Definition, process, classification
- 1. Fusion 2, Chapters 9-11
- 2. Ch. 9 – Definition (p.185) Definition a mode that offers a formal statement or explanation of a meaning of a word. Very common in textbooks
- 3. Definition The author may define the term through: Synonyms Antonyms Placing it in context Personal experiences The word’s history (called etymology) Comparing it to other words
- 4. Organization for Definition The main idea (thesis or topic sentence) statement lists the word to be defined. Definition writing can be organized in: Chronological order Emphatic order Logical order Transitions: Can be defined as Can be considered Can mean
- 5. Ch. 10 – Process (p.209) Process a mode that details a series of actions, steps, or changes bringing about a result . Examples: recipes, driving directions, how-tos
- 6. Process Organization The main idea statement lists the activity that will be broken into steps. Process is organized in chronological (time) order. Transitions: First Second Next Last After Etc.
- 7. Ch. 11 – Classification (p.233) Classification a mode that breaks a complex topic into smaller groups or types. Examples: types of cars, stages of cancer, groups of animals (mammals, reptiles, etc.)
- 8. Classification To classify something, you need to have separate and distinct groups. You can’t have something in more than one group. You can’t have something left out of grouping.
- 9. Organizing Classification Main idea statement gives the subject, and tells how the concept is grouped. Classification can be organized: Chronologically Spatially Emphatically Transitions Another type One kind Third group
- 10. Practice The paragraph below is an example of which mode? (definition, process, or classification) The problem of hairballs that have already formed in cat’s fur can be solved by proper brushing. In order to brush your cat’s hairballs, you’ll need two kinds of brushes: a wide-teeth wipe and a metallic one. The former will help you dissolve and, partially, remove tightly knotted hairballs without causing any pain or discomfort to your cat. The latter, used subsequently, will remove excess of loose puffy hair and decrease the possibility of reoccurrence the next day. Once brushing is over, make sure to polish your cat’s fur all over his body with the help of a clean, cotton, or woolen cloth.
- 11. Practice The problem of hairballs that have already formed in cat’s fur can be solved by proper brushing. In order to brush your cat’s hairballs, you’ll need two kinds of brushes: a wide-teeth wipe and a metallic one. The former will help you dissolve and, partially, remove tightly knotted hairballs without causing any pain or discomfort to your cat. The latter, used subsequently, will remove excess of loose puffy hair and decrease the possibility of reoccurrence the next day. Once brushing is over, make sure to polish your cat’s fur all over his body with the help of a clean, cotton, or woolen cloth. This is an example of Process.
- 12. Practice The paragraph below is an example of which mode? (definition, process, or classification) Americans can be divided into three groups--smokers, nonsmokers and that expanding pack of us who have quit. Those who have never smoked don't know what they're missing, but former smokers, ex- smokers, reformed smokers can never forget. We are veterans of a personal war, linked by that watershed experience of ceasing to smoke and by the temptation to have just one more cigarette. For almost all of us ex- smokers, smoking continues to play an important role in our lives. And now that it is being restricted in restaurants around the country and will be banned in almost all indoor public places in New York State starting next month, it is vital that everyone understand the different emotional states cessation of smoking can cause. I have observed four of them; and in the interest of science I have grouped them as those of the zealot, the evangelist, the elect and the serene. Each day, each category gains new recruit.
- 13. Practice The paragraph below is an example of which mode? (definition, process, or classification) Americans can be divided into three groups--smokers, nonsmokers and that expanding pack of us who have quit. Those who have never smoked don't know what they're missing, but former smokers, ex-smokers, reformed smokers can never forget. We are veterans of a personal war, linked by that watershed experience of ceasing to smoke and by the temptation to have just one more cigarette. For almost all of us ex-smokers, smoking continues to play an important role in our lives. And now that it is being restricted in restaurants around the country and will be banned in almost all indoor public places in New York State starting next month, it is vital that everyone understand the different emotional states cessation of smoking can cause. I have observed four of them; and in the interest of science I have grouped them as those of the zealot, the evangelist, the elect and the serene. Each day, each category gains new recruit. This is an example of classification.
- 14. Practice The paragraph below is an example of which mode? (definition, process, or classification) Originally home meant the center of the world--not in a geographical, but in an ontological sense. Mircea Eliade has demonstrated how home was the place from which the world could be founded. A home was established, as he says, "at the heart of the real." In traditional societies, everything that made sense of the world was real; the surrounding chaos existed and was threatening, but it was threatening because it was unreal. Without a home at the center of the real, one was not only shelterless, but also lost in nonbeing, in unreality. Without a home everything was fragmentation.
- 15. Practice The paragraph below is an example of which mode? (definition, process, or classification) Originally home meant the center of the world--not in a geographical, but in an ontological sense. Mircea Eliade has demonstrated how home was the place from which the world could be founded. A home was established, as he says, "at the heart of the real." In traditional societies, everything that made sense of the world was real; the surrounding chaos existed and was threatening, but it was threatening because it was unreal. Without a home at the center of the real, one was not only shelterless, but also lost in nonbeing, in unreality. Without a home everything was fragmentation. This is an example of definition.