The Definition Essay

The Definition Essay
Create a polished essay of 600 to 650 words on one of the choices presented in the following two topics.
Please also provide preliminary work/notes and drafts with your final version, and critique for your peers when you submit the assignment .
Topics:
1. Define one of these terms in an extended definition: loyalty, vanity, motivation, ethics. Use your extended definition to say something fresh and relevant about this abstract and commonly used term. For example, in the sample essay “The Insufficiency of Honesty” (page 241), Stephen L. Carter uses his definitions of honesty and integrity to say something new about the need for integrity in personal and business interactions. For your chosen topic, you should add to or work against the ready, accepted definition. You might, for example, decide that the usual definition of vanity is too narrow, and that you can extend the definition to include actions or attitudes that you feel society should be more concerned about than it is.
2. Use extended definition to redefine or more narrowly define one of the following terms: education, family, middle age, neighbour. Use your extended definition to say something fresh and relevant about this abstract and commonly used term. We all think we know what we mean by these terms, but you should use your extended definition to comment on or add to social perceptions. For example, you might say that education is commonly perceived as something formal that happens in an institution, but that there are other forms of education.

Checklist:
Here is a checklist for revising, editing, and proofreading. Note that chapters 5 and 6 as well as the Handbook section of your textbook provide further suggestions for checking the final version of your essay.
Introduction:
Is my essay topic clear to my reader in the first few sentences of the paragraph?
Does my introduction lead the reader to expect specific stages in the developmental section of the paper?
Does this paragraph match the tone of the rest of the essay?
Is there a strong, full, suitably narrowed and clearly worded thesis statement?
Developmental Paragraphs:
Does each paragraph include a clear topic sentence?
Have I fully analyzed the topic under study?
Have I used a variety of rhetorical methods, as appropriate?
Is each paragraph nicely unified and linked to the essay as a whole?
Conclusion:
Does this paragraph signal that the essay is complete?
Does this paragraph suggest the larger significance of my ideas?
Does this paragraph unify the essay into an artistic whole?
Does this paragraph match the tone of the rest of the essay?