DEFINITION TEXT

Intermediate Reading Team Teaching

DEFINITION TEXT

• A formal definition essay defines a term or concept. Definition essays are a form
of expository writing in which the writer provides information about the term to
their audience. They typically follow a standard essay format and include both a
definition and an analysis of the term. Review the example essays below and try
exploring some of the suggested essay topics, too.
• A definition paragraph is a paragraph explaining a term or subject, so the audience
will be able to comprehend the topic of the paragraph. This can be done in three
different ways: Synonym, Class, and Negation.
a. Synonym is explaining the term by using the words that mean the same thing.
Example: To procrastinate is to slack.
b. Class is when you put your topic in a larger category to explain your term.
Example: A pineapple is a tropical fruit that has an acidic and sweet taste.
c. Negation means that the writer first says something is not, and then says what it is.
Example: A snowcone is not an ice creamcone, but rather a shredded ice and syrup
treat.
Examples of questions requiring a definition paragraph
1. What is venture capital?
2. Define ‘over-fishing’.
3. What are longitudinal dunes?
4. What is meant by protein quality?
• Sample paragraph 1
• An amtrack is not a boat; however, it is a military vehicle that moves on the ocean as
well as on land. It’s an armored vehicle that weighs twenty-six tons. An amtrack’s job
is to carry troops from ships off shore onto the beach in an amphibious assault. It’s
made out of aluminum, with steel suspension. It has a tracked suspension, much like
a bulldozer. Its front end slopes upward toward the headlights in an effort to give it
greater ground clearance. It’s propelled on land by its tracked suspension; however,
in the water it uses two water jets. It has a turret that holds a fifty caliber machine
gun, and a forty millimeter, fully automatic, grenade launcher.
• It has a ramp on the back that can be raised or lowered for the easy loading
and unloading of troops. There is a door built into this ramp so that when
the ramp is up, people can still get in and out through the back. It has three
hatches behind the turret that can be opened to allow the dropping of
supplies into the vehicle, or to allow embarked infantry a means of looking
out. The driver looks out of a hatch on the front left side of the vehicle,
while the troop commander sits just behind him. The vehicle commander,
sits in the turret of the vehicle, and mans the machine guns. The amtrack is
fully amphibious.
• Question:

• 1. What is amtrack?
• Sample paragraph 2
• A racist can be defined as a prejudiced person who discriminates because of another individuals outer
appearance or race. Racism can all start as a child being raised with negative thoughts, or can be
brought upon by personal reasons. For example, growing up in a racist family will give adolescent
awful thoughts about a race without even experiencing how they really feel first hand. A different
example of how one might unfortunately choose to be racist would be if a person visits a country, and a
negative event took place; this person might become racist toward a group of people that lived there all
because of one personal event that happened. This is not a type of person that treats people like how
they want to treated, but it is a form of hatred toward a set of people. This kind of person might use
mental abuse, or they can even get physically abusive toward the kind of race they are discriminate
towards. They also can have a type of attitude that thinks that they are better than certain groups and
cultures. Racism is a negative concept that put down people for no real reason. Racism is a form of
ignorance and inequity and only one could wish for this discrimination to stop all together in order for
everybody to get along.
• Question:

• 1. How many definition of racist that can be found in the text?

• 2. Mention the definition of racist that can be found in the text.
 • SYSTEMS
• Not long ago the term ‘system’ was hardly used, but the idea of the system has assumed more and more important
which is reflected in the widespread use of the term. We are surrounded by ecosystems, we create and live in political and
social systems, we use transport systems and indeed, the most important part of us is a vital and mysterious system, our
brain, part of the central nervous system.1 The word systems, however, is a problem word.2 Although everyone knows (or
thinks they know) what it means, it turns out to be surprisingly difficult to define precisely. Systems are commonly defined in
the dictionary as a group of objects united by some form of interaction or interdependence; an organic or organized whole
such as the solar system or a new telegraph system’. This definition suggests that there are differences in the kinds of
systems. The solar system is a natural system, a telegraph system is designed by man. There are also hybrid systems
which are combinations of natural and man-made systems – hydroelectric plants, for example, or modern dairies.
 • The dictionary definition is a good introduction to a discussion of systems. However, it is not a sufficient explanation of a special
meaning of the term. The special meaning of the term ‘systems’ emerged during and after World War II as a result of the need for
building combat aircraft. In building such aircraft, designers realized that they could not simply take an existing airplane and add
weapons, bomb and fuel storage space, communication and detection equipment, and protective armour. Adding such equipment at
random restricted the plane’s carrying capacity, sped, maneuverability, range of flight, and other vital functions. What emerged from this
realization³ was a new method of planning and development in which designers learned that they first had to identify the purpose and
performance expectations before they could develop all the parts that made up 4 the systems as a whole. It is the system as a whole –
and not its parts separately – that must be planned, designed, installed, and managed. What is really significant is not how the
individual components function separately but the way they interact and are integrated into the system for the purpose of achieving the
goal of the system. Generalizing from this example, 5 systems can be defined as deliberately designed synthetic organisms comprised
of interrelated and interacting components which are employed to function in an integrated fashion to attain predetermined purposes.
• The concept of systems has rapidly expanded into new areas. Its military, industrial and business applications
are enormous. Systems surround us everywhere. In the home, for example, there is a system whose purpose
is to produce meals. The components of the system consist of the cook, the cooking equipment the lighting,
heating, water supply, storage and disposal facilities, the food, the dishes, and the cookbook. All these
interact in the performance of the processes which are necessary to accomplish the purpose of the system.6 In
the case of the example given, meal production, the components will interact in such processes as planning
the meals, acquiring, storing, preserving, and preparing food, as well as sanitation and environmental control.
Systems thus have a purpose and it is the purpose that determines the components of the system and also the
interrelation of the processes in which the components engage.7 The purpose of any system is to produce a
particular outcome. Systems can have different kinds of outcomes. To go back to the same example, the
outcome of the meal-production system would be edible food.
• The planning, the acquisition of the food, the sanitation, and so on, can be viewed as subsystems that make up the meal
production system. A subsystem is a part of a total system that is designed to carry out a purpose8 whose attainment is necessary
to achieve the overall purpose of the system.9 Subsystems operate in an integrated fashion. In a meal-production system,
planning is integrated with and influenced by food acquisition, which then interacts with storage and preservation, preparation,
and the other subsystems.10 The effectiveness of the system depends on how well the interfunction.

• Source: From: Bela Banathy, Systems and Education in Instructional Systems Belmont, California (Fearon Publishers) 1968

• Questions:
• Use information from the passage above to find the definition (there is more than one definition in the passage).
Text Definition

Traditionally, a text is understood to be a piece of written or

spoken material in its primary form (as opposed to a paraphrase
or summary). A text is any stretch of language that can be
understood in context. It may be as simple as 1-2 words (such as a
stop sign) or as complex as a novel. Any sequence of sentences
that belong together can be considered a text.
EXAMPLES OF TYPES OF DIFFERENT TEXTS

Books
Scripts
Magazines
Newspapers
Instruction manuals
Cartoons with speech, and comics
Notes and references
•Text refers to content rather than form; for example: Caution, it’s slippery.
No entrance.
•Information related to a text, and often printed alongside it—such as an
author's name, the publisher, the date of publication, etc.—is known
as paratext (added elements).
•The idea of what constitutes a text has evolved over time. In recent years,
the dynamics of technology—especially social media—have expanded the
notion (concept/idea) of the text to include symbols such as emoticons and
emojis. A sociologist studying teenage communication, for example, might
refer to texts that combine traditional language and graphic symbols.
Text structures

• Text structures refer to the way authors organize information

in text. Recognizing the underlying (main, principal) structure
of texts can help students focus attention on key concepts and
relationships, anticipate what is to come, and monitor their
comprehension as they read.
• Examples of text structures include: sequence/process,
description, time order/chronology, proposition
(statement)/support, compare/contrast, problem/solution,
cause/effect, inductive/deductive, and investigation.
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