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    © All Rights Reserved
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    5 views10 pages

    CH 12

    Uploaded by

    Marco Ramos
    Chapter 12 langan

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PDF or read online from Scribd
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    Definition CHAPTER PREVIEW Paragraphs to Consider Developing a Definition ph Paragra Writing a Defi Paragraph What are some words that come fo mind as you look at this photo of the astronauts on the Columbia Space Shuttle Mission STS-1078 Write a paragraph in which you define one of those words. For example, you may look at the photograph and think bravery, danger, or exploration. CHAPTER 12 Definition 213 In talking with other people, we sometimes offer informal definitions to explain just what we mean by a particular term. Suppose, for example, we say toa friend, “Keith can be so clingy.” We might then expand on our idea of “clingy” by saying, “You know, a clingy person needs to be with someone every single minute. If Keith’s best friend makes plans that don’t include him, he becomes hurt. And when he dates someone, he calls her several times a day and gets upset if she even goes to the grocery store without him. He hangs on to people too tightly.” In a written definition, we make clear in a more complete and formal way our own personal under- standing of a term. Such a definition typically starts with one meaning of a term. The meaning is then illustrated with a series of examples or a story. In this section, you will be asked to write a paragraph that begins with a one-sentence definition; that sentence will be the topic sentence. The two student papers below are both examples of definition paragraphs. Read them and then answer the questions that follow. Paragraphs to Consider Disillusionment |Disillusionment is the feeling we have when one of our most cherished beliefs is stolen from us. 2! learned about disillusionment firsthand the day Mx. Keller, our eighth-grade teacher, handed out the grades for our class biology projects. $I had worked hard to assemble what | thought was the best insect collection any school had ever seen. 4For weeks, | had set up homemade traps around our house, in the woods, and in vacant lots. SAt night, | would stretch a white sheet between two trees, shine @ lantern on it, and collect the nightflying insects that gathered there. With my own money, | had bought killing jars, insect | pins, gummed labels, and display boxes. 7I carefully arranged related insects together, with labels listing each scientific name and the place and date of capture. ®Slowly and painfully, | wrote and typed the report | that accompanied my project at the school science fair. %In contrast, my friend Eddie did almost nothing for his project. !@He had his father, o psychologist, build an impressive maze complete with live rats and a sign that tead, “You are the trainer.” 11 person could lift litle plastic door, send a rat running through the maze, and then hit a button to release a pellet of rat food as a reward. '2This exhibit turned out fo be the most popular one at the fair. 131 felt sure that our teacher would know that Eddie could not have built it, and | was certain that my hard work would be recognized and rewarded. 14Then the grades were finally handed out, and I was crushed. 15Eddie had gotten an A+, but my grade was a B. 161 suddenly realized that honesty and hard work don't chways pay off in the end. 17The idea that life is not fair, that sometimes it pays to cheat, | hit me with such force that | felt sick. '81 will never forget that moment. 214 PART3 Paragraph Development Classroom Ringmasters | Elementary teachers should not be selFimportant experis, but enthusiastic ringmasters. 2Like ringmasters in circuses, teachers need to organize, introduce, and guide, but instead of circus acts and performers, teachers work with information and students. 2Many fingmastets parlicipate in the planning and organizing of the show; if they weren't involved, performers wouldn't know their cues, stagehands wouldn't know when to set up, and the show would not become a unified experience. “Teachers are also in charge of planning and organizing their lessons, but some teachers fail to do this and, like o bad circus, create « disjointed and choppy experience. 5My sixth-grade language arts teacher rarely had any plan for what was going to occur each day. °As a result, our class spent many days repeating lessons or skipping over information, which led to frustration and poor learning. 7\ hoted the reading selections that we were assigned for language arts. Another job of circus ringmasters is to introduce the acts that are coming up. "Teachers also prepare students for and introduce students to new information. !9For a new math unit on subtraction, a second-grade teacher brought in clusters of grapes. !!She passed out filled bowls to the students and had them count the individual grapes. '2Once they knew how many grapes they had, the teacher invited the students to cat some of the grapes. !3She then had the students count up their new totals. '4Within @ very short period, the students were excited about the new topic of subtraction and already had a strong understanding of what it meant, as well as a nice snack. !Slike a good ringmaster, a good teacher has to make sure that each “act” runs smoothly into nother without any major breaks, overlaps, or mishaps. '6Mly son's first grade teacher was the ultimate ringmaster. '7He was full of enthusiasm for his subject, and students responded. 18It was hard for sixyearolds not fo get excited obout spelling when the teacher was standing on his desk leading the class in a spelling cheer. !But like a good ringmaster, the teacher never let the lesson get out of hand; instead, he transitioned the students from spelling cheers to quiet reading time with the precision cof a veteran director. 20There are many types of teachers, but the best recognize that their jobs are to keep the show running, not be the star of the show. About Unity 1. Which sentence in “Classroom Ringmasters” should be omitted in the interest of paragraph unity? (Write the sentence number here.) CHAPTER 12 Definition 215 About Support 2, Which paragraph develops its definitions through a series of short nar- rative examples? ROR NE Se a see EE ——————————————————— 3, Which paragraph develops its definition through a single extended example? Jats lua hia ieee About Coherence 4. Which paragraph uses time order to organize its details? oe eS Developing a Definition Paragraph Development through Prewriting When Harry, the author of “Disillusionment,” started working on his assign- ment, he did not know what he wanted to write about. He looked around the house for inspiration. His two-year-old twins racing around the room made him think about defining “energy.” The fat cat asleep on a sunny windowsill suggested that he might write about “laziness” or “relaxation.” Still not sure of a topic, he looked over his notes from that day’s class. His instructor had jotted a list of terms on the blackboard, saying, “Maybe you could focus on what one of these words has meant in your own life.” Harry looked over the words he had copied down: honesty, willpower, faith, betrayal, disillusionment—"When I got to the word ‘disillusionment,’ the eighth grade science fair flashed into my mind,” Harry said. “That was a bitter experience that definitely taught me what disillusionment was all about.” Because the science fair had occurred many years before, Harry had to work to remember it well. He decided to try the technique of questioning himself to come up with the details of what had happened. Here are the questions Harry asked himself and the answers he wrote: When did 1 learn about disillusionment? | When Iwas in eighth grade Where did it happent At the school science fair Who was involved? Me, Eddie Loowds and his father, and Mr. Keller continved in a writer’s words “New writers are often told, ‘Write what ‘you know.’ I would Broaden that by saying, ‘Write what you know emotionally.” Marjorie Franco 216 PART3 Paragraph Development What happened? Thad worked very hard on my insect collection. Eddie had dome almost nothing but he had a rat maze that his father had built. gota | Bon my project while Eddie got-an A+. Why was the experience so disitlusioning? thought my hard work would be rewarded. Iwas sure Mr, Keller would. recognize that Thad put fur more efort into my project than Eddie had. When Eddie won, L learned that cheating can pay offand that honest work ist always rewarded. | How did Lreact? | I felt sick to my stomach. I wanted to confront Mr. Keller aud Eddie cand make ther see how unfair the grades wore. But I ky Ti just look ike a poor loser, so tdidw' do anything. 1 the basis of this experience, howo worl define ‘ivilluionment't 185 finding out that something you really believed tn tsiit true. _ = = —~ mm S| Drawing from the ideas generated by his self-questioning, Harry wrote the following draft of his paragraph: disillustoranent ts finding out that one of your most important beliefs ist true. 1 learned about disillusionment at my eighth-grade science fair. Thad worked very hard on my project, an insect collection. Twas sure it would get an A. Thad worked so hard on it, ever spending nights outside making sure it was very good. My friend Eddie also did. project, but he barely worked on hus at all. Dustead, he had his father | build a maze for a rat to run through. The trainer lifted a little plastic door to let the rat into the maze, and if it completed the maze, the trainer could release a pellet of food for it to eat. It was a nice project, but the point isthat Eddie hadnit-wade it. He just made things like the banner that hung over it. Ar. Keller was our science teacher. He gave Eddie an A+ cand. mee just B50 that really taught se about disillusionment. - ae eS ae Development through Revising The next day, Harry's teacher divided the class into peer-review groups of three. The groups reviewed each member's paragraph. Harry was grouped with Curtis and Jocelyn. After reading through Harry's paper several times, the group had the following discussion: Jocelyn: “My first reaction is that | want to know more about your project. You give details about Eddie's, but not many about your own: What was s0 good about it? You need to show us, not just tell us. Also, you said that you worked very hard, but you didn't show us how hard.” Harry: “Yeah. | remember my project clearly, but | guess the reader has to know what it was like and how much effort went into it.” Curtis: “I like your fopic sentence, but when | finished the paragraph | wasn't sure what ‘important belief’ you'd learned wasn’t true. What would you say that belie was?” Harry: “I'd believed that honest hard work would always be rewarded. | found out that it doesn’t always happen that way, and that cheating can actually win.” Curtis: “I think you need to include that in your paragraph.” Jocelyn: “Id like to read how you felt or reacted after you saw your grade, 100. If you don't explain that, the paragraph ends sort of abruptly.” Harry agreed with his classmates’ suggestions. After he had gone through several revisions, he produced the version that appears on page 213. Writing a Definition Paragraph PORTRAYING A PERSON Write a paragraph that defines one of the following terms. Each term refers to a certain kind of person. Artist Geek Pessimist Beauty Genius Philanthropist Bubba Good neighbor Pushover Charmer Good sport Romantic Con-artist Idealist Self-promoter Control freak Intellect Showoff Coward Introvert Slacker Darwin Award winner Know-itall Snob Fair-weather friend Leader Trustworthy Feminist Manipulator Workaholic Flirt Optimist Friend-padder Pack rat 218 PART3 Paragraph Development Prewriting a. Write a topic sentence for your definition paragraph. This is a two-part process: * First, place the term in a class, or category. For example, if you are writing about a certain kind of person, the general category is person. Ifyou are describing a type of friend, the general category is friend. * Second, describe what you consider the special feature or features that set your term apart from other members of its class. For instance, say what kind of person you are writing about or what type of friend In the following topic sentence, try to identify three things: the term being defined, the class it belongs to, and the special feature that sets the term apart from other members of the class. A chocoholic is a person who craves chocolate. The term being defined is chocoholic. The category itbelongs to is person. The words that set chocoholic apart from any other person are craves chocolate. Below is another example of a topic sentence for this assignment. It is a definition of whiner. The class, or category, is underlined: A whiner is a type of person. The words that set the term whiner apart from other members of the class are double-underlined. Awhiner is a person who feels wronged by life. In the following sample topic sentences, underline the class and double- underline the special features. A clotheshorse is a person who needs new clothes to be happy. The class clown is a student who gets attention through silly behavior. A worrywart is a person who sees danger everywhere. b. Develop your definition by using one of the following methods: Examples. Give several examples that support your topic sentence. Extended example. Use one longer example to support your topic sentence. Contrast. Support your topic sentence by contrasting what your term is with what it is not. For instance, you may want to define a fair-weather friend by contrasting his or her actions with those of a true friend. c. Once you have created a topic sentence and decided how to develop your paragraph, make a scratch outline. If you are using a contrast method of development, remember to present the details one side at a time or point by point (see pages 200-204), d. Write a first draft of your paragraph. Revising: Peer Review Before revising, have a friend or classmate read your paragraph. Together, you should respond to the questions in the checklist on the next page: CHAPTER 12 Definition 219 yaa Nile) Reia

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