understand what deﬁ nition ismyresource.phoenix.edu/secure/resource/com156r3/com156_week… · a...

236

You Know This

You already use defi nition.

• Your child hears the word hur-ricane and asks what it means. You then defi ne it for him.

• A friend new to this country sees a “No Smoking” sign and asks what it means. You defi ne it for him or her.

15Defi nitionWriting That Tells What Something Means

Understand What Defi nition IsDefi nition is writing that explains what a term or concept means.

In the following paragraph, each number corresponds to one of the four basics of good defi nition.

1 Internet addiction is 2 chronic, compulsive use of the Internet that

interferes with the addicts’ lives or their relationships with others. 3 For

example, addicts may spend so much time online that they are unable to

perform as expected at home, work, or school. 4 These addicts may spend

hours surfi ng the Web, playing games, or e-mailing friends and family. 3 In

other cases, the Internet addiction can cause fi nancial problems, or worse.

4 For example, online shoppers who go to extremes can fi nd themselves

FOUR BASICS OF GOOD DEFINITION1. It tells readers what term is being defi ned.

2. It presents a clear defi nition.

3. It uses examples to show what the writer means.

4. It gives details about the examples that readers will understand.

■ IDEA JOURNAL Write about what success means.

ANK_47574_15_ch15_pp236-251 r3 ko.indd 236 10/29/08 10:08:45 AM

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WRITING ESSAYSChapter 15 • Defi nition 237

in debt and, as a result, damage their credit, not to mention personal

relationships. 3 Still other Internet addictions involve potentially dangerous

or illegal activities. 4 These activities can include meeting people online,

gambling, viewing pornography, and engaging in cybersex. However, for

Internet addicts, the problem usually isn’t how they use the Internet; the

problem is that they cannot stop using it, even if they want to.

Many situations require you to explain the meaning of a term, particu-larly how you are using it.

COLLEGE On a U.S. history exam, you defi ne the term carpetbagger.

WORK You describe a coworker as “dangerous” to a human resources staffer, and the staffer asks what you mean exactly.

EVERYDAY You explain the term fair to your child in the context of LIFE games or sports.

Main Point in Defi nitionIn defi nition essays, your main point typically defi nes your topic. The main point is directly related to your purpose, which is to get your read-ers to understand the way that you are using a term or concept in the context of your essay. Although writers do not always defi ne a term or concept in a thesis statement, it helps readers if they do. A thesis statement in defi nition can follow a variety of different pat-terns, two of which include the term and its basic defi nition.

1. Term + Means/is + Basic defi nition = Thesis statement

Today, marriage means different things to different people.

Term + Means/is + Basic defi nition = Thesis statement

My company is customer-oriented: From start to fi nish to follow-up,

the customer comes fi rst.

Term + Means/is + Basic defi nition = Thesis statement

I am a neat freak.


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WRITING ESSAYS238 Part Two • Writing Different Kinds of Essays

2. Term + Class + Basic defi nition = Thesis statement

Today, marriage is an institution that means different things to dif-

ferent people.

Term + Class + Basic defi nition = Thesis statement

Childhood obesity is a condition that threatens the future of our

country in many ways.

In essays based on the following thesis statements, readers would ex-pect the italicized terms and concepts to be defi ned through examples that show the writer’s meaning.

What does marriage mean today?

I am a neat freak.

The concept of equal pay for equal work is a joke.

Many people do not understand what affi rmative action really means.

Support in Defi nitionIf a friend says, “Summer in New York City is awful,” you don’t know what she means by awful. Is it the weather? The people? The transporta-tion? Until your friend explains what she means, you won’t know whether you would think New York City in the summer is awful. Support in defi nition provides specifi c examples of terms or concepts to help explain what they mean. Read the two thesis statements that follow and the lists of examples that could be used as support.

THESIS Today, marriage means different things to different people.

SUPPORT A union of one man and one woman

A union of two people of either sex

A union that is supported by state law

A union that is supported by both civil and religious laws

THESIS I am a neat freak.

SUPPORT I clean compulsively.

I’m constantly buying new cleaning products.


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My cleaning habits have attracted the notice of friends and family.

In both of these examples, the writer would then go on to develop the examples with details.

THESIS I am a neat freak.

SUPPORT I clean compulsively.

DETAILS: I clean in the morning and at night, can’t let a spot on the counter go for a second, fret when I can’t clean as much as I’d like to.

SUPPORT I’m constantly buying new cleaning products.

DETAILS: Every week, I buy new products, have a closet full of them, always think there’s something better around the corner.

SUPPORT My cleaning habits have attracted the notice of friends and family.

DETAILS: Kids used to appreciate the clean house; now they complain that I’m compulsive; friends tease me, but I wonder if they think I go too far.

Organization in Defi nitionThe examples in a defi nition essay are often organized by impor-tance, or the impact you think the examples will have on your read-ers. Save the most important example for last. The plan for a defi nition essay might look like the diagram to the right. As you write, add transitions to connect one example to the next. See box on the following page.

Introduction with thesis statementDefi nes term or concept

First example explaining the defi nitionDetails about the fi rst example

Second example explain-ing the defi nitionDetails about the second example

Third example explaining the defi nitionDetails about the third example

ConclusionRefers back to the defi ned term/concept and makes an observation about it based on what you have written

DEFINITION AT A GLANCE


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Read and Analyze Defi nitionBefore writing a defi nition essay, read the following three examples — from college, the workplace, and everyday life — and answer the questions that accompany them.

Defi nition in CollegeThe following Boston Globe article was assigned to students in a marketing course to demonstrate the concept of product branding.

VOCABULARYThe following words are italicized in the excerpt: familiar, salivating, perception, altered, restrict, marketing, instill, obsessional. If you don’t know their meanings, look them up in a dictionary.

STUDY SAYS ADS TRICK CHILDREN’S TASTE BUDSLindsey Tanner

1 Anything made by McDonald’s tastes better, preschoolers said in a

study that powerfully demonstrates how advertising can trick the taste

buds of young children. Even carrots, milk, and apple juice tasted bet-

ter to the children when they were wrapped in the familiar packaging of

the Golden Arches: such is the power of branding, closely associating a

name, logo, slogan, or design with a particular product or line of prod-

ucts or services.

2 The study had youngsters sample identical McDonald’s foods in

name-brand and unmarked wrappers. The unmarked foods always lost

Common Transitions in Defi nition

another for example

another kind for instance

fi rst, second, third, and so on

■ For other examples of defi nition, see Chapter 48.

PAUSE: Why would juice and carrots — items that McDonald’s doesn’t even sell — taste better when pack-aged in McDonald’s wrapping?


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the taste test. “You see a McDonald’s label and kids start salivating,”

said Diane Levin, a childhood development specialist who campaigns

against advertising to children. Levin said it was “the fi rst study I know

of that has shown so simply and clearly what’s going on with [marketing

to] young children.”

3 Study author Dr. Tom Robinson said the children’s perception of

taste was “physically altered by the branding.” The Stanford University

researcher said it was remarkable how children so young were so infl u-

enced by advertising. The study involved 63 low-income children ages

3 to 5 from Head Start centers in San Mateo County, Calif. Robinson

believes the results would be similar for children from wealthier families.

4 The research, appearing in August’s Archives of Pediatrics and

Adolescent Medicine, was funded by Stanford and the Robert Wood

Johnson Foundation. The study will probably stir more debate over the

movement to restrict ads to children. It comes less than a month after

11 major food and drink companies, including McDonald’s, announced

new curbs on marketing to children under 12. McDonald’s says the only

Happy Meals it will promote to young children will contain fruit and

have fewer calories and less fat.

5 “This is an important subject and McDonald’s has been actively

addressing it for quite some time,” said company spokesman Walt Riker.

“We’ve always wanted to be part of the solution and we are providing

solutions.”

6 But Dr. Victor Strasburger, an author of an American Academy of

Pediatrics policy urging limits on marketing to children, said the study

shows that too little is being done. “It’s an amazing study and it’s very

sad,” Strasburger said. “Advertisers have tried to do exactly what this

study is talking about — to brand younger and younger children, to instill

in them an almost obsessional desire for a particular brand-name prod-

uct,” he said. Just two of the 63 children studied said they had never

eaten at McDonald’s, and about one-third ate there at least weekly.

7 The study included three McDonald’s menu items — hamburgers,

chicken nuggets, and fries — and store-bought milk or juice and carrots.

PAUSE: How does the study show the effect of branding?

PAUSE: Why do you think McDonald’s made the decision to reduce its market-ing to children?


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Children got two identical samples of each food on a tray, one in

McDonald’s wrappers or cups and the other in plain, unmarked pack-

aging. The participants were asked if they tasted the same or if one

was better. McDonald’s-labeled samples were clear favorites. Fries

were the biggest winner; almost 77 percent said the labeled fries tasted

best while only 13 percent preferred the others. Fifty-four percent pre-

ferred McDonald’s-wrapped carrots versus 23 percent who liked the

plain-wrapped sample. Fewer than one-fourth of the children said both

samples of all foods tasted the same.

8 Pradeep Chintagunta, a University of Chicago marketing professor,

said a fairer comparison might have gauged children’s preferences for

the McDonald’s label versus another familiar brand, such as Mickey

Mouse. “I don’t think you can necessarily hold this against” McDonald’s,

he said, since the goal of marketing is to build familiarity and sell

products.

— From the Boston Globe, 7 Aug. 2007, p. A6

1. Underline the defi nition of branding. Now defi ne it in your ownwords.

2. How does the essay serve as a defi nition of branding?

3. Does the essay give enough details about the experiment? What else

would have been helpful?

4. Does the essay have the four basics of good defi nition? Be ready to explain your answer.

5. What is another example of branding that you know about? About marketing to children?

Defi nition at WorkThe following profi le shows how a business owner uses defi nition at work.

PAUSE: Summarize the experiment.


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Gary’s Defi nition

Gary uses this mission statement to get contracts for his sign company.

VOCABULARYThe following words are italicized in the excerpt: fundamental, orientation, prospective, installation. If you don’t know their meanings, look them up in a dictionary.

1 The fundamental principle of Lightning Quick (LQ) Signs is cus-

tomer orientation. While most companies claim that they are customer-

oriented, most have no idea what that really means. I tell my employees

that I would like to have a customer giggle at the completion of the

job, delighting in the product and service we have delivered, his every

BACKGROUND: I grew up in New Orleans, where, after high school,I tried college for a year but was told by a professor that I wasn’t college material and should try manual labor. I left college and moved to Fort Worth, Texas, where I became a police offi cer. During my ten years with the force, I attended a junior college at night, earning an associate’s degree. I received numerous promotions at work and eventually became a member of the force’s SWAT team. In 1999, I decided to start my own business. I moved to Mississippi and started a sign company, Lightning Quick (LQ) Signs. Since then, the company has grown steadily into a successful business. It was destroyed by Hurricane Katrina in 2005, but I rebuilt and reopened it in 2007.

COLLEGES/DEGREES: Tarrant County Junior College (A.A.)

EMPLOYER: Self

WRITING AT WORK: Proposals to get jobs, advertising copy, follow-up reports and letters, loan applications, correspondence with clients and prospective clients, precise and descriptive specifi cations for government jobs

HOW GARY USES DEFINITION: I often need to defi ne terms for clients. In addition, the letter about the company that I use in sales situations defi nes how LQ Signs is customer-oriented.

Profi le of Success

Gary KnoblockBusiness Owner


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expectation met and exceeded. For all of us at LQ Signs, customer- oriented

means that from start to fi nish to follow-up, the customer comes fi rst.

2 Our customer orientation begins before the job begins. Before doing

anything, we interview the customer to learn what his or her needs are

and to determine the most cost-effective route to meet those needs. No

job for us is “standard.” Each is unique.

3 Our customer orientation means that we produce high-quality prod-

ucts quickly. We keep signs simple because our customers want their

prospective customers to be able to read the sign in a glance. We use the

most current digital printing processes to produce sharp, readable signs

quickly. Because we have previously determined, with the customer, the

most cost-effective method of producing the signs, the high quality and

rapid return do not come at extra cost.

4 Our customer orientation means that our products are thoroughly

checked for fl aws and installed at the customer’s convenience. Our signs

leave our workshop in perfect condition, as the customer has ordered.

Our well-trained team of installers works with the customer to deter-

mine the installation schedule.

5 Finally, our customer orientation means that the job is not complete

when the sign is in place. We follow up every sale to make sure that the

product is in top shape and that the customer is pleased.

6 LQ Signs is truly customer-oriented, from start to fi nish to follow-up.

Our customers are our partners.

1. What is Gary’s purpose?

2. Double-underline the thesis statement.

3. Underline the topic sentences.

4. Were you familiar with the term that Gary defi ned? Restate the meaning

of customer-oriented in your own words.

PAUSE: What are three examples of customer-oriented practices?


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Defi nition in Everyday Life

VOCABULARYThe following words are italicized in the excerpt: anesthetic, recon-struction, resin, retainer, adhesive, mimic, minimally, invasive, en-hanced, persist. If you don’t know their meanings, look them up in a dictionary.

CELEBRITY TEETHRebecca Skloot

1 Last year, if you walked into your dentist’s offi ce saying, “Hey, Doc,

can you make my teeth look like Cameron Diaz’s or Brad Pitt’s?” the

answer would have been, “Yeah, sure — with a lot of anesthetic, drilling,

and permanent reconstruction.” But things have changed.

2 Meet the Snap-On Smile — a thin, fl exible, resin shell of perfect

teeth that snaps over your actual teeth like a retainer. No adhesive, no

drilling. Its inventor, Marc Liechtung, is a dentist at Manhattan Dental

Arts, where you can walk in on a Monday, make a painless plaster mold

of your teeth, and then pick up your new smile by Friday. All for $1,200

to $1,600. Patients can work with a “smile guide” to choose one of

seventeen colors (“yellow-white,” “yellow-gray,” even “Extreme White

Buyer Beware”) and eighteen shapes (“squared,” “square-round,”

“pointy”). But many patients just hand Liechtung a celebrity photo and

say, “Make my teeth look like this.” So he does. But he wants to make

one thing clear: “I did not come up with the Snap-On Smile so people

could mimic celebrities.”

3 His goal was an affordable, minimally invasive dental tool. “I had

patients with almost no teeth who didn’t have $20,000 for reconstruc-

tion,” he says. So this year, after months in the lab, he unveiled Snap-On

Smiles. He is licensing them to dentists and has sold more than three

hundred to his own patients, many of whom have perfectly healthy (and

often straight) teeth.

4 People don’t ask Liechtung whether the Snap-On causes permanent

damage (it doesn’t) or whether you can eat with it (you can — even corn

PAUSE: What do you expect the next paragraph to be about?

PAUSE: Why might he have invented the Snap-On Smile?

PAUSE: Why would someone with healthy teeth buy a Snap-On Smile?


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on the cob). “No,” Liechtung says, “they just want to know: ‘Which is

the most popular celebrity?’ ‘What kind of girls get Halle Berry?’ ‘Who

do guys ask for? ’ ”

5 “In the beginning, it made me sick. I thought I invented some

serious medical device, but all people wanted to do was use it to make

themselves look like celebrities!” Eventually he thought, Well, why not?

“A person comes in, I say I can give them any teeth they want, who are

they going to want to look like? Me? No!”

6 Liechtung wears a Snap-On every day. But whose smile is it? “I just

made an enhanced version of my own,” he says. But people rarely believe

him. “I hate to admit it,” he says, “but when they persist, I tell them my

teeth are Brad Pitt’s, because really, who wouldn’t want his teeth?”

— From The New York Times Magazine,11 Dec. 2005, pp. 61–62

1. What is the term being defi ned?

2. Double-underline the sentence where the term is defi ned.

3. Underline two details about the Snap-On Smile.

4. Does the essay have the four basics of good defi nition? Be ready to explain your answer.

5. If you were choosing a Snap-On Smile, what would it look like? Does the idea appeal to you? Why or why not?

Critical Reading and Writing: Key College Skills 1. Summary. Briefl y summarize each of the three selections, including

the defi nitions that each essay provides.

2. Analysis. Review the introductory paragraphs of each selection. What purpose does each selection have? Do the introductions serve that

purpose?

3. Synthesis. Review Lindsey Tanner’s “Study Says Ads Trick Children’s Taste Buds” (p. 240) and Rebecca Skloot’s “Celebrity Teeth” (p. 245). Then, drawing from each and your experience, discuss how media affects our choices.


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4. Evaluation. Using the four basics of good defi nition as a measure, which of the three selections in this chapter is the best example of a defi nition? Give specifi c examples to support your choice. Is your choice different from the one you fi nd most informative?

Write a Defi nition EssayIn this section, you will write your own defi nition essay based on one of the following assignments. Before you begin to write, review the four basics of good defi nition on page 236. Also, read the Tips for Tackling Defi nition in the box that follows.

TIPS FOR TACKLING DEFINITION1. Read the assignment carefully, highlighting key words. An

assignment that uses defi nition might ask you to defi ne, but it might also use words such as discuss the concept of ______________, what is ______________ and how does it work?, defi ne and give examples of, and what does ______________ mean in the context of ______________?

2. Figure out what word or concept you need to defi ne.

3. Work out a simple defi nition, and list examples that demonstrate what the word or concept is in relation to the assignment.

4. Give examples of your understanding of the word or concept.

ASSIGNMENT 1 WRITING ABOUT COLLEGE, WORK, AND EVERYDAY LIFE

Write a defi nition essay on one of the following topics or on a topic of your own choice.

COLLEGE

• A term or concept from another course you have taken

• A good/inspiring/motivating teacher

• Cheating


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WORK

• Any term you use at work

• McJobs

• A model employee

EVERYDAY LIFE

• An attitude or behavior (such as assertiveness, generosity, negativity, optimism, and so on)

• Morality

• Road rage

ASSIGNMENT 2 WRITING ABOUT AN IMAGE

What point is the woman in the following picture trying to make? How might she defi ne patriotism? Write a defi nition essay presenting your defi nition of patriotism.


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ASSIGNMENT 3 WRITING TO SOLVE A PROBLEM

THE PROBLEM: Your company is putting together a new employee handbook. To make the handbook both realistic and relevant, the company has decided that the contents will come directly from the employees. Your department has been assigned the section on communication.

THE ASSIGNMENT: Working on your own or with a small group, write a short piece defi ning good communication skills, giving detailed examples of how those skills should be applied in your company.

RESOURCES: Review the chart on pages 868–69 for advice on problem solving. You might also

• Set up an informational interview with a human resources worker to fi nd out about your subject.

• Type defi nition of good communication skills into a search engine. Docu-ment any Web sites or references you use.

ASSIGNMENT 4 WRITING ABOUT READINGS

The assignments that follow ask you to read one or more different defi nition essays and draw from them to write your own essay.

• Review Lindsey Tanner’s “Study Says Ads Trick Children’s Taste Buds” (p. 240), and read Juliet B. Schor’s “Age Compression” (p. 811). Defi ne the terms branding and age compression. Then, explain how each essay describes them. Give examples, too, from your own experience or from other things you have read.

• Review Rebecca Skloot’s “Celebrity Teeth” (p. 245), and read Dave Barry’s “The Ugly Truth about Beauty” (p. 817) and Amy L. Beck’s “Struggling for Perfection” (p. 829). Drawing from these three selec-tions to make your point, discuss the pressures that people who live in this society feel to be young and beautiful.

Follow the steps in the Writing Guide on the next page to help you prewrite, draft, revise, and edit your defi nition essay. Check off each step as you com-plete it.


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WRITING GUIDE: DEFINITION

STEPS IN DEFINITION HOW TO DO THE STEPS

Focus. ■■ Think about why you are being asked to defi ne a term or concept and what you need to show. Review the four basics of good defi nition on page 236.

Prewrite to explore your topic. See Chapter 4 for more on prewriting (including clustering).

■■ Make a list of some topics you would be interested in defi ning — for example, a type of person, a belief that is important to you, or a term that you think is often misused.

■■ Choose one of the topics, and prewrite to come up with ideas about what you are defi ning. (Clustering works well for defi nition.) What does it mean to you? Decide on the meaning that you will develop in your essay.

Write a thesis statement.A thesis statement in defi nition can follow one of these patterns:

Term + Means/is + Defi nition = Thesis

Binge drinking is a killer.

Term + Class + Defi nition = Thesis

Yoga is an exercise that helps people relax.

Or, write a thesis statement that names the term and indicates what your essay will say:

I am a geek and proud of it.

See Chapter 5 for more on the thesis.

■■ Review your prewriting about what your topic means to you.

■■ Write a working thesis statement that includes the term. It also should include either your defi nition of the term or some idea of what your essay will explain.

■■ Think about your readers, and revise your thesis statement to make it either clearer or more interesting to them.

Support your thesis statement.Support in defi nition explains what terms or concepts mean by providing specifi c examples.See Chapter 6 for more on supporting a thesis statement.

■■ Prewrite to fi nd examples that explain how you are defi ning your topic.

■■ Review the examples, and get rid of any that don’t show your meaning of the term. Choose at least three good examples.

■■ With your readers in mind, add details to the examples that show your readers what you mean by your defi nition. Think about the kinds of examples and details that will make sense to them.


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STEPS IN DEFINITION HOW TO DO THE STEPS

Make a plan.See Chapter 7 for more on planning.

■■ Choose an order for your support points. A defi nition essay generally uses order of importance and builds up to the example that readers will fi nd most powerful.

■■ Make a written plan that includes the major support points (examples) and supporting details. (See the diagram on p. 239.)

Write a draft.See Chapter 8 for more on drafting.

■■ Write an introduction that includes your thesis statement. See if you can use one of the introductory techniques in Chapter 8.

■■ Write topic sentences for each of the examples.■■ Write body paragraphs that give detailed

explanations of each example.■■ Write a concluding paragraph that makes an

observation about the term based on the examples you have given.

■■ Title your essay.

Revise your draft.See Chapter 9 for more on revising a draft.

■■ Ask another person to read and comment on your draft.

■■ See if your thesis statement and introduction could be clearer or more interesting to your readers.

■■ Reread the body of your essay to make sure that the examples explain your defi nition and the details explain the examples. Add other examples and details that help explain what you mean by the term.

■■ Reread your conclusion to make sure it reinforces your defi nition.

■■ Add transitions to connect your ideas.■■ Make at least fi ve changes to your draft to improve

unity, support, or coherence (see pp. 127–40).■■ Check to make sure the draft follows the four basics

of good defi nition.

Edit your draft.See Parts Four through Seven for more on editing.

■■ Use the spell checker and grammar checker on your computer, but also reread your essay carefully to catch any errors.

■■ Look for errors in grammar, spelling, and punctuation. Run-ons and punctuation errors are common in defi nition, so check for those fi rst. Then, focus on sentence fragments, errors in subject-verb agreement, verb errors, and other areas where you often make mistakes.

■■ Ask yourself: Is this the best I can do?


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