Introduction to Chapter 4

Instructor's Notes

The following resources are available for this chapter through the “Resources” panel or by clicking on the “Browse Resources for this Unit” button:

  • The Instructor's Resource Manual, which includes tips and special challenges for teaching this chapter
  • Lecture slides
  • Additional student essays explaining a concept (from Sticks & Stones and Other Student Essays)

4

Explaining a Concept

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I s the greatest threat to humanity a natural phenomenon we haven’t really considered? Are the complex feelings of love rooted in simple biology? What happens to our judgment when we make too many decisions in one day? These are a few of the questions that are answered in the intriguing concept explanations in this chapter. Much of your reading and writing as a college student involves learning the concepts that are the building blocks of academic subjects. These concepts may include principles (such as equal justice), theories (such as evolution), ideas (such as commodification), conditions (such as state of flow), phenomena (such as inflation), or processes (such as socialization). To communicate effectively and efficiently about a subject—whether you are writing to your instructor, your boss, or your friends; in an essay exam, a blog post, or a presentation; you need to be able to use and explain concepts clearly and compellingly.

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People analyze and explain concepts for various purposes and audiences and publish them in a variety of media. For example, a student in a cultural studies course used the concept of cultural framing theory as a lens through which to analyze the politics of sexuality in advertising. She published her essay in a student journal at her school. A parent used Prezi software to explain the concept of surveying in advertising to her child’s fifth-grade class. A business consultant created a video to define and demonstrate 3-D imaging and to explain its role to potential buyers of driverless cars.

In this chapter, we ask you to analyze and explain a concept that you think will be unfamiliar to your readers. Whether you tackle a concept you’ve studied in college or choose one from your work or your favorite pastime, you need to answer your readers’ inevitable “So what?” question: Why should they want to understand the concept? Analyzing the selections in the Guide to Reading that follows will help you learn how to make your concept explanation interesting and informative. The Guide to Writing later in the chapter will show you ways to use the basic features of the genre — including how to use visuals and multimedia — to make an unfamiliar concept not only understandable but also compelling to your readers.

PRACTICING THE GENRE

Explaining an Academic Concept

Part 1. First, think of a concept you recently learned in one of your courses. Next, take a few minutes to plan how you will explain it to classmates who may not know anything about the subject. Would it be helpful to

  • identify the course and the context in which you learned it?

  • give your listeners a dictionary definition?

  • tell them what kind of concept it is?

  • compare it to something they may already know?

  • give them an example?

  • explain why the concept is important or useful?

Part 2. In small groups, take two or three minutes each explaining your concept. Then discuss what you learned:

  • What did you learn about the genre from listening to others’ explanations? To think about purpose and audience in explaining a concept, tell one another whether you felt the “So what?” question was adequately answered: What, if anything, piqued your interest or made you feel that the concept might be worth learning about? What strategies did group members use that you felt were particularly effective?

  • What did you learn about explaining? Compare your thoughts with others in your group about what was easiest and hardest about explaining a concept—for example, choosing a concept you understood well enough to explain to others; making it interesting, important, or useful to group members; or deciding what would best help your audience understand the concept in the time you had.