Definition Essays

1. Definition Essays English 9 Genre Study

2. For Group Discussion • Think about a situation when you and your parents disagreed about how to define a term (perhaps curfew, good grades, respectful behavior, appropriate language). How did you resolve this disagreement? What kind of evidence did you provide? • Be prepared to share your story and your definition of the term in question with the whole class.

3. Notice that your definition of a given term may differ based on your: • perspective • interest and/or motivation • personal experience In other words, many terms are defined differently by different people. Who you are, what you want to say, and what you have experienced can provide you a unique definition of a given term.

4. For Group Discussion • What is the purpose of a dictionary? • Why do they exist? • What is the purpose of Wikipedia? • Do we need it? Why/why not?

5. Dictionaries provide general agreed upon definitions of commonly used words. • However, some words have many possible meanings and can even have personal significance based on a person’s experiences, interests, and perspective. • Wikipedia provides a larger and more in-depth source of information on people, places, events, and concepts and can even be updated regularly to accommodate new meanings, further examples, and catalogues of information.

6. For Group Discussion • What are some terms (keep them appropriate) that exist now but didn‘t when your parents were kids? • Are there some words that your parents know but that now have a completely different and unknown meaning between you and your friends?

7. Language is constantly evolving. For example: • New words are regularly introduced to represent new concepts and technologies. • Existing words often take on new meanings. • Words fall out of use when enough people begin using new vocabulary to represent the same ideas or objects. The fact that language changes so rapidly can also sometimes accelerate or accentuate differences in the way terms are defined.

8. Read the “Hacker” Essay • What is the central theme/term being defined? • What makes it an extended definition? • How is the text structured? Why? • What is the thesis of the text? Where is it found? • How do we approach issues, ideas, and/or topics differently based on our point of view ? • How do writers use historical, cultural, and/or literary knowledge?

9. Read the “American Patriot” Essay • What is the central theme/term being defined? • What makes it an extended definition? • How is the text structured? Why? • What is the thesis of the text? Where is it found? • How do we approach issues, ideas, and/or topics differently based on our point of view ? • How do writers use historical, cultural, and/or literary knowledge?

10. Read “Poverty” • What is the central theme/term being defined? • What makes it an extended definition? • How is the text structured? Why? • What is the thesis of the text? Where is it found? • How do we approach issues, ideas, and/or topics differently based on our point of view ? • How do writers use historical, cultural, and/or literary knowledge?

11. Always/Sometimes/Never • With a partner: • Add Characteristics from these 3 essays to “Always” • Add Characteristics to “Sometimes” • Add Characteristics to “Never”

12. What is a definition essay? • A definition essay does just what its name implies: it defines. • The subject is frequently an object, a concept, a type of person, a place, or a phenomenon that requires uncovering or that the writer believes needs to be re-conceptualized (Nadell 428).

13. Not Just a Dictionary Definition • Unlike a traditional dictionary definition or encyclopedia definition, the definition essay makes clear in a more complete and formal way the writer‘s own understanding based on his/her personal experiences.

14. Going Beyond the Dictionary • Though dictionary definitions may serve as a starting point, an effective extended definition doesn‘t end there. • As Nadell, Langan, and Comodromos explain, extended definition allows you to apply a personal interpretation to a word, to propose a revisionist view of a commonly accepted meaning, to analyze words representing complex or controversial issues (428).

15. Learning in the Process • Writers might think that they fully understand a concept when they begin, but as they continue to write, this definition changes: a new meaning is discovered and shared.

16. Your Definition Is a Unique Representation of Your Perspective • Definitions are also unique to an individual writer. • By selecting particular details and ignoring others, by incorporating stories or anecdotes, and by carefully determining how to analyze their subject, a writer puts forth a definition that is distinctive and specialized.

17. Adjusting Your Way of Thinking • These essays should be answering questions like: • What does _____ mean? • What is the true nature of _____? • How can _____ mean more (or something different) than people usually think?

18. Organizational Patterns • Good definition essays incorporate 2 or 3 of the following: • Showing it in relationship to another idea/term (comparison/contrast) • Telling a story that demonstrates the idea/term (narrative) • Divide an idea/term by separating it into parts (classification)

19. Adding to Our Always/Sometimes/Never • Based on this new information, what else can be added to the chart we began after reading the three model texts?

20. Topic Selection • For this essay, you will need to choose a topic from a pre-approved list of topics. • The topics that are available for selection are terms and ideas that have been explored in the literature that we read during English 9. • Therefore, you should choose a topic with which you have had personal experience and that you can defend with the literature we have read.

21. Topic Selection • New concept or terms: What are new concepts or terms im-portant today that may not have existed in the past? What do you see as being a defining issue in the future? • Commentary on society: What is something that people around you frequently misunderstand? (e.g., that popularity isn‘t easy, that families include more than blood relatives, that ―respect‖ is more than what people think it is). • Debate: what are issues that you like to debate, over and over again. What is the major ―unpinning‖ of the debate?

22. Suggested Topics • Prejudice • Justice • Friendship • Loyalty • American Dream • Success • Wealth • Education • Alienation • Love • Equality • Culture • American

23. Other Topics • If you have an idea or term that you would like to explore and define that is not on the previous list, you will need individual approval from your teacher. • The main requirement is that you choose a topic that you can support with examples from both your personal experience AND evidence or events in at least one piece of literature that we have read during English 9.

24. Topic SelectionUnderstanding How Topics Can Be Extended • How might a definition of “life” contribute to the debate around abortion? • How was the definition of “torture” germane to the debate on Guantanamo Bay? • How do different definitions of the word “citizen” influence the immigration debate? • How did definition of the term How do differing ideas of “fidelity” influence relationships? • How do definitions of “truth” and “lies” influence our legal sys-tem? Our political system? Our relationships?

25. Research • Evidence has to include details outside of your own experiences. This should be a deliberate broadening of your perspective to reach past a common definition. • Consider a variety of texts (articles, books, TV shows, and movies), conversations with others, and other anecdotal details as pieces of evidence.