Evaluating with three reasons

Evaluation means judging success

A writer may want readers to trust a fitness guide, support a change in schools or recognise that behaviour is unacceptable. Evaluation means judging how successfully the writing achieves that particular aim. Your judgement needs reasons and evidence: what makes the presentation convincing, and what might leave a reader doubtful?

Analysis and evaluation are connected, but they are not identical. Analysis explains what a choice does; evaluation judges how well that choice serves the writer’s purpose. For example, noticing that a writer addresses the reader as ‘you’ is only a starting point. Explaining that this makes a promise feel personally relevant, and therefore more persuasive, turns the observation into a judgement of success.

You can evaluate ideas, examples, reasoning, tone and the evidence a writer offers. You do not have to find a named technique for every point.

What Paper 1 Questions 2 and 5 reward

In Pearson Edexcel English Language 2.0, Paper 1 Question 2 concerns a specified section of Text 1; Question 5 concerns a specified section of Text 2. Each is worth 6 marks and assesses AO4: critical evaluation supported by appropriate textual references.

The question identifies something the writer is trying to achieve. You judge how successfully it is achieved, giving three reasons for your opinion and examples from the stated lines. The aim might be to persuade, but it might instead be to describe something in a particular way. Follow the actual aim in the question.

The answers are marked by levels, not by awarding two marks mechanically for each reason:

• Level 1, 1–2 marks: limited judgements, with limited or sometimes unsuitable references.
• Level 2, 3–4 marks: clear judgements and explanations, supported by relevant references.
• Level 3, 5–6 marks: convincing, developed evaluation supported by carefully chosen references.

Three reasons supported by evidence are needed to reach Level 3, but their quality determines whether the answer belongs there. An examiner considers the answer as a whole and chooses the level that best fits it.

Paper 1 lasts 1 hour 55 minutes. A useful working budget is about 8 minutes for each of these six-mark answers: briefly select evidence, write three developed reasons and check the focus.

Build a reason from evidence to judgement

A useful sequence is judgement → evidence → explanation of success. For each reason, ask:

1. What makes this part of the presentation successful or less successful?
2. Which exact words or detail support that view?
3. Why would this help or hinder the writer’s aim for a reader?

‘The writer is effective because the language is powerful’ is too general. You need to identify what is powerful and why it matters. Three separate reasons might concern an inclusive promise, a realistic qualification and a lack of supporting evidence. Repeating that three different quotations are ‘persuasive’ does not explain three different routes to persuasion.

Text 1: persuading readers that strength is attainable

Eugen Sandow’s Strength and How to Obtain It was first published in 1897. In this introduction from a revised edition, he presents strength as health and well-being, not simply athletic ability. His purpose includes encouraging readers to believe that his system can help them.

Read this extract before following the worked answer:

In writing this book I have taken it as a commonplace that everyone--man, woman, and child--wants to be strong. Without strength--and by strength I mean health, vitality, and a general sense of physical well-being--life is but a gloomy business. Wealth, talent, ambition, the love and affection of friends, the pleasure derived from doing good to those about one, all these things may afford some consolation for being deprived of life’s chief blessing, but they can never make up for it. “But,” I am constantly being asked, “it is all very well for you to say this, and everyone of sense agrees with you; the point is, can we obtain this much-prized blessing?” In the vast majority of cases I can say unhesitatingly “Yes.” You can all be strong, all enjoy the heritage which was intended for you. Not all to the same extent, perhaps. Those who are afflicted with some hereditary disease, who may have unsound organs handed down to them, cannot reasonably expect to get such results as their more fortunate brethren. Still, even they need not despair; even if their condition be such as to put out of the question any such thing as athletics, they can, at all events, attain to such a condition as will permit of their enjoying life, and render them fit to carry on their work without difficulty. And after all, those who wish to be strong for this reason are innumerable. It is only the young and vigorous who desire to excel in athletic pastimes, but the middle-aged and elderly, the delicate women and young children, who yearn for health are countless. I claim that by carefully following out my system, as set out in the following pages, and fully illustrated in the Anatomical Chart at the end of the volume, these results may be attained.

Practice task, using the Question 2 format: evaluate how successfully Sandow persuades readers that they can improve their strength by following his system. Give three reasons for your opinion, using examples from the extract above. 6 marks, AO4.

Thinking through the Sandow answer

First identify the precise aim: encouraging belief in attainable improvement. This is not a task about whether exercise is generally good.

Reason 1: he makes improvement personally relevant. ‘You can all be strong’ directly includes the reader. His definition of strength as ‘health, vitality’ also broadens the promise beyond sporting excellence. Together, these details help persuade people who want ordinary well-being rather than exceptional muscles.

Reason 2: he qualifies the promise. ‘Not all to the same extent, perhaps’ acknowledges differences in what people can achieve. This can make the argument more credible because he does not promise identical results for everyone. His recognition that athletics may be impossible for some readers further distinguishes everyday improvement from athletic success.

Reason 3: his assurance is not proof. The ending says ‘I claim’, but this introduction does not give a demonstrated result from someone following the system. A reader can find his confidence encouraging while still wanting evidence. Keep the judgement bounded: the extract lacks that proof; this does not establish that the whole book lacks it.

Notice that the overall view follows from the evidence: Sandow is encouraging and partly credible, but not completely convincing. You do not need to invent a criticism to appear balanced. A wholly positive or negative judgement can also succeed if it is well supported.

A developed Sandow response

Sandow is largely successful because he makes improvement seem relevant to ordinary readers. His promise, ‘You can all be strong’, addresses them directly, while ‘health, vitality’ makes strength mean more than athletic excellence. This is persuasive for readers who simply want to feel well, because they can see a benefit that matches their own needs.

He also gains credibility by admitting that people will not improve ‘all to the same extent’. Rather than promising identical results, he acknowledges limits and recognises that athletics may be impossible for some. This qualification makes his encouragement more believable: readers are offered improvement, not necessarily exceptional sporting ability.

However, his final assurance is less convincing as evidence. ‘I claim’ states his belief that the system works, but this extract gives no demonstrated result from a person who has followed it. His confidence may encourage readers to try the guide, yet a doubtful reader could still want proof. He therefore creates hope more successfully than he establishes the reliability of his system.

This answer would receive 6/6, Level 3. Its best fit is the top level because it develops a convincing judgement about the stated aim, distinguishes encouragement from proof and uses precise references to explain three different reasons. Its mark is not simply a reward for having three paragraphs.

Text 2: arguing for physical education in schools

William Blaikie’s How to Get Strong and How to Stay So, in its 1883 edition, argues for physical education in every school. In the following part of his chapter, he moves from demanding action to explaining how teachers should be prepared and held responsible. ‘Erect carriage’ means upright posture; ‘requisite knowledge’ means the knowledge needed for the task.

There ought to be no more delay in this matter of physical education in the schools. Prompt and vigorous steps should be taken to acquaint every school-teacher in this country with such exercises as would quickly restore the misshapen, insure an erect carriage, encourage habits of full breathing, and strengthen the entire trunk and every limb. If the teachers have not the requisite knowledge now, let it at once be acquired. They, of all persons, are expected to know how to acquire knowledge, and to aid others in doing the same. As soon as they have gained even partial knowledge of how to effect these things, let them lose no time in imparting that knowledge to the pupil.

Physical education ought to be made compulsory in every school in this land. Have it directly under the eye and guidance of the teacher, and have that teacher know that, at the quarterly or semi-annual examinations, reasonable progress will be expected in this department just as certainly as in any other, and if he is not up to his work, that some one who is will be put in his place. Then that progress will surely come. It has come already, where the means have been understood and used, as witness Maclaren abroad and Sargent here; and it brings such a benefit to the pupil that no pains should be spared to insure it.

Practice task, using the Question 5 format: evaluate how successfully Blaikie persuades readers that physical education should be introduced in every school without delay. Give three reasons for your opinion, using examples from the extract above. 6 marks, AO4.

Thinking through the Blaikie answer

The aim is both universal provision and immediate action. Select reasons that address those ideas rather than discussing every feature you notice.

His promised benefits give readers a reason to care. ‘Strengthen the entire trunk and every limb’ presents physical education as benefiting the whole body. Evaluate the appeal of that promise; do not turn Blaikie’s historical claims about health into established medical facts.

His proposals also make the demand seem workable. Teachers should acquire knowledge, supervise pupils and be assessed on progress. This is more concrete than merely saying that schools should improve.

Finally, test his evidence. Naming ‘Maclaren abroad and Sargent here’ offers examples of previous success, but the extract gives no details of their results. ‘Progress will surely come’ is stronger than the support shown here. That gap gives a reason why a cautious reader might remain unconvinced.

A developed Blaikie response

Blaikie is persuasive because he presents physical education as offering substantial benefits to pupils. The promise to ‘strengthen the entire trunk and every limb’ suggests improvement throughout the body, making the proposal seem important rather than an optional extra. This gives readers a clear reason to support provision in every school.

He also makes action seem practical by explaining that teachers should acquire the necessary knowledge and that ‘reasonable progress will be expected’ at examinations. These proposals identify who will deliver the teaching and how improvement will be checked. This is convincing because the demand for immediate action is supported by a plan rather than left as a vague wish.

However, his certainty is less fully justified. ‘Progress will surely come’ promises success, and ‘Maclaren abroad and Sargent here’ suggests it has happened elsewhere, but he gives no details of their results in this extract. The names offer some support, yet a cautious reader may question whether every school could achieve the same outcome. His case for action is therefore stronger than his guarantee of success.

This answer would receive 6/6, Level 3. It gives a developed, convincing evaluation of the stated purpose, with carefully selected evidence. It recognises both the persuasive value and the limits of the writer’s support. Taken as a whole, its qualities best fit the top level.

Make your judgement precise

Useful sentence openings include:

• ‘The writer is convincing here because…’
• ‘The example of… makes the argument more credible by…’
• ‘This is particularly effective for readers who… because…’
• ‘However, the claim that… is less convincing because…’

The explanation after ‘because’ does the important work. Consider the likely reader without assuming that everyone reacts identically. A confident promise may reassure one reader but seem exaggerated to another. Either interpretation needs a reason grounded in the words.

Before finishing, check that you have answered the precise aim, developed three separate reasons, supported each from the permitted section and explained how the evidence supports your judgement.

Paper 1 Questions 2 and 5

• 6 marks each; AO4.
• Q2: specified section of Text 1. Q5: specified section of Text 2.
• Judge success in achieving the aim named in the question.
• Working budget: about 8 minutes each.

Three developed reasons

Judgement → precise evidence → why it helps or hinders the aim.

Evaluate ideas, reasoning, examples and tone as well as language choices. Distinguish a confident claim from evidence supporting it.

What earns the higher level?

• Level 1, 1–2: limited evaluation and references.
• Level 2, 3–4: clear evaluation with relevant support.
• Level 3, 5–6: convincing, developed evaluation with carefully selected support.

Three evidence-supported reasons are required for Level 3; the overall quality determines the level and mark. Positive, negative or mixed judgements can succeed.