PROJECTS •
Write an argument of definition about a term such as military combatants or illegal alien that has suddenly become culturally significant or recently changed in some important way. Either defend the way the term has come to be defined or raise questions about its appropriateness, offensiveness, inaccuracy, and so on. Consider words or expressions such as terrorism, marriage equality, racist, assisted suicide, enhanced interrogation, tea partier, collateral damage, forcible rape, net neutrality, etc.
Write an essay in which you compare or contrast the meaning of two related terms, explaining the differences between them by using one or more methods of definition: formal definition, operational definition, definition by example. Be clever in your choice of the initial terms: look for a pairing in which the differences might not be immediately apparent to people unfamiliar with how the terms are used in specific communities. Consider terms such as liberal/progressive, classy/cool, lead soprano/prima donna, student athlete/jock, highbrow /intellectual, and so on.
In an essay at the end of this chapter, Natasha Rodriguez explores the adjective underprivileged, trying to understand why this label bothers her so much. She concludes that needing financial aid should not be conflated with being disadvantaged. After reading this selection carefully, respond to Rodriguez’s argument in an argument of definition of your own. Or, alternatively, explore a concept similar to “underprivileged” with the same intensity that Rodriguez brings to her project. Look for a term to define and analyze either from your major or from an area of interest to you.
Because arguments of definition can have such important consequences, it helps to develop one by first getting input from lots of “stakeholders,” that is, from people or groups likely to be affected by any change in the way a term is defined. Working with a small group, identify a term in your school or wider community that might need a fresh formulation or a close review. It could be a familiar campus word or phrase such as nontraditional student, diversity, scholastic dishonesty, or social justice; or it may be a term that has newly entered the local environment, perhaps reflecting an issue of law enforcement, safety, transportation, health, or even entertainment. Once you have settled on a significant term, identify a full range of stakeholders. Then, through some systematic field research (interviews, questionnaires) or by examining existing documents and materials (such as library sources, Web sites, pamphlets, publications), try to understand how the term currently functions in your community. Your definitional argument will, in effect, be what you can learn about the meanings that word or phrase has today for a wide variety of people.