This is a definition essay with the goal of persuading the readers of something (anything) about the word being defined.
The word to define is “Community” and the essay needs to CONVINCE THE READER THAT COMMUNITY IS IMPORTANT.
Please review the guide/instructions for the paper.
Professor Tips:
When you write a definition essay, you use various techniques (denotation, connotation, enumeration, analogy, and negation) to extend the definition of the term, concept, or idea that you are defining in your essay. It’s important to keep your audience in mind and to think about how much or little your readers know about who or what you are defining.
For your Definition Argument, you will be selecting a word or phrase or concept and creating an argument by Definition. That means you will select a word and, by defining it, comparing it, showing how it is used, how it has morphed over time or not, or how it might mean one thing in one context but another thing in another context–you will attempt to convince your reader of something by the end of your argument. For example, you might select the word surveillance. You don’t have to, but maybe just start with the dictionary definition.
Next, depending on what you are arguing, you might compare some synonyms, such as observation, scrutiny, watch, view, or inspection. These will assist you in varying your word choices in your argument so you’re not using surveillance over and over.
Now, what is it you want to convince your readers about surveillance? Did it used to mean something different than it means currently? Have humans changed their relationships with surveillance? How? Why? And to what harm or benefit? What are you hoping you can get your readers to see by the end of your paper? Do you want them to take surveillance more seriously? To relax and stop blowing surveillance out of proportion?
