{"id":796,"date":"2017-10-16T19:56:40","date_gmt":"2017-10-16T19:56:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/suny-jeffersoncc-englishcomp2kscopexmaster\/?post_type=chapter&p=796"},"modified":"2017-10-16T19:56:40","modified_gmt":"2017-10-16T19:56:40","slug":"essay-3-definition","status":"web-only","type":"chapter","link":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/suny-jeffersoncc-englishcomp2kscopexmaster\/chapter\/essay-3-definition\/","title":{"raw":"Essay 3: Definition","rendered":"Essay 3: Definition"},"content":{"raw":"

Essay 3: Definition (750 points)<\/h2>\r\n

Writing Assignment<\/h3>\r\nDefinition is a challenging rhetorical mode.\u00a0 Arguing definitions, one might be asked to challenge a widely accepted definition, create a controversial definition, or try to figure the extent to which examples fit an existing definition.\u00a0 Using Olson\u2019s essay \u201cThe End of Race: Hawaii and the Mixing of Peoples\u201d and<\/strong> at least three sources other than<\/strong> reference works or dictionaries, write a 4-5-page definition argument on the following topic: Can there be an end to race?\u00a0 Engage Olson\u2019s essay by writing a paper in which you examine the possibility of an end to race.\u00a0 Why does race persist?\u00a0 Can or should we move beyond concepts of race?\u00a0 Would something replace the idea of race or has something replaced it already?\r\n\r\nYou may want to draw on responses to the Questions for Critical Reading after Olson\u2019s essay, as well as your examination of the census from Question 1 of Exploring Context in making your argument.\u00a0 Also consider your work on human dignity and race from other discussions in the course.\r\n\r\nAt least two of the sources must be scholarly sources from our databases.\u00a0 Show how the definition functions in this essay, as well as how it should be viewed by educated Americans.\u00a0 (Writers need not use you<\/em> or I<\/em> to do so.)\r\n\r\nAgain, this is a paper about how the term should be defined as well as how Olson uses it.\u00a0 You will need to narrow your focus so your definition is more specific than \u201cdefining race.\u201d\u00a0 Include a thesis claim about<\/em> the word being defined.\u00a0 Writers can only argue this if they gauge how readers or the public would understand the term.\r\n\r\n \r\n

Purpose<\/h3>\r\nWrite to argue, since you\u2019re redefining a term readers believe they know.\u00a0 Convince us that your claims about the definition are valid.\u00a0 Your readers are familiar with the essays.\u00a0 Do not retell them.\u00a0 We\u2019re not \u201cproving\u201d how DNA works, either!\u00a0 Avoid the pitfall of writing an editorial or summarizing.\u00a0 What does the word\/phrase argue?<\/strong>\r\n\r\n \r\n

Audience<\/h3>\r\nThe instructor and classmates are the audience.\u00a0 They know the essay.\r\n\r\n\u00a0<\/strong>\r\n

Additional Information<\/h3>\r\nUse no<\/strong> dictionary.com or reference work definitions in your introduction, please!\u00a0 (And any cited definitions need quotes around used words.)\u00a0 Avoid clich\u00e9s and clich\u00e9d moves such as beginning the conclusion with \u201cIn conclusion\u201d!\r\n\r\nI do expect that, other than Olson, all sources will come from the library databases.\r\n\r\nDecide whether your essay will expand, reduce, or alter the meaning of a term<\/strong>.\u00a0 Writers adopt a surprising number of strategies for an argument of definition.\u00a0 Argue that your definition is the most valid one among competitors.\u00a0 Some writers argue to expand our accepted definition while others attempt to narrow a definition\u2019s applications or the conditions where it applies.\r\n\r\nHere are some rhetorical modes and techniques you might employ:\r\n
    \r\n \t
  1. Illustration: These have to be typical and representative of ____.<\/li>\r\n \t
  2. Comparison and contrast: We often learn what Y is by seeing something completely different. It shows us the qualities why<\/em> something differs.<\/li>\r\n \t
  3. Analysis: these are abstract terms, so break them into their parts and build back to the big ideas. Use the concrete to get to the abstract.<\/li>\r\n \t
  4. Explanations of a process (how something is measured or works)<\/li>\r\n \t
  5. Identifications of causes or effects that spin out of the term. What\u2019s at stake?<\/li>\r\n \t
  6. Simile, metaphor, or analogy (without committing fallacies of misleading vividness, either\/or, etc.)<\/li>\r\n \t
  7. Reference to past authority and discussion of how and why the meaning shifted<\/li>\r\n \t
  8. Reference to the writer\u2019s or others\u2019 personal experience or observation<\/li>\r\n \t
  9. Etymology (word origins) and how these impact our understanding of the word<\/li>\r\n<\/ol>\r\nDon\u2019t Forget. . .<\/strong>\r\n