ENC1930 Prof. Anderson
Major Essay 3 – Write to Evaluate a Podcast Walking Tour
Objectives
For this assignment you will write a 750+ word evaluation of a podcast walking tour. This essay will showcase your ability to work through the entire evaluation process and utilize criteria for evaluating a podcast walking tour that you develop in Minor Essay 4. Developing these criteria and evaluating your selected podcast will involve analysis, evaluation, and critical thinking. The detailed analysis of the podcast walking tour will give you the opportunity to learn about a place that you find interesting as well as introduce you to podcasts, a relatively new digital genre that has become increasingly popular in recent years. Becoming familiar with podcast walking tours will also aid you in creating your own in unit 4.
Rhetorical Context
The purpose of this assignment is to evaluate a podcast walking tour of your choice. You are writing this essay with an intended audience of podcast listeners who could potentially be interested in the podcast you are evaluating. This audience should be considered professional and semi-formal rather than academic. As such, your writing should be engaging, objective, and informative. It may have some first or second person writing but should focus mostly on the criteria you have developed and specific examples of the way your selected podcast meets or fails these criteria. Your essay should fit the genre of a podcast review. This genre can be considered closed form prose and should have a clear thesis, introduction, body paragraphs, and conclusion.
Requirements
The following criteria must be met in order to receive full credit for your work. Failure to comply with any of these requirements will penalize your grade:
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750+ words
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MLA Format with 12 pt Times New Roman font
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Develop criteria for evaluating a podcast walking tour in Minor Essay 4
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Evaluate a podcast walking tour of your choice using these criteria
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Thesis driven, closed form prose
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Semi-formal writing style appropriate to a professional podcast review
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Works cited page that references the podcast you are evaluating
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Final Draft due by 11-9 at midnight
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Original Work
Guiding Questions
The following questions can help you select a topic and decide what type of content to focus on in your essay:
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What place would I be interested in learning more about or visiting in the future?
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What is a podcast? What are the expectations of a podcast walking tour?
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How does a podcast walking tour introduce listeners to a space without a visual component?
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What criteria will I use to measure my selected podcast?
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How does the podcast meet or fail these criteria?
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Who could potentially be listening to this selected podcast? Who would potentially read a podcast review?

ENC1930 Prof. Anderson
Scoring Criteria
Your essay will be evaluated on five different criteria that are described below. Each of these individual scores are combined in order to determine your final grade. It is entirely possible to receive a high grade in one category but fail another, so keep all of these aspects of your paper in mind as you begin to write.
A= Excellent quality work that surpasses the guidelines and expectations of the paper
B= High quality work that fulfills all guidelines and shows adequate effort
C= Lower quality work that meets most (but not all) guidelines or shows inadequate effort
D= Below average work that does not comply with essay requirements or shows little effort
F= Extremely below average work
Purpose & Structure:
The essay should focus on your evaluation of a podcast walking tour. It should be closed form prose and have a strong thesis, clear transitions, and logical progression of thought.
Evaluation Criteria:
Your essay should have clear and reasonable criteria that you use to evaluate your selected podcast. These criteria will be created by you based on what you decide are the most important elements of a podcast walking tour. These criteria will be explained and justified in Minor Essay 4.
20%
20%
Evaluative Writing
Your essay should have a clear evaluation of your selected podcast in the thesis. This evaluation should be based off of the criteria you decided upon. The body paragraphs of your essay should give specific details, quotes, and examples of how the podcast meets or fails each of these expectations.
Writing style:
The audience of a podcast walking tour or podcast review should be considered semiformal. As such, your essay should have conversational rather than complicated language. It may have some 1 st or 2 nd person writing but should remain objective and detailed in its presentation of information.
Mechanics:
The final draft of the paper should show sufficient editing and revision. It should also utilize college-level grammar and spelling. For a professional review, grammar and mechanics are often linked to the writer’s credibility. Your essay should also utilize
MLA format and have a Works Cited page that references the podcast you have selected.
20%
20%
20%
Note: Information adapted from Professor Cayce Wick’s “Write to Evaluate a Walking Tour” assignment sheet.