Patterns for College Writing
Quiz 1 (Pages 1-80)
Writing Process:
UNDERSTAND THE ASSIGNMENT
Invention
Arrangement
Drafting and Revising
Editing and Proofreading
Publishing/Turning it in
What part of the writing process must occur?
UNDERSTANDING THE ASSIGNMENT
Drafting and Revising
Editing and Proofreading
True or false? The writing process is a linear model, and all authors write in the order of the steps
True or false? Most good writing occurs when a writer gets stuck or confused, but continues to work until ideas begin to take shape
True or false? No two writers approach the writing process the same way
Critical Thinking: evaluating the ideas of others, to form judgements, and to develop original viewpoints.
True or false? Readers bring their own ideas to what they read when critical reading occurs
True or false? All interpretations of a reading are correct due to our differences
True or false? It is important for each reader to develop an interpretation that the work itself supports
What are active reading strategies?
Approaching an assigned reading with a clear understanding of your purpose and marking the text to help you understand what you are reading
Purpose: why are you reading this?
Will you be expected to discuss what you are reading?
Will you have to write about what you are reading?
Will you be tested on this material?
Preview: trying to get a sense of the writer’s main idea, key supporting points, and general emphasis
What clues should you look for when previewing?
Visual Signals
Verbal Signals
Visual Signals
Looking at the title
Looking for headings
Looking at each paragraph’s first sentence
Look for words in bold and italics
Verbal signals
Phrases like primary, that show emphasis
Repetition of words
Time sequencing words
Look for words the identify cause and effects
Words that introduce examples
True or false? Annotations suggest questions
After your questions have been answered, you will be able to answer with:
Greater accuracy
More confidence
More authority
True or false? When you annotate, you carry on a conversation with the text
What are visual texts?
Photographs
Diagram
Graph
Chart
True or false? Annotating a visual text can be helpful just like texts
What are visual elements?
Arrangement of shapes
Use of color
Contrast between large and small or light and dark
Questions to ask about visual texts:
Why was the visual created?
What kind of audience is it aimed at?
How would you characterize the visual?
Invention (prewriting): an important and most neglected part of the writing process; here you discover what interests you about your subject and consider what ideas to develop in your essay
If the assignment is written as a question, read it carefully several times and underline its key words
If the assignment is read aloud by your instructor, be sure to copy it accurately
Before writing, what should you consider?
What your limits are.
Limits in Writing:
Length
Purpose
Audience
Occasion: situation or situations that lead someone to write about a topic
Knowledge
True or false? Often, your audience is too vast to be categorized and is instead a universal audience.
True or false? Experts in one field need background information in other fields
True or false? General subjects do not need to be narrowed to specific topics
True or false? When you freewrite, you write for a fixed period, perhaps five or ten minutes, without stopping and without paying attention to spelling, grammar, or punctuation.
Focused free writing or looping: process of writing more and more specific freewriting exercises
Brainstorming: a way of discovering ideas about your topic
True or false? Journal entries are more narrow than free writing or brainstorming
Clustering: a way of visually arranging ideas so that they can tell at a glance where ideas belong and whether or not you need more information
Informal outlines do not include all the major divisions like a formal outline does
Thesis: main idea of your essay, its central point
True or false? A thesis statement can be a fact
Three Characteristics of an Effective Thesis Statement:
Clearly expresses your essay’s main idea
Communicates your essay’s purpose
Clearly worded
Implied thesis conveys an essay’s purpose, but does not do so explicitly
True or false? Most of the time, you should utilize an implied thesis
In arrangement, it is important to recognize the clues of what an assignment gives and structure it properly.
True or false? An essay must have an introduction, a body, and a conclusion
Introduction: introduces your subject, creates interest, and OFTEN STATES YOUR THESIS
Begin with background information - this works well if you KNOW THE AUDIENCE
Introduce an essay with your original definition of a relevant term or concept - USEFUL FOR RESEARCH PAPERS OR TESTS
Begin with a story
Begin with a question
Begin with a quotation
Begin with a contradiction
Begin with a fact or statistic
True or false? Each body paragraph should be unified
True or false? Sometimes the main idea of a paragraph is not stated but implied by the sentences in the paragraph
Professional writers often use this technique because a topic sentence may be awkward
True or false? Each sentence in a paragraph should develop the paragraph’s main idea, if not, the paragraph will lack unity
Each body paragraph should be coherent - sentences are smoothly and logically connected to one another
Repeat key words
Use transitions
Use pronouns
True or false? Support should be documented but not all
Each body paragraph should be well developed - contain support
Details
Expert opinions
Visuals
Facts
Stats
Support should be relevant, specific, adequate, representative, and documented
True or false? Each body paragraph should support the thesis statement
Conclusion: very important because it is what your readers remember last
True or false? Always end your essay in a way that reinforces your thesis and your purpose
True or false? A conclusion is usually longer than a paragraph
True or false? A conclusion can introduce points you have not discussed earlier
What are some ways to conclude your essay?
Reviewing your key points or restating your thesis
Ending with a recommendation of a course of action
Concluding with a prediction
End with a relevant quote
True or false? Formal outlines are detailed, multilevel constructions that indicate the exact order in which you will present your key points and supporting details
True or false? The complexity of your paper is what decides if you use a formal or informal outline
What is the purpose of your first draft?
Get your ideas down on paper so that you can react to them
True or false? While drafting, you should begin with a conclusion
Revision should occur simultaneously while writing
An outline can show you whether your essay follows a particular pattern of development
What can clarify the relationship between your thesis statement and your body paragraphs?
A formal or informal outline
How to critique your peers?
Positive
Tactful
Specific
Involved
Thorough
Look at the big picture
What suggests your essay’s purpose?
The occasion
Formal outlines are for arrangement, informal outlines are for brainstorming (invention)
Why is it not a good idea to write your introduction until you have already written your first draft?
A misrepresentation introduction that does not match the tone of the rest of the paper hurts your credibility
Formal outlines must use either subjects or topic sentences, not both
What is one way to narrow your general subject to a specific topic?
Question for Probing
Who did it?
Where did it happen?
What happened?
How is it made?
Quiz 2 (Narration, 97-108)
Narration: tells a story by presenting events in an orderly, logical sequence
Types of writing that follow narration:
Histories
Biographies
Autobiographies
Personal letters
Diaries
Journals
Bios on web pages/social networking websites
True or false? narration also underlies folk and fairy tales and radio and television news reports.
Anytime you tell what happened = narration
True or false? Narrative passages may also appear in essays that are not primarily narrative
What two essays does the textbook list as being alike to narrative?
Process Essay
Cause-and-effect Essay
True or false? A narrative essay is more likely to present a sequence of events for the purpose of supporting a thesis
Although it is usually best to have an explicit thesis statement in a narrative, what is a way you can have an implied thesis?
Through your selection and arrangement of events
What do narratives need to be convincing?
Rich, details to create a picture for the reader
What do details do for the audience of a narrative?
Adds interest and authenticity
What can you do to decrease the monotonous sequencing found in narratives?
Vary your sentence structure
What causes you to either follow or not follow a strict chronological order?
The purpose of your narrative
What are flashbacks?
Shifts into the past used in personal or fictional narratives to tell your story
Why is it important to use correct verb tenses and clear transitional words and phrases in narratives?
To help readers follow the order of events in your narrative
What is extremely important in writing that recounts events in a fixed order?
Verb tense
What verb tense must you use when discussing works of literature?
Present tense
What helps link events in time, enabling narratives to flow smoothly?
Transitions
What are transitions?
Connecting words or phrases
What are the transitions commonly used in narrative writing?
First
Second
Next
Then
Later
At the same time
Meanwhile
Immediately
Soon
Before
Earlier
After
Afterward
Now
Finally
Where will a narrative’s thesis appear?
Introduction
What do the body paragraphs function as in narrative writing?
Recount the events that make up your narrative, clearly and orderly
What does the conclusion do in a narrative?
Give the sense the narrative is complete, perhaps by restating your thesis or by summarizing key points/events
What ensures your statements in a narrative are easy to understand?
Exact details
Dates
Times
Geographic locations
What should a revision checklist be like for narrative essays?
Does your assignment call for narration?
Does your essay’s thesis communicate the significance of the events you discusseD?
Have you included enough specific details?
Have you varied your sentence structure?
Is the order of events clear to readers?
Have you varied sentence openings and combined short sentences to avoid monotony?
Do your transitions indicate the order of events and signal shifts in time?
What issues are particularly relevant to narrative essays?
Mechanics
Punctuation issues
Grammar
AVOIDING RUN-ONS
What are the two kinds of run-ons?
Fused sentences
Comma splices
A ___________ occurs when two sentences are incorrectly joined without punctuation?
Fused sentence
A ___________ occurs when two sentences are incorrectly joined with just a comma?
Comma splice
What are the 5 ways to correct a run-on?
Use a period to create two separate sentences
Join sentences with a comma and a coordinating conjunction
Join the sentences with a semicolon
Semicolon and a transitional word
Create a complex sentence - adding a subordinating conjunction or a relative pronoun
Narration checklist for editing?
Have you avoided run-ons?
Do your verb tenses clearly indicate time relationships between events?
Have you avoided unnecessary tense shifts?
If you use dialogue, have you punctuated correctly and capitalized where necessary/
Quiz 3 (Description, 151-161)
Description is used to tell readers about the physical characteristics of a person, place, or thing
What does description rely on?
Sight
Hearing
Taste
Touch
Smell
True or false? Description often goes beyond personal sense impressions
When you write description, you use language to create a vivid impression for your readers
What essays does the textbook list as description being used within?
Comparison-and-contrast
Argumentative
Through description, you communicate your view of the world to your readers
True or false? In almost every essay you write, knowing how to write effective description is important
Description can be objective or ____?
Subjective
In an _________ description, you focus on the object itself rather than on your personal reactions to it
Objective
In objective description, what is your purpose?
Present a precise, literal picture of your subject
True or false? In selecting some details and leaving out others, writers are making subjective decisions
True or false? Objective descriptions are sometimes accompanied by visuals
Visuals - diagrams, drawings, or photographs
True or false? A visual can introduce new material
What does subjective description do?
Conveys your personal response to your subject
True or false? In subjective description, your perspective is stated explicitly
Subjective description should convey not just a literal record of sights and sounds but also their significance.
True or false? Neither objective nor subjective description exists independently
The skillful writer adjusts the balance between objectivity and subjectivity to suit the topic, thesis, audience, and purpose.
Connotation: the feeling expressed by word
Denotation: direct and literal meaning of words
What are examples of figures of speech?
Simile
Metaphor
Personification
Allusion
A simile uses like or as to compare two dissimilar things
A metaphor compares two dissimilar things without using like or as
Personification speaks of concepts or objects as if they had life or human characteristics
Allusion is a reference to a person, place, event, or quotation that the writers assumes readers will recognize
Your purpose and audience determines whether you should use objective or subjective description
All good descriptive writing, whether objectives or subjective, relies on specific details
You should not tell readers, but show them
What factors influence the kinds of details you include?
Level
Background
Knowledge of your audience
Implied thesis describes a person, place, or thing
this conveys an essay’s main idea subtly
Explicitly stated thesis - supports a particular point
immediately what point the writer is making
Transitions:
Above
Adjacent to
At the bottom
At the top
Behind
Below
Beyond
In front of
In the middle
Next to
Over
Under
Through
Within
Dominant impression - the mood or quality emphasized in the piece of writing
What are the parts of a descriptive essay?
Introduction - presents the thesis or dominant impression
Body paragraph - includes details that support the thesis or covey the dominant impression
Conclusion - reinforces thesis or dominant impression (uses simile or metaphor)
True or false? The arrangement strategy you choose depends on the dominant impression you want to convey, your thesis, and your purpose and audience
What do you use in descriptive essays to describe places, people, and objects
Modifying words and Phrases
Misplaced modifier: appears to modify the wrong word because it is placed incorrectly in the sentence
Avoid dangling modifiers: it cannot logically modify any word that appears in the sentence
Checklist for Description:
Have you avoided misplaced modifiers?
Have you avoided dangling modifiers?
Have you used figures of speech effectively?
Have you avoided general words such as nice, great, and terrific?
Quiz 4 (Exemplification, 211-217)
Exemplification - uses one or more particular cases (examples) to illustrate/explain a general point or an abstract concept
The most effective exchanges occur when examples are used
Generalizations and vague statements are not as effective
Exemplification is used in every kind of writing situation:
Explaining and Clarifying
Add Interest
Persuade
What is the benefit of examples when clarifying?
Readers know what exactly you mean
What is the purpose of using examples to add interest?
To communicate your ideas
Use examples that are pertinent to your subject
What is the benefit of examples when persuading?
Back up your argument/prove your claim
What is an exemplification essay’s thesis statement?
Makes a point that the rest of the essay will support with examples
This statement identifies your topic
True or false? The examples you gather during the invention stage of the writing process can help you develop your thesis.
True or false? There is a rule for how many examples you should write into your essay?
The number of examples you use depends on your ______.
Thesis statement
What is a statistical study?
collection and interpretation of numerical data representing a great many examples
True or false? Selecting a sufficient range of examples is just as important as choosing an appropriate number
What is your objective when using examples?
Choose a cross section of examples
True or false? Do not use transitional words or phrases to introduce your examples
Transitions help you connect examples to thesis statements or examples to topic statements
Introduction
Thesis Statement
Body Paragraphs
Each has a separate example that develops the thesis
Conclusion
Reinforces main idea of essay, and maybe restates the thesis
What is the organizational problem with exemplification?
Can become too choppy or list-like
How to organize exemplification?
Chronologically
In order of increasing complexity (simple to most difficult)
In order of importance (less significant to more significant/persuasive)
What is an issue in editing exemplification?
Commas
Quiz 5 (Process, 263-269)
Process essay: explains how to do something or how something occurs
True or false? Process presents events in chronological order
What is important with process?
Clarity
True or false? Clear, logical transitionals need to be provided in a process essay
Process essays need to present the steps in a STRICT chronological order, an exact order in where they occur.
What are the two types of process essays?
Instructions
Process Explanations
What is the purpose of instructions in a process essay?
Enable readers to perform a process
True or false? An example of instructions would be a recipe: “Add in the flour, crack the eggs”
What is the purpose of process explanation in a process essay?
Not to enable readers to perform a process but rather to help them understand how it is carried out
A process explanation may use 1st person (I, we) OR the 3rd (he, she, it, they)
True or false? Process Explanations can use first person (present/past) or third person (present/past)
True or false? Second person (you) or commands may be used
What does the style of writing depend on?
If the process takes place regularly or one that occured in the past
If the writer or someone else carries out the steps
True or false? College writing frequently calls for instructions or process explanations.
What is your primary goal with a process essay?
Depict the process accurately
What is an important aspect of planning a process essay?
Accommodating Your Audience
Be clear
Use illustrations
Flow of essay
What does a thesis statement do for a process essay?
Sets up the instructions and process explanations
What transitions should be used?
First, second, meanwhile, after this, next, then, at the same time, when you have finished, and finally
Introduction: identifies the process and indicates why and under what circumstances it is performed
Body: each treats one major stage of the process
Conclusion: a shorter essay may not need a formal conclusion; if there is a conclusion, it will briefly review the procedure’ s major stages
Useful if the technical procedure may seem complicated
Conclusion also reinforces the thesis
Grammar - consistent in:
Verb tense (past or present)
Person (first, second, or third)
Voice (active or passive)
Mood (statements or commands)
Unnecessary shifts in tense, person, voice, or mood can confuse readers and make it difficult for them to follow your process.
Quiz 6 (Cause and Effect, 321-331)
Cause and Effect analyzes why something happens
What do cause-and-effect essays do?
Examine causes, describe effects, or BOTH
Cause and effect links situations and event together with causes preceding effects
Cause and Effect is more than sequence, but also why something happened, or is happening, and predicts what probably will happen
When you write about situations, you need to give a balanced analysis
Not just the most obvious situations
Main cause: most important
Contributory causes: other causes that had some effect
Understanding the distinction between main and contributory is ESSENTIAL
Immediate cause: closely precede an effect and is therefore easy to recognize
Remote cause: less obvious, perhaps because it involves something in the past or far away.
Assuming the most obvious cause is always important can be dangerous as well as short-sighted
Casual Chain: where A causes B, B causes C, etc.
In casual chains, the result of one action is the cause of another
Leaving out any links in this chain, destroys the logic and continuity of the chain
Post hoc reasoning: equates a chronological sequence with causality
Do not mistake coincidence for causality
Three Basic Options:
Discuss causes
Discuss effects
Discuss both!
A cause-and-effect essay presents and supports a particular thesis
Thesis Statement: identifies the relationships among the specific causes or effects you will discuss
Options of Arrangement:
Chronological Order
Main Cause 1st, then Contributory Causes
Contributory Causes 1st, then Main Cause
Transitions: allow readers to distinguish main from contributory causes. also essential in a casual chain, for sequencing purposes
First cause,
Second cause,
One result,
Another result,
Editing:
Focus on grammar, mechanics, and punctuation
Avoiding faulty reasons
Using affect and effect correctly
Quiz 7 (Argumentation, 524-541)
Argumentation is a process of reasoning that asserts the soundness of a debatable position, belief, or conclusion.
Argumentation takes a stand - SUPPORTED BY EVIDENCE - and urges people to share the writer’s perspective and insights
Argumentation can be used to convince other people to accept (or at least see the validity of) your position.
Persuasion is a general term that refers to how a writer influences an audience to adopt a belief or follow a course of action.
Argumentation is the appeal to reason (logos).
What is the primary purpose of Argumentation?
To demonstrate that certain ideas are valid and others are not.
How is argumentation unlike persuasion?
Argumentation has a formal structure
What are the usual appeals in arguments?
Main: reason
Secondary: emotions
True or false? In an argumentative essay, choosing the right topic is important
Purpose: what you expect your argument to accomplish and how you wish your audience to respond
Thesis: state the position you will argue
True or false? Your thesis must take a stand - be debatable.
What is a good way to test the suitability of your thesis?
Formulate an antithesis: a statement that asserts the opposite position
What is best to assume?
Some of your readers are skeptical
What is the dual challenge in an argumentative essay?
Appealing to readers who are neutral or even hostile to your position
Influence those readers to be receptive to your viewpoint
True or false? You MUST provide evidence that will support your thesis and establish a line of reasoning
Evidence: facts and opinions in support of your position
True or false? Evidence can be fact only
Can be opinions as well
Facts: statements that most people agree are true and that can be verified independently
What are the most commonly used type of evidence?
Facts - specifically, statistics
Opinions: interpretations of facts
True or false? Not all opinions are equally convincing
What kind of evidence might change readers’ minds?
This depends on the readers, the issue, and the facts at hand
Criteria for Evidence:
Evidence should be RELEVANT
Evidence should be REPRESENTATIVE
Examples and Expert opinions should be typical, not deviate from the thesis or argument
Evidence should be SUFFICIENT
True or false? Whether you use such evidence, you have to document it by providing the source of your information.
Documentation: gives readers the ability to evaluate the sources you cite and to consult them if they wish
Helps you avoid plagiarism
Common knowledge: information you could easily find in several reference sources
True or false? You should always try to identify the most obvious - and even the not-so-obvious - objections to your position.
By directly addressing these objections, you will help convince readers your own position is valid
Refutation: the act of saying or proving that a person, statement, opinion, etc. is wrong or false
Refute by showing these viewpoints are unsound, unfair, or weak
Straw man: distorting an opponent’s argument by making it seem weaker than it actually is - [this is a bad thing]
True or false? All arguments should be confrontational
What does the Rogerian argument suggest?
Considering those who disagree with you as colleagues, NOT adversaries
Deductive reasoning: proceeds from a general premise or assumption to a specific conclusion
Inductive reasoning: induction proceeds from individual observations to a more general conclusion
Syllogism: the basic form of a deductive argument
Major premise: general statement
Minor premise: related but more specific statement
Conclusion: drawn from these premises
Self-evident: so obvious that it needs no proof
When a conclusion follows logically from the major and minor premises, then the argument is said to be VALID
True or false? If the syllogism is not logical, the argument is not valid
Undistributed: it covers only some of the items in the class it denotes
Distributed: it covers all the items in the class it denotes
Sound: a syllogism must be both logical and true
Inference: statement about the unknown based on the known
Jumping to Conclusion: when the gap between your evidence and conclusion is too great
Inductive leap: crucial step from evidence to conclusion
Inductive conclusions are never certain, only highly probable
Since inductive conclusions are just inferences and opinions
Toulmin logic: tries to describe how argumentative strategies a writer uses lead readers to respond the way they do:
Claim: main point of essay
Grounds: material a writer uses to support the claim
Warrant: inference that connects the claim to be grounds
Fallacies: illogical statements that may sound reasonable or true but are actually deceptive and dishonest
Analogy: form of comparison that explains something unfamiliar by comparing it do something familiar
Jumping to Conclusion = Hasty or Sweeping Generalization
Transitional words are phrases are EXTREMELY important in argumentative essays
Examples that support your argument:
First
Second
Third
In addition
Finally
Examples that refute opposing arguments:
Still
Nevertheless
However
Yet
What transitional words are useful when presenting your argument's conclusion?
Therefore
For this reason
Quiz 8 (Classification and Division, 435)
Division is the process of breaking a whole into parts
Classification is the process of sorting individual items into categories
Through classification and division, we can make sense of seemingly random ideas by putting scattered bits of information into useful, coherent order.
When you _____, you begin with individual items and sort them into categories
Classify
The principle of classification you choose, which is the quality your items have in common, depends on _________________.
How you wish to approach the members of this diverse group
True or false? Division is the opposite of classification
When you divide, you start with a whole and break it into its individual parts
True or false? Eventually, when dividing, you have to identify a principle of classification to help break them into their parts
Classification and division is used to bring order to the invention stage of the writing process
What words suggest classification and division?
Types
Kinds
Varieties
Aspects
Categories
Thesis statement: should identity your subject, introduce the categories you will discuss, and perhaps show readers the relationships of your categories to one another and to the subject as a whole.
Transitional words in classification and division essays do?
Introduce your categories
Move readers from one category to the next
Show relationships between categories
If one category is more important than another
Introduction: orient readers + thesis
Body Paragraphs: discuss your categories one by one, in the same order in which you mentioned in your introduction.
Conclusion: restate thesis and sum up the points made
What is a grammar mistake common in Classification and Division?
Using a colon to introduce your categories without a complete sentence following the colon
In any list or series of three or more categories, the categories should be separated by commas, with a comma preceding the and that separates the last two items
Quiz 9 (Comparison and Contrast, 371)
Comparison shows how two or more things are similar
Contrast shows how they are different
In most writing, comparison and contrast are used together
Analogy: explains one thing by comparing it to a second, more familiar thing
Key Words signifying contrast/compare?
Similarities and differences
Relative merits
Advantages and disadvantages
Greater or lesser
When you evaluate a subject, you often use compare and contrast
Before you can compare and contrast two things, you MUST establish a basis for comparison: that two things have enough in common to justify the comparison
When two subjects are very similar, contrast may help
When two subjects are very different, comparing may help
You need to select points for discussion between the two subjects
Thesis statement: should tell readers what to expect in your essay, identifying not only the subjects to be compared and contrasted but also the point you will make about them.
A thesis statement should highlight the essay’s central concern
Two Strategies:
Subject-by-Subject
Separate essay about each subject, but discuss the same points for both subjects
Point-by-Point
Make a point about one subject and follow it with a comparable point about the other subject
Transitions:
Compare:
In comparison
In the same way
Like
Likewise
Similarly
Contrast:
Although
But
Conversely
However
In contrast
Issue in compare and contrast essays:
Parallelism: the use of matching nouns, verbs, phrases, or clauses to express the same or similar ideas
Not being specific enough to know what a noun/verb/pronoun is referring to?
Quiz 10 (Definition, 489)
Definition: tells what a term means and how it differs from other terms in its class
Formal Definitions: brief, succinct explanations
Extended Definitions: explaining what something or someone is
True or false? All definitions have three parts
1. The term to be defined
2. The general class the term is a part of
3. The qualities that differentiate it from other terms in the same class
True or false? Many extended-definition essays include short formal definitions
An extended definition does not follow a set pattern of development, but utilizes the most beneficial strategy
True or false? Providing a formal definition of each term you use is usually not necessary or desirable.
Definitions can explain abstractions, controversial terms, and slang terms
Slang Terms: informal expressions whose meanings may vary from locale to locale or change as time passes.
The thesis of a definition essay needs to make it clear to readers the larger purpose for which you are defining the term.
What are the 5 types of Pattern of Development?
Exemplification
Examples to explain a term
Description
Explain the nature of something by describing it
Comparison and Contrast
Compares/Contrasts a term with something else to allow a reader to better understand it
Process
Explains a conceptual process
Classification and Division
Define both formal and extended definitions
Whatever form your definition take, make certain that they clearly define your terms
Careful attention to the language and structure of your definition will help readers understand your meaning
Intro: identifies the term to be defined
Body:
Defines the term through synonyms
Defines the term by using negation
Defines the term by using an analogy
Defines the term by discussing its origin and development
Conclusion: reminds readers why you have chosen to define the term
When editing a definition essay, be sure to avoid when and where