Extended Definition Essay

Extended Definition Essay

When defining is the argument . . .
•Purpose – advocating for your meaning is your purpose in writing
–Helping your audience to understand your meaning.
–Showing the change the way a word is used.
–Demonstrating ways the meaning of a word has changed over time.

Why use definition in an essay?
•Technical terms
•Requires formal definition
•Class
•Criteria (distinguishing traits)
•Stipulation – Define a word used in a special or unique way in the essay (Holocaust Essay and Think Pink essays, e.g.).
•Example, discrimination originally meant to discern with a positive connotation. Discrimination with a negative connotation came later.

Setting boundaries continued . . .
•Poverty, for example . . .
–In what contexts is the definition of poverty important?
–In what ways can poverty be defined?
–How is the definition used?
–More questions?
•Family, for example . . .
–What is the definition of a family?
•1940s mid-West farmers?
•1950s suburban?
•1980s?
•2010s?
–Why is it important to define a family?
–In what contexts are the definition of a family important?
–More questions?

An extended definition claim looks like:
•Someone paid to do public service is not a volunteer because volunteers are people who . . .
•A swampy parcel of land becomes a federally protected wetland when . . .
•Washington, D.C., should not be considered eligible for statehood because states all . . . , and the District of Columbia doesn’t.