Anker Susan. Real Essays with Readings with 2009 MLA Update

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WRITING ESSAYS

Chapter 15 • Deﬁ nition 237

in debt and, as a result, damage their credit, not to mention personal

relationships. 3 Still other Internet addictions involve potentially dangerous

or illegal activities. 4 These activities can include meeting people online,

gambling, viewing pornography, and engaging in cybersex. However, for

Internet addicts, the problem usually isn’t how they use the Internet; the

problem is that they cannot stop using it, even if they want to.

Many situations require you to explain the meaning of a term, particu-

larly how you are using it.

COLLEGE On a U.S. history exam, you deﬁ ne the term carpetbagger.

WORK You describe a coworker as “dangerous” to a human

resources staffer, and the staffer asks what you mean

exactly.

EVERYDAY You explain the term fair to your child in the context of

LIFE games or sports.

Main Point in Deﬁ nition

In deﬁ nition essays, your main point typically deﬁ nes your topic. The

main point is directly related to your purpose, which is to get your read-

ers to understand the way that you are using a term or concept in the

context of your essay. Although writers do not always deﬁ ne a term or

concept in a thesis statement, it helps readers if they do.

A thesis statement in deﬁ nition can follow a variety of different pat-

terns, two of which include the term and its basic deﬁ nition.

1. Term + Means/is + Basic deﬁ nition = Thesis statement

Today, marriage means different things to different people.

Term + Means/is + Basic deﬁ nition = Thesis statement

My company is customer-oriented: From start to ﬁ nish to follow-up,

the customer comes ﬁ rst.

Term + Means/is + Basic deﬁ nition = Thesis statement

I am a neat freak.

■ ESL: Ask ESL

students to deﬁ ne

a term from their

language.

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WRITING ESSAYS

238 Part Two • Writing Different Kinds of Essays

2. Term + Class + Basic deﬁ nition = Thesis statement

Today, marriage is an institution that means different things to dif-

ferent people.

Term + Class + Basic deﬁ nition = Thesis statement

Childhood obesity is a condition that threatens the future of our

country in many ways.

In essays based on the following thesis statements, readers would ex-

pect the italicized terms and concepts to be deﬁ ned through examples that

show the writer’s meaning.

What does marriage mean today?

I am a neat freak.

The concept of equal pay for equal work is a joke.

Many people do not understand what afﬁ rmative action really means.

Support in Deﬁ nition

If a friend says, “Summer in New York City is awful,” you don’t know

what she means by awful. Is it the weather? The people? The transporta-

tion? Until your friend explains what she means, you won’t know whether

you would think New York City in the summer is awful.

Support in deﬁ nition provides speciﬁ c examples of terms or concepts

to help explain what they mean. Read the two thesis statements that follow

and the lists of examples that could be used as support.

THESIS Today, marriage means different things to different

people.

SUPPORT A union of one man and one woman

A union of two people of either sex

A union that is supported by state law

A union that is supported by both civil and religious laws

THESIS I am a neat freak.

SUPPORT I clean compulsively.

I’m constantly buying new cleaning products.

■ DISCUSSION

Ask students to deﬁ ne

boring. Then, ask them

to give an example of

something that they

consider boring.

■ RESOURCES

For online writing

and grammar

resources, go to

bedfordstmartins

.com/rewritingbasics.

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WRITING ESSAYS

Chapter 15 • Deﬁ nition 239

My cleaning habits have attracted the notice of friends

and family.

In both of these examples, the writer would then go on to develop the

examples with details.

THESIS I am a neat freak.

SUPPORT I clean compulsively.

DETAILS: I clean in the morning and at night, can’t let a

spot on the counter go for a second, fret when I can’t

clean as much as I’d like to.

SUPPORT I’m constantly buying new cleaning products.

DETAILS: Every week, I buy new products, have a closet

full of them, always think there’s something better

around the corner.

SUPPORT My cleaning habits have attracted the notice of

friends and family.

DETAILS: Kids used to appreciate the clean house;

now they complain that I’m compulsive; friends

tease me, but I wonder if they think I go too far.

Organization in Deﬁ nition

The examples in a deﬁ nition essay are often organized by impor-

tance, or the impact you think the examples will have on your read-

ers. Save the most important example for last.

The plan for a deﬁ nition essay might look like the diagram to the

right.

As you write, add transitions to connect one example to the next.

See box on the following page.

■ DISCUSSION

Have students modify

a dictionary deﬁ nition

for a variety of audi-

ences.

Introduction with thesis

statement

Deﬁ nes term or concept

First example explaining

the deﬁ nition

Details about the ﬁ rst

example

Second example explain-

ing the deﬁ nition

Details about the second

example

Third example explaining

the deﬁ nition

Details about the third

example

Conclusion

Refers back to the deﬁ ned

term/concept and makes

an observation about it

based on what you have

written

DEFINITION

AT A GLANCE

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WRITING ESSAYS

240 Part Two • Writing Different Kinds of Essays

Read and Analyze Deﬁ nition

Before writing a deﬁ nition essay, read the following three examples — from

college, the workplace, and everyday life — and answer the questions that

accompany them.

Deﬁ nition in College

The following Boston Globe article was assigned to students in a marketing

course to demonstrate the concept of product branding.

VOCABULARY

The following words are italicized in the excerpt: familiar, salivating,

perception, altered, restrict, marketing, instill, obsessional. If you don’t

know their meanings, look them up in a dictionary.

STUDY SAYS ADS TRICK CHILDREN’S

TASTE BUDS

Lindsey Tanner

1 Anything made by McDonald’s tastes better, preschoolers said in a

study that powerfully demonstrates how advertising can trick the taste

buds of young children. Even carrots, milk, and apple juice tasted bet-

ter to the children when they were wrapped in the familiar packaging of

the Golden Arches: such is the power of branding, closely associating a

name, logo, slogan, or design with a particular product or line of prod-

ucts or services.

2 The study had youngsters sample identical McDonald’s foods in

name-brand and unmarked wrappers. The unmarked foods always lost

Common Transitions in Deﬁ nition

another for example

another kind for instance

ﬁ rst, second, third, and so on

■ For other examples

of deﬁ nition, see

Chapter 48.

PAUSE: Why

would juice and

carrots — items that

McDonald’s doesn’t

even sell — taste

better when pack-

aged in McDonald’s

wrapping?

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WRITING ESSAYS

Chapter 15 • Deﬁ nition 241

the taste test. “You see a McDonald’s label and kids start salivating,”

said Diane Levin, a childhood development specialist who campaigns

against advertising to children. Levin said it was “the ﬁ rst study I know

of that has shown so simply and clearly what’s going on with [marketing

to] young children.”

3 Study author Dr. Tom Robinson said the children’s perception of

taste was “physically altered by the branding.” The Stanford University

researcher said it was remarkable how children so young were so inﬂ u-

enced by advertising. The study involved 63 low-income children ages

3 to 5 from Head Start centers in San Mateo County, Calif. Robinson

believes the results would be similar for children from wealthier families.

4 The research, appearing in August’s Archives of Pediatrics and

Adolescent Medicine, was funded by Stanford and the Robert Wood

Johnson Foundation. The study will probably stir more debate over the

movement to restrict ads to children. It comes less than a month after

11 major food and drink companies, including McDonald’s, announced

new curbs on marketing to children under 12. McDonald’s says the only

Happy Meals it will promote to young children will contain fruit and

have fewer calories and less fat.

5 “This is an important subject and McDonald’s has been actively

addressing it for quite some time,” said company spokesman Walt Riker.

“We’ve always wanted to be part of the solution and we are providing

solutions.”

6 But Dr. Victor Strasburger, an author of an American Academy of

Pediatrics policy urging limits on marketing to children, said the study

shows that too little is being done. “It’s an amazing study and it’s very

sad,” Strasburger said. “Advertisers have tried to do exactly what this

study is talking about — to brand younger and younger children, to instill

in them an almost obsessional desire for a particular brand-name prod-

uct,” he said. Just two of the 63 children studied said they had never

eaten at McDonald’s, and about one-third ate there at least weekly.

7 The study included three McDonald’s menu items — hamburgers,

chicken nuggets, and fries — and store-bought milk or juice and carrots.

PAUSE: How does

the study show the

effect of branding?

PAUSE: Why

do you think

McDonald’s made

the decision to

reduce its market-

ing to children?

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WRITING ESSAYS

242 Part Two • Writing Different Kinds of Essays

Children got two identical samples of each food on a tray, one in

McDonald’s wrappers or cups and the other in plain, unmarked pack-

aging. The participants were asked if they tasted the same or if one

was better. McDonald’s-labeled samples were clear favorites. Fries

were the biggest winner; almost 77 percent said the labeled fries tasted

best while only 13 percent preferred the others. Fifty-four percent pre-

ferred McDonald’s-wrapped carrots versus 23 percent who liked the

plain-wrapped sample. Fewer than one-fourth of the children said both

samples of all foods tasted the same.

8 Pradeep Chintagunta, a University of Chicago marketing professor,

said a fairer comparison might have gauged children’s preferences for

the McDonald’s label versus another familiar brand, such as Mickey

Mouse. “I don’t think you can necessarily hold this against” McDonald’s,

he said, since the goal of marketing is to build familiarity and sell

products.

— From the Boston Globe, 7 Aug. 2007, p. A6

1. Underline the deﬁ nition of branding. Now deﬁ ne it in your own

words.

2. How does the essay serve as a deﬁ nition of branding?

3. Does the essay give enough details about the experiment? What else

would have been helpful?

Answers will vary but might include a descrip-

tion of the environment, how quickly the children answered, and so on.

4. Does the essay have the four basics of good deﬁ nition? Be ready to

explain your answer.

5. What is another example of branding that you know about? About

marketing to children?

Deﬁ nition at Work

The following proﬁ le shows how a business owner uses deﬁ nition

at work.

■ COMBINING

MODES: Note the use

of narration within this

deﬁ nition.

PAUSE: Summarize

the experiment.

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WRITING ESSAYS

Chapter 15 • Deﬁ nition 243

Gary’s Deﬁ nition

Gary uses this mission statement to get contracts for his sign company.

VOCABULARY

The following words are italicized in the excerpt: fundamental,

orientation, prospective, installation. If you don’t know their

meanings, look them up in a dictionary.

1 The fundamental principle of Lightning Quick (LQ) Signs is cus-

tomer orientation. While most companies claim that they are customer-

oriented, most have no idea what that really means. I tell my employees

that I would like to have a customer giggle at the completion of the

job, delighting in the product and service we have delivered, his every

BACKGROUND: I grew up in New Orleans, where, after high school,

I tried college for a year but was told by a professor that I wasn’t college

material and should try manual labor. I left college and moved to Fort

Worth, Texas, where I became a police ofﬁ cer. During my ten years with

the force, I attended a junior college at night, earning an associate’s

degree. I received numerous promotions at work and eventually became

a member of the force’s SWAT team. In 1999, I decided to start my own

business. I moved to Mississippi and started a sign company, Lightning

Quick (LQ) Signs. Since then, the company has grown steadily into a

successful business. It was destroyed by Hurricane Katrina in 2005, but

I rebuilt and reopened it in 2007.

COLLEGES/DEGREES: Tarrant County Junior College (A.A.)

EMPLOYER: Self

WRITING AT WORK: Proposals to get jobs, advertising copy, follow-up reports

and letters, loan applications, correspondence with clients and prospective

clients, precise and descriptive speciﬁ cations for government jobs

HOW GARY USES DEFINITION: I often need to deﬁ ne terms for clients.

In addition, the letter about the company that I use in sales situations

deﬁ nes how LQ Signs is customer-oriented.

Proﬁ le of Success

Gary Knoblock

Business Owner

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WRITING ESSAYS

244 Part Two • Writing Different Kinds of Essays

expectation met and exceeded. For all of us at LQ Signs, customer- oriented

means that from start to ﬁ nish to follow-up, the customer comes ﬁ rst.

2 Our customer orientation begins before the job begins. Before doing

anything, we interview the customer to learn what his or her needs are

and to determine the most cost-effective route to meet those needs. No

job for us is “standard.” Each is unique.

3 Our customer orientation means that we produce high-quality prod-

ucts quickly. We keep signs simple because our customers want their

prospective customers to be able to read the sign in a glance. We use the

most current digital printing processes to produce sharp, readable signs

quickly. Because we have previously determined, with the customer, the

most cost-effective method of producing the signs, the high quality and

rapid return do not come at extra cost.

4 Our customer orientation means that our products are thoroughly

checked for ﬂ aws and installed at the customer’s convenience. Our signs

leave our workshop in perfect condition, as the customer has ordered.

Our well-trained team of installers works with the customer to deter-

mine the installation schedule.

5 Finally, our customer orientation means that the job is not complete

when the sign is in place. We follow up every sale to make sure that the

product is in top shape and that the customer is pleased.

6 LQ Signs is truly customer-oriented, from start to ﬁ nish to follow-up.

Our customers are our partners.

1. What is Gary’s purpose?

To persuade potential customers to use his

company’s services

2. Double-underline the thesis statement.

3. Underline the topic sentences.

4. Were you familiar with the term that Gary deﬁ ned? Restate the meaning

of customer-oriented in your own words.

Answers will vary.

■ TEAMWORK

Have students read

this essay aloud and

respond to the ques-

tions in pairs.

PAUSE: What are

three examples of

customer-oriented

practices?

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WRITING ESSAYS

Chapter 15 • Deﬁ nition 245

Deﬁ nition in Everyday Life

VOCABULARY

The following words are italicized in the excerpt: anesthetic, recon-

struction, resin, retainer, adhesive, mimic, minimally, invasive, en-

hanced, persist. If you don’t know their meanings, look them up in a

dictionary.

CELEBRITY TEETH

Rebecca Skloot

1 Last year, if you walked into your dentist’s ofﬁ ce saying, “Hey, Doc,

can you make my teeth look like Cameron Diaz’s or Brad Pitt’s?” the

answer would have been, “Yeah, sure — with a lot of anesthetic, drilling,

and permanent reconstruction.” But things have changed.

2 Meet the Snap-On Smile — a thin, ﬂ exible, resin shell of perfect

teeth that snaps over your actual teeth like a retainer. No adhesive, no

drilling. Its inventor, Marc Liechtung, is a dentist at Manhattan Dental

Arts, where you can walk in on a Monday, make a painless plaster mold

of your teeth, and then pick up your new smile by Friday. All for $1,200

to $1,600. Patients can work with a “smile guide” to choose one of

seventeen colors (“yellow-white,” “yellow-gray,” even “Extreme White

Buyer Beware”) and eighteen shapes (“squared,” “square-round,”

“pointy”). But many patients just hand Liechtung a celebrity photo and

say, “Make my teeth look like this.” So he does. But he wants to make

one thing clear: “I did not come up with the Snap-On Smile so people

could mimic celebrities.”

3 His goal was an affordable, minimally invasive dental tool. “I had

patients with almost no teeth who didn’t have $20,000 for reconstruc-

tion,” he says. So this year, after months in the lab, he unveiled Snap-On

Smiles. He is licensing them to dentists and has sold more than three

hundred to his own patients, many of whom have perfectly healthy (and

often straight) teeth.

4 People don’t ask Liechtung whether the Snap-On causes permanent

damage (it doesn’t) or whether you can eat with it (you can — even corn

PAUSE: What do

you expect the next

paragraph to be

about?

PAUSE: Why might

he have invented

the Snap-On Smile?

PAUSE: Why would

someone with

healthy teeth buy a

Snap-On Smile?

■ COMBINING

MODES: Note the use

of description within

the deﬁ nition.

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WRITING ESSAYS

246 Part Two • Writing Different Kinds of Essays

on the cob). “No,” Liechtung says, “they just want to know: ‘Which is

the most popular celebrity?’ ‘What kind of girls get Halle Berry?’ ‘Who

do guys ask for? ’ ”

5 “In the beginning, it made me sick. I thought I invented some

serious medical device, but all people wanted to do was use it to make

themselves look like celebrities!” Eventually he thought, Well, why not?

“A person comes in, I say I can give them any teeth they want, who are

they going to want to look like? Me? No!”

6 Liechtung wears a Snap-On every day. But whose smile is it? “I just

made an enhanced version of my own,” he says. But people rarely believe

him. “I hate to admit it,” he says, “but when they persist, I tell them my

teeth are Brad Pitt’s, because really, who wouldn’t want his teeth?”

— From The New York Times Magazine,

11 Dec. 2005, pp. 61–62

1. What is the term being deﬁ ned?

Snap-On Smile

2. Double-underline the sentence where the term is deﬁ ned.

3. Underline two details about the Snap-On Smile.

4. Does the essay have the four basics of good deﬁ nition? Be ready to

explain your answer.

5. If you were choosing a Snap-On Smile, what would it look like? Does

the idea appeal to you? Why or why not?

Critical Reading and Writing: Key College Skills

1. Summary. Brieﬂ y summarize each of the three selections, including

the deﬁ nitions that each essay provides.

2. Analysis. Review the introductory paragraphs of each selection.

What purpose does each selection have? Do the introductions serve that

purpose?

Answers will vary but may include ﬁ rst essay — to demonstrate

what the student learned; second essay — to describe a company’s

fundamental principle; third essay — to interest the reader.

3. Synthesis. Review Lindsey Tanner’s “Study Says Ads Trick Children’s

Taste Buds” (p. 240) and Rebecca Skloot’s “Celebrity Teeth” (p. 245).

Then, drawing from each and your experience, discuss how media

affects our choices.

■ TEACHING TIP

The Critical Reading

and Writing assign-

ments can be done

either in writing or

in a class discussion.

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