16 INFORMATIVE SPEAKING

Definition

Printed Page 472

Through definition, you break something down by its parts and explain how they add up to identify the topic. In short, you explain the essence, meaning, purpose, or identity of something. That “something” could be any of the following:

An object—for example, “What is a bicycle derailleur?”
A person or group—for instance, “Who are the Hmong people?”
An event—such as, “What was the ‘the Play’ in college football?”
A process—for instance, “What is reverse engineering?”
An idea or concept—for example, “What is obscenity?”

As we discuss in Chapter 8, there are four different types of definitions. An example of each is shown in the table on page 474, which demonstrates how you might use each of the four types to define the word obscenity.