APPLYING YOUR SKILLS: ADDITIONAL ESSAY ASSIGNMENTS

Write an extended definition essay on one of the following topics, using what you learned in this chapter. Depending on your topic, you may need to conduct research. (For more on locating and documenting source see Chapters 22, 23, and 24.)

TO EXPRESS YOUR IDEAS

Choose a specific audience and write an essay defining and expressing your views on one of the following terms.

  1. Parenting
  2. Assertiveness
  3. Sexual harassment

TO INFORM YOUR READER

  1. Write an essay defining a term from a sport, hobby, or form of entertainment for a classmate who is unfamiliar with the term.
  2. Write an essay for your instructor defining the characteristics of the “perfect job” you hope to hold after graduation.
  3. Write an essay defining an important concept in a field of study, perhaps from one of your other courses. Your audience consists of students not enrolled in the course.

TO PERSUADE YOUR READER

“Freegans: They Live Off What We Throw Away” addresses the issue of consumer waste and excess. Write an essay for readers of your local newspaper in which you define one of the terms listed below and demonstrate that the problem is either increasing or decreasing in your community.

  1. Racism or ethnic stereotyping
  2. Sexual discrimination
  3. Age discrimination

CASES USING DEFINITION

  1. You are a fifth-grade teacher working on a lesson plan entitled “What Is American Democracy?” How will you limit the term American democracy to define it for your audience? What characteristics and details will you include?
  2. Write a press release for a new menu item as part of your job as public relations manager for a restaurant chain. First, choose the new menu item, and then define the item and describe its characteristics using sensory details.

Synthesizing Ideas

Culture

Both “Freegans: They Live Off What We Throw Away” and “Guerrilla Street Art” discuss the activities of a subculture: dumpster divers and graffiti artists.

Analyzing the Readings

  1. In what ways does each self subgroup set itself apart from the larger society?
  2. Write a journal entry exploring how some subgroups set themselves apart — for example, through dress, behavior, or language.

Essay Idea

Write an essay in which you explore a subgroup of college students, such as student democrats or vegans. Give examples of ways in which certain groups on campus set themselves apart through their language, their activities, or in some other way.