Using a Theme (or an Analogy)

to Organize Your Definition

     I think I made myself clear in class about the definition essays in our textbook. Each uses an analogy to help readers quickly understand the characteristics of a term.

     This is Writing 5. No longer can you name three things about your subjects and call it an essay. The characteristics you name must be surprising, innovative, unusual, or organized in a surprising, innovative, or unusual way.

     Readers will not care that your brother is pale, naps all day, and avoids mirrors. On the other hand, if you suspect that he might be a vampire, you have the basis for a good analogy, and you can define your brother's personality by comparison.

     The chapter samples are good examples of Definition essays of Students, Football Fans, and TV Viewers, respectively. None takes a simple dictionary-type approach. The essays are vivid, very specific, and memorable, and each depends on an analogy for comparison, emphasis, and organization. Let's get specific.

     The Insane Football Fan. Football Fans are defined in terms of their behavior, their attitudes about the past, and their loyalty. Specifically, they wear official team gear, go to games in icy winter, and decorate their homes and vehicles with team logos. Their memories of team achievements (and disasters) keep the past vividly alive. Finally, they pay such close attention to their teams' exploits large and small that their loyalty cannot be doubted.

     Those characteristics would be acceptable in themselves if the author were satisfied with a mediocre and forgettable essay. Instead, he introduces the theme of insanity to enliven his writing and provide an organizing principle. He makes the analogy that extreme fans resemble insane people. Suddenly, everything coheres (you've seen the noun version of this word, coherence, on your grading rubrics). The three main characteristics of fans—behavior, memory, and loyalty—are much more effective together because the author points out they are also characteristics of insanity.

     Football fans behave insanely (it's insane to sit outdoors in a blizzard to watch someone else play); they're insanely fascinated by the past (a sane person doesn't cringe at the thought of a loss in 1980 as if it happened yesterday); they're insanely loyal (only a crazy person paints his face green to drive to the stadium). The theme of insanity (or the analogy to insane people) connects the otherwise disconnected main ideas and gives the essay its coherence and effectiveness.

     The Zombie-like Student. Does this essay define Zombies or a certain type of student? Most likely, the assignment was to define a particular type of student (like the choice you've been offered to define a Good Neighbor). The author could have described a type of student who pays no attention, shows no  interest, and has no direction. That would be fine for Writing 4, but not memorable enough for Writing 5.

     At some point, the author noticed the student's shuffling gait was like a zombie's walk. Following that inspiration, the author expanded the zombie analogy until the entire essay became an exciting and memorable comparison instead of a list of three forgettable characteristics.

     Television Addiction. The first sentence indicates that the essay is an extended Definition. It describes how the word "addiction" is used in casual conversation, then carefully begins to draw a very serious comparison between television addiction and other familiar and destructive addictions. In effect, the author "re-defines" television addiction as a serious psychological syndrome. The theme is contained in the one-sentence Paragraph 6: "Let us consider television viewing in light of the conditions that define serious addictions."

     Finding your Theme or Analogy. These three examples all use comparison or analogy as their technique. Sports fanatics are insane people. Some students are like zombies. Obsessed TV-watchers are addicts.

     The key to writing a vivid and memorable definition essay is finding the theme that connects your main ideas. A good analogy provides a strong theme. Let's try one:

     Want to define a Patriot? We can start by listing attributes. A patriot loves his country and defends it against critics. He wears the flag proudly. Even its colors are meaningful to him. He believes its citizens are worthy and admirable and its leaders are wise and just. When it competes with other countries, he wants his country to win. He gets emotional when he hears the national anthem. It's almost as if his country was a team, with a fight song and uniforms and a chance to win the championship. See? His devotion to his country is similar to his devotion to his hometown sports teams. A patriot is like a sports fan!

     Your analogy doesn't have to be perfect. Your job is to find the three ways that make the best comparison and organize them into a coherent essay.

ASSIGNMENT: 5 Paragraph Definition Essay

TOPIC: Choose any of the terms from the list on Page 326.

PERSPECTIVE: Challenge yourself to be unique. Don't be satisfied with a straightforward list of characteristics. The dictionary can do that! Express a point of view.

ADVANCE FEEDBACK: Leave me a comment below if you're struggling with an analogy or theme. I'll help. Everyone else will benefit from seeing your question and my answer!

DEADLINE FOR FIRST DRAFT: MON MAR 08 IN CLASS.