How to Write a Definition Essay Step by Step
The first thing you should do before starting to work is to find out what you deal with, otherwise you may get confused. In general, definition essays are considered as papers in which student has to give an explanation for the meaning of the term, describe it in details. He or she is also expected to show his/her own description of the term and provide facts and statements in order to support his/her point of view, especially if the term is complicated and sophisticated and allows several interpretations. But if you think you will never be able to write it by yourself, you can always buy essay online.
Step by Step Guide to Create the Essay
1. First of all, you should choose the term you will deal with, don’t hurry and think carefully about all possible options. Only after that you may clearly indicate the notion that you will be exploring to your readers.
2. Consult a few reliable sources, in particular encyclopedias and dictionaries. It allows you to see how scholars look at the term and determine which features of the phenomenon are highlighted first. A big number of sources are available online, for example dictionaries – Oxford Dictionaries, Cambridge Dictionary, Macmillan Dictionary and the Chambers Dictionary.
3. Specify in the introduction of the essay what term you have chosen.
4. In the body you present different types of information about the term. In addition to your own description you may include some information about its origin and history of use. Don’t forget to analyze its use in our days and pay attention to the context. A great idea is to focus on the common mistakes and misunderstandings in the definition and use of the term, of course, if they take pace.
5. Illustrate every point you consider, otherwise your essay will not look trustworthy and solid. Illustrations of any type make the paper more vivid and efficient.
How to choose an appropriate topic?
Choose your topic wisely. It’s almost impossible to count a quantity of terms we use every day. Some of these terms are pretty simple in use; as a result people don’t ponder how deep their meaning may be. Despite this fact, there are a lot of terms in the field of science; moreover, you can talk about eternal abstract things, such as love, beauty, happiness, family, friendship and so on.
Things to Remember While Writing
- Your task is not just to copy the definition written in a book. Of course, you can use them, and even you are advised to do that, but only to produce you own vision of the concept, the same as in expository essay. If this task is beyond you, in this case you need at least to interpret the existed definition.
- Choose the concept that is close and understandable to you, otherwise you will confuse yourself and your readers.
- You may explain term’s nature, functions and structure as the part of the definition. Another trick is to start with the opposite conception and declare the differences.
- Follow the strict structure. In order not to lose presentation logic we recommend you to create an outline. In this way you will be able to see what you’ll get at the end.
What You Should Do While Writing
- If your conception is pretty broad, you can narrow it: pollution and water pollution have different capacities, don’t they?
- Firmly connect the parts of the essay.
- Make your definition a special one and be creative.
- Proofread your paper several times to exclude any mistakes.
What You Never Should Do While Writing
- Definitions like “… is when/where …” don’t sound very reliable and scientific, but the case when you argue “Anger is a feeling that makes a person…” is a different matter.
- Avoid extremely narrow, popular and well-known questions.
- Follow the word limit, very brief or, on the contrary, detailed styles of writing aren’t accepted.
- Don’t use the chosen term in the text of the definition itself.
Typical Mistakes Made by Students While Writing
- Attempt to investigate the term that exceeds the amount of the paper.
- Insufficient emphasis on the term students write on, as a result reader can hardly understand what the author means.
- Lack of illustrations, it’s not a descriptive essay. The theoretical statement must always be confirmed in practice.
- No reinterpretation of the existed terms in the dictionaries.
