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THE DEFINITION ESSAY EXPLANATION PART I
One of the main goals of our definition assignment unit is to practice and learn how to make an argument. Yes!
A definition of an abstract concept can be thought of as an argument that you make. “Why? How?” you ask.
Think about it this way: when you define an abstract concept you are arguing YOUR DEFINITION is the best definition of that term and you have to convince the reader of that by showing and developing your points. Take the abstract term “courage:”
I might say, “Courage is not being afraid of anything.”
This is one definition of courage. It is a fairly common definition of courage and thus, it wouldn’t make a very unique definition paper. However, another person might say:
“Courage is being afraid of something and doing it anyway.”
This is a less common definition of courage. The two definitions are mutually exclusive; they are almost the opposite of each other. Because we can possibly make a case for and against each of these definitions, then we have a debatable position of the concept or topic at hand. If we have a debatable position, then our development of our position will be an argument. (For the definition essay, the definition that you choose as the best definition of the term is the thesis statement of your paper. More on this later).
Remember that we are not looking for technical definitions of concrete things. We all can agree on the definition of table, bed, horse, etc. We are instead going to be focusing on abstract concepts or on concepts that tread the line between abstract and concrete, that is, that are a little bit of both.
Thus, we have learned the following up to this point:
We can define abstract and concrete things.
Concrete things are things that take a physical form and whose characteristics are observable through one or more of the five senses.
Abstract things are not observable physically.
Definitions of concrete things are not usually
One of the main goals of our definition assignment unit is to practice and learn how to make an argument. Yes!
A definition of an abstract concept can be thought of as an argument that you make. “Why? How?” you ask.
Think about it this way: when you define an abstract concept you are arguing YOUR DEFINITION is the best definition of that term and you have to convince the reader of that by showing and developing your points. Take the abstract term “courage:”
I might say, “Courage is not being afraid of anything.”
This is one definition of courage. It is a fairly common definition of courage and thus, it wouldn’t make a very unique definition paper. However, another person might say:
“Courage is being afraid of something and doing it anyway.”
This is a less common definition of courage. The two definitions are mutually exclusive; they are almost the opposite of each other. Because we can possibly make a case for and against each of these definitions, then we have a debatable position of the concept or topic at hand. If we have a debatable position, then our development of our position will be an argument. (For the definition essay, the definition that you choose as the best definition of the term is the thesis statement of your paper. More on this later).
Remember that we are not looking for technical definitions of concrete things. We all can agree on the definition of table, bed, horse, etc. We are instead going to be focusing on abstract concepts or on concepts that tread the line between abstract and concrete, that is, that are a little bit of both.
Thus, we have learned the following up to this point:
We can define abstract and concrete things.
Concrete things are things that take a physical form and whose characteristics are observable through one or more of the five senses.
Abstract things are not observable physically.
Definitions of concrete things are not usually