1. 750-word expanded definition

2. General assignment
Individually, you will write a word expanded definition of a technical or scientific term, with cover memo, which demonstrates: 1. correct memorandum format. 2. knowledge of the etymology and historical development of the term. 3. examples of the term's use in various written contexts. 4. ability to compare and contrast various uses of the term. 5. use and citation of sources with proper attribution. 6. awareness of audience. At least three library-sourced citations are required and should be cited following APA format.

3. What you’ll be doing… Find a term in your field that’s important.
Define it in your own words.
Start with Wikipedia to find the etymology of the word and sources you can use to show how the word is used in different fields.
Show us how the word is used in different contexts – with different audiences.

4. General format
There’s a complete template for this on the Open Lab site under Major Assignments  750-word Definition.
Overall, it’s a memo that uses different levels of headings.

5. An example -- rhetoric My definition. Wikipedia entry:
Etymology (from Greek for orator)
History of term (from Aristotle to contemporary)
My choice of how to approach the different uses/definitions
Library research  three sources
Copy quotations
Write down bibliographic information
Decide on audiences

6. Drafting the intro
The term rhetoric has been used since Ancient Greece to discuss how messages are crafted. The term itself is from Greek ῥητορικός rhētorikós, "oratorical“; from ῥήτωρ rhḗtōr, "public speaker“; related to ῥῆμαrhêma, "that which is said or spoken, word, saying“; and ultimately derived from the verb ἐρῶ erō, "I say, I speak.“Originally, rhetoric was one of the three ancient arts of discourse (along with grammar and logic) that were taught to students who intended to be orators. Over the centuries, it has changed definitions, and now means everything from how messages are put together and how we analyze them, to a more contemporary use of “rhetoric” as meaning empty language.

7. A definition
Kenneth Burke (1969), a modern rhetorical theorist, wrote that “[y]ou persuade a man only insofar as you can talk his language by speech, gesture, tonality, order, image, attitude, idea, identifying your way with his” (p. 55). Burke was one of the first rhetoricians to discuss rhetoric as “symbolic action”, that is, where discourse and human beings interact in the real world. Burke thought of rhetoric as a living, lively part of how we craft, send, and interpret messages, and that we’re all in conversation with each other, even if there’s no immediate feedback. He argued that we need to understand each other’s position before persuasion can take place. His approach was, and still is, a major influence on how we think about and teach rhetoric.

8. A context sentence.
Sentence: This term, we’ll be learning rhetoric, which is the art and science of putting messages together in order to create a specific outcome in an audience.
Audience: First year composition students.
Audience analysis: Students who have probably never heard of rhetoric, or if they have, it’s in terms of logos, ethos, and pathos. This will be new to them. Most of the students will be just out of high school.
Purpose & Context: I use rhetoric in this way the first week of the term so that it’s simple and not threatening, hopefully showing it’s a tool and not a THING.

9. References
Burke, Kenneth (1969). A Rhetoric of Motives. Berkeley: U of California Press.