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4.3: Definitional Writing Assignment

  • Page ID
    293558
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    The formal dictionary method is not the only way to define terminology for our readers. We can define terms like CRT using different models including examples, comparisons and contrasts, origin and development, process, characteristics, synonyms, and negation. Not all of these methods will work for each term, nor will they all have the same strength for each term, but they can help create a fuller picture for our audiences. After each method and example given below, create an example using what you know of CRT and of one other topic that you think is misunderstood in the public sphere (such as Global Warming, racism, feminism, trans rights, Islamophobia, and homophobia).

    • Examples
      • Waterfowl: Penguins, ducks, geese, seagulls
      • Respiratory system: nasal cavity, trachea, larynx, airways, lungs, blood vessels
      • CRT: _____________________________________________________________
      • Other topic: _____________________________________________________
    • Compare and contrast
      • cats and dogs are domesticated, have fur, walk on fours, and have numerous children at the same time
      • cats are predatory while dogs are defensive
      • cats and dogs are intensely loyal, but they show them in different ways
      • dogs have stronger sense of smell and hearing
      • CRT: _____________________________________________________________
      • Other topic: _____________________________________________________
    • Process
      • Ice cream: take milk/cream and sugar and mix into a tub filled with salt and ice; begin slow churning. Then, add flavors to the cream and sugar mixture as it continues to churn...
      • CRT: _____________________________________________________________
      • Other topic: _____________________________________________________
    • Synonyms
      • Hard-working: arduous, on-task, sweating, back-breaking, timely…
      • Syrupy: sticky, sweet, slow-moving, viscous
      • CRT: _____________________________________________________________
      • Other topic: _____________________________________________________
    • By negation
      • Love is not mean, abusive, nor hurtful.
      • A horse isn't a dog, a car, nor a fish.
      • CRT: _____________________________________________________________
      • Other topic: _____________________________________________________
    • Listing characteristics
      • Spies lie, sneak, and are distrustful.
      • A bus seats many people, is big, and has lots of room for maneuverability.
      • CRT: _____________________________________________________________
      • Other topic: _____________________________________________________
    • Origin and development
      • Railroads developed elsewhere but came into fruition in the United States as the country expanded from the Atlantic to the Pacific Oceans, as heavily-exploited laborers came from China, as corporations and trusts were rising and swallowing smaller companies, and as the government was seeking to drive Indigenous people into increasingly smaller reservations.
      • World War I began as European nations struggled with each other over the absence of lands and people to conquer and colonize. Along with this came the advent of much more dangerous and lethal weapons (such as dynamite), and ways to deliver those weapons (airplanes), and the shifting of alliances.
      • CRT: _____________________________________________________________
      • Other topic: _____________________________________________________

    Now you can use one or more of these methods to define unclear terms in your essays.


    This page titled 4.3: Definitional Writing Assignment is shared under a CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 license and was authored, remixed, and/or curated by Jason Dye, City Colleges of Chicago.