College Essays: How to Redefine a Definition Essay

Define Ideology, Religion Culture etc, and you will end up checking up the dictionary, but when it comes to defining yourself you end up looking in the mirror. It’s not really essential that when the word “Define” comes you start a long 5 sentences, it means this and that (Well most people would do it anyway and still get it wrong in the end).

College essay such as Definition Essay doesn’t require its physical or the Oxford/chamber’s dictated literal meaning, you can even give an abstract and philosophical meaning like Parliament in definition is a government body to create jurisdictions and laws but in other meanings it can be “A body with no brain and no heart”. You can ask any arts student or a teacher and they will give you a gazillion meanings for love, truth, courage, mother etc.

Writing a definition essay isn’t that hard, it requires your perception, observation, analytical skills etc and a good organizing mind to properly tell that why do think it that way.

The very first step of writing this college essay requires a complete understanding of the topic. You might remember the project given to you in high school about Shakespeare’s play “A midsummer night’s dream” in which you had to define the entire love concept. Even though everyone will tell you that the topic you chose must be in accordance with reader’s mind and understanding, but if you have great explanatory skills then no worries there.

With the understanding of the topic you begin your college essay with the customary introduction of the topic, give the standard definition and explain why you have chosen this topic. Then you have to give your own definition of the topic and it can be functional, structural or analytical. They can even be about negation, causes and effects, origins, compare and contrast etc. Make it brief and to the point, no need to go philosophical, you have plenty to write afterwards.

The second paragraph is then about your observations. You can add other scholars’ literary works, excerpts from journals etc. You can even give normal day to day life examples or any event you have seen, this will make your college essay even stronger because definition essay require a lot of examples and proof especially when you are giving a new, 180 degree definition to a completely structured concept, like couple love. Don’t forget to make the examples relevant to your college essay’s topic, and if it isn’t then show them the other side of the coin, like Allama Iqbal’s poetry “Break of Dawn” where he showed that stars in the blackest of the night were the sure sign of the coming victory.

The conclusion is the final brick in the college essay you have created. In this you can create a comparison with other perceptions about that point and prove that as every coin has two sides; so can these topics. You have to be focused when elaborating your points at the final stage, because if you use weak examples you might end up with a bad grade.

Following are some examples of Definition Essay:

1) Democracy

2) Government

3) Love, a disaster

4) Marriage

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Category: Education
Keywords: term papers, essays, research papers, thesis, dissertation, book report

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