1. Description and Definition
Models for Writers - Chapters 15 & 17

2. Description To describe is to create a verbal picture.
A person, a place, a thing – even an idea or state of mind – can be made vividly concrete through description.

3. Dominant impression
The single quality, mood, or atmosphere the writer wishes to emphasize

4. Descriptive paragraph
For this particular Thursday game against Stanford, Fleming wears white gloves, a maroon sport coat with brass buttons, and gray slacks. Shiny silver-framed bifocals match the whistle pressed between the lips on his slightly wrinkled face, and he wears freshly polished black shoes so glossy that they reflect the grass he stands on. He is not fat, but his coat neatly conceals a small, round pot belly. The author creates a dominant impression of a neat, polished, kindly man.

5. Definition
Definition allows you to communicate precisely what you want to say.
There are 3 basic ways to define a word
1. Synonym
2. Formal definition
3. Extended definition

6. Synonym method
Give a word that has nearly the same meaning as the word you wish to define
Examples: -face for countenance nervousness for anxiety

7. Formal definition method
Place the term in a general class and then distinguish it from other members of that class by describing its particular characteristics
Word Class Characteristic
A watch is a mechanical device that is used for telling time and is
usually carried or worn
Semantics is an area of linguistics that is concerned with the study of the meaning of words

8. Extended definition
Use one or more paragraphs (or even an entire essay) to define a new or difficult term or to rescue a controversial word form misconceptions that may obscure its meaning.
In an essay-length extended definition, you provide your readers with information about the meaning of a single word, a concept, or an object. You must think about what the readers already know, or think they know, about your topic.
You can use synonyms or formal definition definitions in your extended definition, BUT YOU MUST CONVINCE READERS TO ACCEPT YOUR PARTICULAR UNDERSTANDING OF IT!

9. In the following four-paragraph sequence, the writers provide an extended definition of freedom, an important but elusive concept:
Choosing between negative alternatives often seems like no choice at all. Take the case of a woman trying to decide whether to stay married to her inconsiderate, incompetent husband, or get a divorce. She doesn’t want to stay with him, but she feels divorce is a sign of failure and will stigmatize her socially. Or think of the decision faced by many young men [more than forty] years ago, when they were forced to choose between leaving their country and family or being sent to Vietnam.
When we face decisions involving only alternatives we see as negatives, we feel so little freedom that we twist and turn searching for another choice with some positive characteristics.

10. Freedom is a popular word
Freedom is a popular word. Individuals talk about how they feel free with one person and not with another, or how their bosses encourage or discourage freedom on the job. We hear about civil wars and revolutions being fought for greater freedom, with both sides righteously making the claim. The feeling of freedom is so important that people say they’re ready to die for it, and supposedly have.
Still, most people have trouble coming up with a precise definition of freedom. They give answers describing specific situations—“Freedom means doing what I want to do, not what the Government wants me to do,” or “Freedom means not having my mother tell me when to come home from a party”—rather than a general definition covering many situations. The idea they seem to be expressing is that freedom is associated with making decisions, and that other people sometimes limit the number of alternatives from which they can select

11. Now it’s your turn to try 
Read and annotate “What Happiness Is” by Eduardo Porter Class will then discuss and respond to “thinking critically” questions After class discussion, it will be your turn to write a definition essay WRITING PROMPT: Define a word of your choosing!!! You are responding to this prompt by formulating your own claim as to what you believe your selected word to mean and how you could argue its definition. Use the FREEDOM definition example in Models for Writers on pages to help guide your writing