Definition Essay - English 099 Topic: Success in Today’s World
One common flaw in student writing is the reliance on a dictionary definition to introduce a topic. This tactic has been used so often that it is now an overused and ineffective cliche. A much more useful way to examine a topic is to examine how most people seem to view the subject in today’s world and to consider how another group (or individual) may have a significantly different viewpoint.
This assignment has two main parts: 1) examine what others have said about our topic, “success,” and 2) examine how your views differ or agree with theirs. You may be aware that many essays have been written on this topic, and it is easy to find many of them online. Of course to use them, or any part of them, would be plagiarism. So how do we address what others have said? We will target just “who” these others are. Be aware that though there are four steps, you may have six or seven paragraphs, as some of the ideas may need multiple paragraphs.
What they say:
First:
Examine the general idea of success as reflected in the media (music, TV, movies, Internet). As you write, explain the view of success society seems to set up and use examples from the media to prove that this, in fact, is a modern viewpoint. If you choose to add song lyrics, be sure give the artists and put their lyrics in quotations. Do you believe this is a view that is accepted by most young people? You may do some personal interviews (two or three) with other young people to find out. Learn who they see as successful and why.
Second:
Show a contrasting view as presented by two of our authors, Ellen Goodman (“The Company Man”) and/or Roy Wilson (“Oh, I’m Just a Housewife”). Discuss questions they raise that challenge society’s view.
What you say:
Third:
In this section, you will be presenting your own ideas of success. To do so, think about whether you agree with anything “they” have said. You can use phrases, like, “In my view, success is not....” In this section of the essay you will use “I.” Give a one-paragraph definition of your own view of success. The goal of this short paragraph is to consolidate your ideas into a general short summary.
Fourth:
Select specific ideas from your summary that you will develop in the remaining paragraphs (around 3 of these). As you explore each one, give personal examples that have impacted your thinking–these can include values you have due to family, culture, and or religion.
Tips:
# Re-read your assignment. Don’t forget that in the first part of the essay you are going to address some of what we see in the media regarding who is projected as being a success or what success is. Think about shows such as “The Apprentice” and how they project an attitude about success.
# Pay attention to homonyms like “their/there/there,” and “then/than”
# Make sure each paragraph has its own job to do. All of them will discuss “success,” but each paragraph discusses a different aspect of the topic, just a tree has different components that comprise it: sap, branches, leaves, bark, etc. Each part of the tree has its own job to do in supporting the tree, but all the parts function together to create the tree. Likewise, all the parts of your essay need to work together to explain the attitudes about success and how you arrive at your own definition of it.
# Avoid circular phrases like “success is being successful at...”
# Avoid using you. Also avoid the phrases, “is where” and “is when.” For example, instead of staying, “Success is when you have enough money that you don’t have to stress over whether you can pay your bills,” you might say, “In my life I will feel successful if I have enough money so I do not have the constant stress of whether I can pay my monthly bills.”
# Select two of your vocabulary words to use in this essay. As you did last time, highlight the words or make them bold.
# Look at the types of errors you made on the last essay and edit to eliminate them on this essay
# Read the paper aloud and fix sentences where the sound is not college-level or
professional.