To evaluate a piece of media means to

express the main idea in a clear and specific way.
disseminate the contents to a wide audience.
judge the purpose and message in a thoughtful way.
communicate the information to a group of people.

may i see the passage?

poe’s time at the academy was financed by his foster father, john, meaning that poe needed his foster father’s permission in order to drop out if he wanted to. unfortunately, poe’s relationship with his foster father was soon on the rocks again after john married his second wife, louisa patterson.

i was just learning about this in language arts a week ago. edgar poe makes lots of wonderful books, too.