never try to change the author's style toward your own style.
However, you may have different goals based on the reason you are assessing the author.
If you are being asked by an unpublished writer to critique their work, you must focus on giving positive critiques as well as identifying areas that need work.
If the assessment is being done in a teaching capacity, make the assessment a careful critique that encourages the writer to take a certain direction in their next draft.
If you are assessing an author and their work for a publishing company or other professional pursuit, you must focus on what is marketable about the work.
Audience and initial reactions may have more importance in your assessment.
If you are editing the work for publication, then you may be able to be more critical based on your publications standards.
Request a written copy of the style sheet before beginning your assessment.
If you are assessing the validity of a source or fact checking, you should pay extra attention to details that are inconsistent and make the author unreliable.
Follow up your assessment with facts that need to be proven before using or publishing the work. -
Step 2: Read the piece you are being asked to assess.
This time, you will want to read it all the way through as you would with any published work, so that you are looking at it as a whole work, rather than its pieces. , Try to write down what you think the thesis or deeper meaning is, as well as any poignant or flat areas.
This will help the author to see if you have understood what they were trying to accomplish, or not. , This time, you should read more slowly and thoughtfully, looking at each sentence and paragraph individually.
Take notes on the following items:
Grammar mistakes.
If the author has made a number of spelling and grammatical errors, they should be noted and corrected for the author's benefit.
Continuity.
Look for contradictions in the plot and in the characters.
Decide if there are any areas where the author needs to edit further to ensure the story or thesis is consistent.
If this assessment is being done of an already published source, these details may be a sign of errors in research or a lack of fact-checking.
Overuse.
Many authors lose the ability to see if the words and concepts are used too often.
Mark any instances where nouns, verbs and phrases are used in a way that distracts the reader from the story or argument.
Look for biases in the writing.
If you are critiquing a journal or persuasive piece, you should look out for places where other arguments are ignored, or the writing is not well-rounded.
Persuasive essays should handle objections near the end, if not before. -
Step 3: Take notes on your first impressions
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Step 4: once you have finished reading it once.
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Step 5: Return to the work and read it a second time.
Detailed Guide
Your assessment should never try to change the author's style toward your own style.
However, you may have different goals based on the reason you are assessing the author.
If you are being asked by an unpublished writer to critique their work, you must focus on giving positive critiques as well as identifying areas that need work.
If the assessment is being done in a teaching capacity, make the assessment a careful critique that encourages the writer to take a certain direction in their next draft.
If you are assessing an author and their work for a publishing company or other professional pursuit, you must focus on what is marketable about the work.
Audience and initial reactions may have more importance in your assessment.
If you are editing the work for publication, then you may be able to be more critical based on your publications standards.
Request a written copy of the style sheet before beginning your assessment.
If you are assessing the validity of a source or fact checking, you should pay extra attention to details that are inconsistent and make the author unreliable.
Follow up your assessment with facts that need to be proven before using or publishing the work.
This time, you will want to read it all the way through as you would with any published work, so that you are looking at it as a whole work, rather than its pieces. , Try to write down what you think the thesis or deeper meaning is, as well as any poignant or flat areas.
This will help the author to see if you have understood what they were trying to accomplish, or not. , This time, you should read more slowly and thoughtfully, looking at each sentence and paragraph individually.
Take notes on the following items:
Grammar mistakes.
If the author has made a number of spelling and grammatical errors, they should be noted and corrected for the author's benefit.
Continuity.
Look for contradictions in the plot and in the characters.
Decide if there are any areas where the author needs to edit further to ensure the story or thesis is consistent.
If this assessment is being done of an already published source, these details may be a sign of errors in research or a lack of fact-checking.
Overuse.
Many authors lose the ability to see if the words and concepts are used too often.
Mark any instances where nouns, verbs and phrases are used in a way that distracts the reader from the story or argument.
Look for biases in the writing.
If you are critiquing a journal or persuasive piece, you should look out for places where other arguments are ignored, or the writing is not well-rounded.
Persuasive essays should handle objections near the end, if not before.
About the Author
Samuel Burns
Enthusiastic about teaching lifestyle techniques through clear, step-by-step guides.
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