WEEK 9 DEFINITION PARA-GRAPHS

Let’s define!

Reminders

You can get inspiration from articles, try out a new word, phrase or sentence structure you found, but don’t plagia-rize!

English

The person who yells first is a loser. The person who yells first is the loser.

Both are correct but the meaning is different. “A loser” is an uncool, maybe unsuccessful person. “The loser” means the loser of a game/match/competition.

After entering college, most of female stu-dents…

After entering college most female students… “Of” is not necessary, and unnatural.

You need to make a plan about your goal of losing weight in a certain period of time

First, make a weight loss goal, setting benchmarks… Both are correct but the first one is a little

wordy. If you see of/about/etc. many times then you might want to tighten up your lan-guage.

Using more precise words like “benchmark” instead of “a certain period of time” makes your writing more interesting.

At most, At least, At best, At Worst

At best – least detrimental This job is annoying at best.

At worst – most detrimental At worst this job is downright destructive.

At most – maximum You will be paid at most $100. ($50-$100 but no more)

At least – minimum You will be paid at least $100. ($100-$200+ but not less than $100)

Sentence: “Try to arrive early twice a week at best.” I would change “at best” to “at least/most” depending on the

writer’s intention. Here, the writer wanted to say, “Don’t arrive ear-lier more than twice a week” so “at most” would be the better choice.

Definition Paragraphs

Put a word or concept into a general class

And then…

Provides enough details to distinguish it from other members in the same class

A saw is a tool that cuts boards in half. Happiness is an emotion that makes people

feel…

Questions to ask about the topic Is this subject unique, or are there others of

its kind? How is it similar to others? How is it different?

In what different ways does it occur, while keeping its own identity?

When and where do we find it? How do we define it presently? What does it do? What are its functions and

activities? How is it put together? What parts make it

up? What holds these parts together?

Envy is so integral and so painful a part of what animates behavior in market societies that many people have forgotten the full meaning of the word, simplifying it into one of the synonyms of desire. But envy is more or less than desire. It begins with an almost frantic sense of emptiness inside oneself, as if the pump of one’s heart were sucking on air. One has to be blind to per-ceive the emptiness, of course, but that’s just what envy is, a selective blindness. Invidia, Latin for envy, translates as “non-sight.” What they are blind to is what they have, god-given and humanly nurtured, in themselves.

Topic sen-tence/thesis on envyPeople think Envy = desire

Envy ≠ desire

Envy = emptiness

Envy = selec-tive blindness

Nice use of the original Latin meaning

Last sentence

provides nice wrap up

Anger is having a feeling of hatred to-ward someone or something. It is one of our basic emotions and can be most dangerous if it is not carefully controlled. A person can become angry when he cannot fulfill some basic need or desire that is impor-tant to him. For example, a child may become angry when he cannot play outside with his friends. An adult may become angry when he does not receive a raise in pay that he expected. Mentally, anger can interfere with our thoughts, making it difficult to think clearly. Physically, it may cause violent reactions in the muscles and in the nervous system. This causes an angry person to flush and tremble and to show other signs of disturbance. A person can be dangerous if he is in an angry mood because he can develop feelings of hostility and hatred toward another person, which can then often turn vio-lent.

Topic sen-tence/thesis on envyPeople think Anger= ha-tred

Explanation

Example: childadult

Effect of anger: MentallyPhysically

More info

Concluding sentence – warning about anger

Civil liberties are the freedoms that individuals have against state intru-sion. Laws protecting civil liberties limit or prohibit govern-ment action. The US Constitution’s Bill of Rights guarantees any of these liberties, including freedom of expression, freedom of religion, and freedom from unreasonable searches and seizures. Historically, the protection of civil lib-erties was established before the US Constitution in documents such as the English Magna Carta (1215). Since that time, free countries have defined themselves against authori-tarian countries by their respect for – and legal protections of – these freedoms.

Topic sen-tence/thesis on envyPeople think Civil liberties = freedoms

More details:US Bill of Rights

Historical definition: Magna Carta

Concluding sentence – civil

liberty laws de-fine a free country from a dictatorship

Civil Liberties

Paragraph 2 – extended definition While most people agree that civil liberties are essential to a free state, there is some controversy surrounding their meaning.

Paragraph 3 – point by point contrast People often confuse civil liberties with civil rights.

How to make a definition paragraph

Define the emotion and give some examples

Happiness is an emotion that makes me/people feel __________. Satisfied/ Relaxed /Makes me smile Makes people want to con-

tinue living

Define and explain happiness more in 2-3 sentences I feel happy when I see my parents. Their smiles make me feel

______. When a child sees his mom after being away for a long time,

he feels ___. Happiness is not __________.

If you do this you should easily get 3-5 sentences

Topics Other Than Happi-ness Brainstorming…

Marriage Love Friendship Education

As long as your topic isn’t too simple, you should be able to define it well and think of some stories related to it.

Homework

In 5-10 sentences write a definition paragraph over the topic of your choice.

If you’re struggling to find a topic, one idea is to write about what “beauty,” “tolerance,” “communicative English class” or even “forgiveness” is.