SUU English 101 :
Definition Practice
OK, onliners. Here’s your task for today. In a substantial paragraph, identify the “distinguishing characteristics” of one of the following terms for the people in our class who may not understand the meaning or the importance of the words:
- relationship
- ritual
- stereotype
If these terms seem too general and abstract to interest your readers, you may want to focus on related but more specific words.
For example, you might want to define
romance instead of relationship;
the Saturday morning ritual of washing the car instead of ritual
OR the dumb blonde stereotype, instead of stereotype.
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Tips for success
The real trick to succeeding in writing any kind of extended definition (as opposed to the one-line dictionary sort) is to
figure out WHY you want to define the term for your readers. The following examples focus on three sorts of purposes:
- Method One: Clarifying a misunderstood term
- Method Two: Showing how the history of a word sheds light on a word
- Method Three: Arguing that a words connotations are not deserved
Ways to organize definitions
- Method One: Clarifying a misunderstood term
Organization:
- Introduction/Topic Sentence (for a paragraph) or Thesis (for a full essay) asserting that a clarification of a definition is needed for specific reasons:
- I. Since Valentine's Day is flapping its way toward us with a quiverful of Hallmark cards and an armload of Russell Stover chocolates, it might be well for us to consider what we mean when we profess our love. After all, any word that is used as easily to describe the passion one feels for a dessert ("I just love cheesecake") as it is to convey the emotion one feels for the light of one's life ("I just love Robert") surely needs some kind of redefinition.
- II. Description of various inappropriate uses of the word:
A. In our society, love is too often used as often to express a mild enthusiasm for a moderately pleasant sensation.
- Examples of people loving food, cars, movies.
B. Since we don't mind loving the new twin sets or Woody Allen movie, perhaps it isn't surprising that we describe the slight positive response we experience in the company of likable acquaintances or affable business associates as love. ("I just love our new boss"; "I just love that Joan What's-her-name."
- Examples of people proclaiming love for people they know about as well as they know Robert Redford.
C. Perhaps even more inappropriately, love is the word that we offer for public consumption when what we're really feeling is private lust.
- Examples of lines from movies.
- III. Section that offers a new or more appropriate definition for the word: In the same way that we don't wear our pearls to slop the hogs, we shouldn't employ the word "love" to communicate lesser emotions. Instead we should reserve the word to describe the sensation we feel when we care about someone's welfare as deeply as we care about that of our own.
- IV. Conclusion that returns to opening thesis
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Method B: Showing how the history of a word sheds light on a word
(You'll need a good dictionary like the Oxford English Dictionary for this task.)
- I. Thesis that shows why an understanding of a word's origin can offer enlightenment about its current uses: Perhaps the current use of the word "crafty" to mean "one skilled in craftwork" wouldn't offend language purists if they considered the long and venerable history of the word.
- II. Description of past uses of the word:
A. Use of Old English "craeftig" to mean "skillful, strong and learned."
B. Middle English demotion of the word to mean "tricky."
C. Current return of the word to a meaning close to the original.
- III. Conclusion getting back to the main point
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- Method C: Arguing that a words connotations are not deserved
- I. Introduction/Thesis that explains the common connotation a word carries and asserts the reasons that connotation is inappropriate:
A. People are always taking the name of the classical study of rhetoric in vain. After watching the current crop of politicians inflate themselves with hot air, the average person is likely to comment, "He didn't say anything. He just used a lot of rhetoric." Or a teacher, after asking her students a question, might pause and then say, "That wasn't a rhetorical question--I really want to know what you think." However, despite these negative uses, "rhetoric" deserves a more positive place in the language.
- II. Discussion of the characteristics of a word that contrast with its common connotations.
A. Rhetoric as a study of effective use of language
B. Rhetoric as the study of structures
C. Rhetoric as the study of audiences
- III. Conclusion that calls for the redefinition of a word
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