Definition Argument

DIRECTIONS:

You should argue for a new definition of a term or concept your audience already (thinks it) knows.

For example, the object of “high-heeled shoes” is typically placed in the category of “women’s footwear” or “pretty shoes” or maybe even “fetish object.” Your essay could redefine “high-heeled shoes” entirely by placing them in the category of “torture device.”

The key to this essay is to find an object or concept, put it in an interesting and unexpected category, figure out the criteria of that category, and then use examples/evidence of that object meeting (or not meeting) the criteria. As a result, you’ll create a new definition for that object.

*Note that this essay has A LOT of overlap with what you might typically think of as an Evaluation Argument. That’s because Definition and Evaluation are essentially the same. I’ve selected to
call this a Definition Argument, however, because I want your focus to be on putting an object into an interesting category instead of making a mere “good/bad” judgment call. A typical evaluation argument, for example, might put the film The Big Lebowski in the category Comedy Film and then judge if it is a good comedy or not. Our definition assignment would do something much more interesting, like place The Big Lebowski in the category of Biblical Parable.

COURSE OBJECTIVE(S):
While every assignment involves all the course objectives, the Rhetorical Analysis assignment is designed to work primarily toward the first and second of our course objectives: (1) figuring out how best to reach a specific audience, (2) establishing dynamic and ethical research practices. (1) To write this essay, you will have to be able to gauge your audience’s familiarity with your topic and allow that familiarity to guide the structure of your paper. (2) To understand what a term or concept means, you will need to look at a few sources to get a sense of how it is already employed.