Definition

Outline

1. “definition” defined

2. How to define a word or term

3. How to develop a definition paragraph or essay

4. Pay attention to some errors

5. In-class writing practice (assignment)

Warm-up

• “Happiness”– How do you define it? Write one or more

sentences to define the term. – How do you define “xueba”(学霸 )?

①普通版： straight A student

②种族版： straight A-sian student

③崇拜版： straight A-mazing student

④羡慕嫉妒恨版： straight A-hole student

⑤腹黑诅咒版： straight A-lone forever student

⑥非人类版： straight A-lien student

• More versions:– Digging Student – Study Machine – Learning machine – Asian students

Happiness defined

1. Happiness is when what you think, what you say, and what you do are in harmony.  -----Mahatma Gandhi

2. Happiness is that state of consciousness which proceeds from the achievement of one’s values.

----- Ayn Rand

3. Happiness is something that you are and it comes from the way you think.  ----- Wayne Dyer

4. Happiness is essentially a state of going somewhere, wholeheartedly, one-directionally, without regret or reservation. ----- William H. Sheldon

5. Happiness is not a reward - it is a consequence.

----- Robert Ingersoll

6. Happiness is different from pleasure. Happiness has something to do with struggling and enduring and accomplishing.  ----- George Sheehan

7. Happiness is the meaning and the purpose of life, the whole aim and end of human existence.  ----- Aristotle

8. Happiness is not something you experience, it’s something you remember.  ----- Oscar Levant

9. Happiness is not a station you arrive at, but a manner of traveling.   ----- Margaret Lee Runbeck

10. Happiness is the spiritual experience of living every minute with love, grace and gratitude.  -----Denis Waitley

• What is a definition?– A definition is the enclosing of a wilderness of

ideas within a wall of words.– A definition is the effort to distinguish an entity

from all other things for the purpose of being able to recognize it or in some way to understand it.

• Definition is in fact a form of expository writing.

• But because definition presents certain problems of its own, it is better to treat it separately.

“Definition” defined

• In the simplest sense, to define a word is to show what class or group the word belongs to and then point out the basic features which distinguish it from other members of the same group.

• How to define?– The general principle: the writer may use

any method or combination of methods known or devisable so long as he efficiently brings his reader to understand what something is or what a word means.

• Ways to define– Analysis – Synthesis – Negation – Exemplification – Synonyms

• Analysis:– This type of definition consists of placing a

word in a large class called genus and then differentiating the word from other members of that class.

– Tiger: a large wild animal of the cat family, that has yellowish fur with black lines and lives in parts of Asia.

• Synthesis – This form of definition relates the thing-to-be-defined

to something already familiar to the reader or the listener. It often reveals the thing-to-be-defined as part of some larger whole.

– To define blue, other than by pointing to some blue object, we shall have to say that blue is the color produced by light of a wavelength .000047 cm. Or we might define blue as the color of the sky on a cloudless day.

• Negation – “Sometimes the best way to say what

something is, is to say what it is not. This technique is often preliminary to another form of definition; we use it to eliminate rival meanings, and that helps us isolate the meaning we want. Or sometimes a negative definition is as close as you can come to a meaning; you can only say what it is not.”

• Negation– It defines a thing by making clear what it is

not. In connection with negative definition, we might add that definitions sometimes carefully distinguish the thing-to-be-defined from something resembling it and often confused with it.

–“革命”

• “革命” defined – “革命不是请客吃饭，不是做文章，不是绘画绣花，不能那样雅致，那样从容不迫，文质彬彬，那样温良恭俭让。革命是一场暴动，是一个阶级推翻另一个阶级的暴烈行动。农村革命是农民阶级推翻封建地主阶级的权力的革命。”

– A revolution is not a dinner party, or writing an essay, or painting a picture, or doing embroidery; it cannot be so refined, so leisurely and gentle, so temperate, kind, courteous, restrained and magnanimous. A revolution is an insurrection, an act of violence by which one class overthrows another. A rural revolution is a revolution by which the peasantry overthrows the power of the feudal landlord class.

• Exemplification– Exemplification is definition by example, which

often appears as an aid to definition by analysis or by synthesis, for one of the best way to define something is to give one or more examples of it.

– “A fanatic”

• Fanatic defined – A fanatic is a person who is extremely enthusiastic about

something. For instance, I have an uncle who is fanatic about streetcars. He loves them so much so that he drags them almost into every conversation. If I say something about coming home on the bus, he says, “ Now if that had been a streetcar, you wouldn’t have had that trouble…’ and then he goes into some long-winded account of where the streetcars used to run and how much cheaper they were to operate. He has a scrapbook full of old pictures he took with the streetcars. He makes everybody who visits the house look, even though we’ve already seen those pictures a thousand times.

• Synonyms – This method has the advantage of being brief,

but unless it is accompanied by some other method of definition, it runs the risk of misleading the reader, for no two words mean exactly the same thing, and, quite often, approximations are not good enough.

– Still, this method is useful, if our purpose is simply to clarify the meaning of a word or term in passing.

• To define a word, a writer might explain (1) what it is (i.e., an inanimate object, an abstract idea, a plant or animal, an emotion, a physical state, etc.), (2) describe it, (3) explain what it is used for, (4) explain how it works, (5) compare it to something that is similar but more familiar to the average person, and / or (6) explain what various parts of the word mean.

饺子

• “饺子”– Dumpling? – Steamed stuffed dumpling?– A piece of dough made from wheat flour and

rolled to a thin circle, then stuffed with a filling of meat and/or vegetables, pinched, closed and boiled or fried.?

• Extended definition – This type refers to the definition of a concept or a

subject which may or may not begin with a dictionary meaning. It is used to explain the meaning of abstract concept. This type is much longer in length and less formal. (e.g. beauty, happiness, freedom)

– Definition essay • To explain or characterize certain concepts,

subjects, ideas, or theories to the reader• Informative rather than persuasive

• Main features – The concept explanation in this type of essay

must be fully focused. – Try to make clear about what to include, what

to emphasize, and what to leave out since you can never explain everything.

– The central idea or the thesis should be clearly stated so that the reader can easily identify and grasp the main point of the whole essay.

• Features – The organization must be logical so that the

reader will not be confused about the overall structure

– The sources cited in the essay should be authoritative.

– Normally the sources should be from established mediums such as books, dictionaries, magazines other than from your personal experiences, observations.

Organization

• The Introductory part– Use a traditional formal definition. Try to refer to

the meaning given by a dictionary when you define a word or a concept at the beginning of your essay.

– Explain the origin of the word which you are going to define;

– Use the term at the beginning of the essay to provoke your reader’s curiosity;

– Restrict the meaning of your definition黑客

• A Hacker originally refers to a person who chops or cuts roughly and irregularly with a hatchet. But with the wide- spread application of computers to various aspects of our life and work, it has assumed a new meaning. A Hacker now is a computer user who is able to use or change the information in other people’s computer systems without their knowledge or permission. Many Hackers are very talented people who have acquired computer knowledge all by themselves.

• The developmental paragraphs – As the definition essay is a combination of

almost all types of expository writing, you can choose any type of the following patterns or a combination of them to develop the body of your essay.

– Exemplification

Comparison and Contrast

• It is apparently very necessary to distinguish between parenthood and parentage. Parenthood is an art; parentage is the consequence of a mere biological act. The biological ability to produce, to conceive, and to give birth to a child has nothing to do with the ability to care for that child as it requires to be cared for. It is highly desirable that parentage should not be undertaken until the parenthood has been learned. Parentage is often irresponsible whereas parenthood is responsible. Parentage at best is irresponsibly responsible for the birth of a child while parenthood is responsible for the development of a human being-not simply a child, but a human being. It can thus be stated that parenthood is the most important occupation in the world.

Cause and effect

• As might be expected, researchers have offered many theories concerning the cause of crib death. Dr. R. C. Reisinger, a national cancer Institute scientist, has linked crib death to the growth of a common bacterium, E. coli, in the intestines of newborn babies. The organisms multiply in the intestines, manufacturing a toxin that is absorbed by the intestinal wall and passes into the bloodstream. Breast milk stops the growth of the organism, whereas cow’s milk permits it. Therefore, Dr. Reisinger believes, bottle-fed babies run a higher risk of crib death than other babies.

Classification

• Natural resources are supplies drawn from nature. They fall into two distinct categories: renewable and mineral. Resources derived from living matter, such as food, clothing, and wood, are renewable resources because they are replenished each growing season. Even if one season’s crop is consumed, the next season brings a renewed larder ( stored food). But mineral resources such as coal, oil, atomic energy, copper, iron, and fertilizers are not renewed each season. They are nonrenewable resources.

Negation

• Many people think that a nurse is a smiling woman, in a white uniform and cap, whose main job is to take temperature for a patient and change his or her bedpan in the hospital. However, this stereotype is not correct. Today/s nurses are both male and female. They are trained professionals who offer comfort and assistance to people who are ill or who are experiencing great physical or mental stress. They work in hospital bedrooms and in operating room. They also help people institutions and provide professional home care…

• The concluding part– Summarizing the main points;– Restating the thesis in another way;– Advising the reader or making suggestions;– Predicting the future– Pointing out different features; – Emphasizing the relationship between

cases and effects

Typical transitional device for definition essay

namely

that is ( i.e.)

by definition

can be defined as…

What is meant is…

The meaning of… is…

The essence of the concept is…

The main/ basic features included are…

• Traps in defining– Circular – Too narrow– Too broad

Remember: the commonly-used words in writingdefinition are: is, mean, signify, refer to, constitute, involve,is considered to be, is defined as, can be defined as, statethat… etc.

• Errors – “Economics” is the study of (the) economy.– “Economics” is a science of the production and

distribution of goods.– An “automobile” is a means of transportation.– An automobile is a car used as a means of

transportation.– A poem is two or more rhymed lines written to

express an idea, mood, or emotion.– A poem is a piece of writing in verse form expressing

deep feeling or noble thought in beautiful language.

• Luck refers to moments of good fortune that happen in everyday life. Luck is putting $0.75 into a vending machine and getting the money back with your snacks. It is a teacher’s decision to give a retest on a test where you first scored thirty. It is not going to the dentist for two years and then going and finding out that you do not have any cavities. It is calling up a plumber to fix a leak on a day when the plumber has no other work to do. Luck is finding a used car for sale at a good price at exactly the time when your car rolls its last mile. It is driving into a traffic bottleneck and choosing the lane that winds up moving most rapidly. Luck is being late for work on a day when your boss arrives later than you do. It is having a new checkout aisle at the supermarket open up just as your cart arrives. The best kind of luck is winning a new color TV set on a chance for which you paid only a quarter.

A football fan

• What is the thesis?

• How does the author develop the thesis?

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文艺青年

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