The Evaluation Argument in Popluation 485 by Michael Perry

Population 485 describes Michael Perry’s life as he searches for his niche in his community. There are three criteria that build an evaluation argument, which consist of ethical, practical, and aesthetic criteria. Throughout the book Perry provides multiple detailed stories that use two of the three criteria quite often. The practical criterion focuses on practical considerations and appears more throughout his book than the aesthetic criterion, which is based off of how engaging the story is to the reader, and the picture the story paints in the readers’ heads. As a whole Michael Perry creates a successful book that uses his personal experiences to convey his message of the importance of community in someone’s life.

The main point Perry stresses in Population 485, is the important role community plays in helping a person feel at home. The definition argument plays an important role in conveying Perry’s message of the importance of community, using both the operational and example definition methods. The example definition method is exemplified numerous times throughout the story, as Michael Perry uses his own personal examples to display how crucial those in his community are in providing him with a sense of belonging. Additionally, Perry employs the operational definition method by including tragedy in the majority of his stories. The inclusion of tragedy in his stories create allow readers to conclude that tragedy brings people closer together. While this may be true in this case, tragedy does not always bring people closer together. Belonging, in the eyes of Michael Perry, is the feeling of finding family inside his community, rather than simply knowing the people in his community.

Perhaps the most common use of support thr...

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...d community history, comedy, and a series of tragedies, all of which result in history at its finest”, provide an overview of the interesting stories Michael Perry has to share in his book (Dwyer 52). Overall, Dwyer’s review goes far beyond summarizing Population 485, but rather describes Perry’s true love for his town, which makes his book such a huge success.

As a whole, Population 485 attracts a variety of readers, pulling them into the story through universalization, personal experiences, and pleasing the readers’ mind through profound, aesthetically engaging, and descriptive language. A key part to creating a strong evaluation argument is focusing on something the audience values. In this case Michael Perry focuses on the importance of community and the feeling of belonging in the small town he lives in, something him and many readers may have in common.