Process Questions and Reminders for the Definition Essay

THE FOLLOWING ARE NOTES FROM THE BEDFORD READER (pages 508-512):

You are not writing a stipulated definition, but an extended definition which is more personal, with an implied bias.   (arguing FOR or AGAINST a particular meaning)

You are "mapmaker charting a territory, taking in some of what lies within the boundaries and ignoring what lies outside."

"[Extended Definition]...is perhaps less a method in itself than the application of a variety of methods to clarify a purpose.   Like DESCRIPTION, extended definition tries to show a reader its subject.  It does so by establishing boundaries, for its writer tries to differentiate a subject from anything that might be confused with it."

Although your thesis may be implied, you might want to make it explicit to "serve your readers.  It is essential that the idea govern."  (THIS MEANS YOU MUST BE CLEAR ON YOUR PURPOSE AND INTENDED MEANING.  YOU ARE IN CONTROL OF ITS EXECUTION.)

"Like any other method of expository writing...definition will only work for the writer who remembers the world of the senses and supports every generalization with concrete evidence."

"Give your reader examples, narrate an illustrative story, bring in specific description---in whatever method you use, keep coming down to earth."

THE PROCESS

 from page 509 of The Bedford Reader, 11^th edition

To discover [the] complexity [of the word you have chosen], you may find it useful to ask yourself the following questions:

1. Is this subject unique, or are there others of its kind?  If it resembles others, in what ways?  How is it different?

2. In what different forms does it occur, while keeping its own identity?

3. When and where do we find it?  Under what circumstances and in what situations?

4. What is it at the present moment?

5. What does it do?  What are its functions and activities?

6. How is it put together?  What parts make it up? What holds these parts together?

*Not all these questions will fit….but they should help you add depth to your writing.

Remember these questions are accompanied by examples (using the word "sexism") in the text that you can refer to in class if any cause confusion.