1. Creating a Good Definition Essay
A step by step guide

2. Frame of Reference
This is the context within which you place the your chosen term/phenomenon and the definition/category you think it belongs in.
The frame of reference is the background information your reader should understand about your topic and definition. For instance, imagine you are arguing that organ sales are unethical because they exploit the poor, favor the rich, and create an unfair or black market organ lottery.
Your frame of reference could tell your reader about what organ sale is and what your definition of unethical is as well.
This will make up the bulk of your intro paragraph in your essay.

3. Grounds for Comparison
Let's say you're writing a paper on global food distribution, and you've chosen to compare apples and oranges. Why these particular fruits? Why not pears and bananas? The rationale behind your choice, the grounds for comparison, lets your reader know why your choice is deliberate and meaningful, not random. You need to indicate the reasoning behind your choice of term and definition or category.

4. Thesis
The grounds for comparison anticipates the comparative nature of your thesis. As in any argumentative paper, your thesis statement will convey the gist of your argument, which necessarily follows from your frame of reference.
Whether your paper focuses primarily on difference or similarity, you need to make the relationship between A and B clear in your thesis. This relationship is at the heart of any definition essay.

5. Organizational Scheme
Your introduction will include your frame of reference, grounds for comparison, and thesis.
The body paragraphs will be focused on the reasons you feel your term does or does not belong to its category/definition.
For example, with our practice thesis of “organ sales in the United States would be unethical because they exploit the poor, favor the rich, and create an unfair or black market organ lottery.”
The first body paragraph might outline the definition of “unethical”
The second body paragraph might discuss how organ sales exploit the poor and how that is unethical.
The third body paragraph might discuss how organ sales favor the rich and how that is unethical.
The fourth body paragraph might discuss how organ sales create an unfair or black market organ lottery and how that is unethical.

6. Linking of A and B
All argumentative papers require you to link each point in the argument back to the thesis. Without such links, your reader will be unable to see how new sections logically and systematically advance your argument.
To make these links, use transitional expressions of comparison and contrast (similarly, moreover, likewise, on the contrary, conversely, on the other hand) and contrastive vocabulary.
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7. Brainstorm…
Pick a topic you might be interested in using for the definition essay.
Write 2-3 sentences for your frame of reference.
Write 2-3 sentence for your grounds for comparison.
Write a 1 sentence thesis that clearly states X is Y (phenomenon = X and definition/category = Y).
Use the smart-words.org website to write a list of 5-8 linking words you may use in your essay to help get the brain juices flowing.