DefinitionWhat is it?

Definition Tells what a term means and how it differs from other terms

Creates a common “language” for the speaker and audience to understand one another

TypesInformal Definitions

• Personal explanations of what something is

Formal Definitions

• Dictionary explanations of what something is

Explicit vs. Implicit

Extended Definitions

• Longer, complex definitions that require a paragraph, essay, or even a whole book

Patterns of Development

Definitions utilize a variety of patterns

• Exemplification- explaining/defining by giving examples

• Description- explaining/defining by describing its nature

• Compare/Contrast- explaining/defining by comparing/contrasting it with something else

• Process Analysis- explaining/defining by outlining the process through which it is created, works, etc.

• Classification /Division- explaining/defining by identifying/classifying the class to which something belongs

Rhetorical Devices Connotation- a non-literal, associative meaning of a word; the

implied, suggested meaning

Denotation- the literal, strict definition of a word

Synonyms- words with similar meanings

Negation- telling what it is not

Enumeration- listing its characteristics

Analogies – comparisons identifying similarities between the term and something dissimilar

What is an Adventurer?

An adventurer is someone who is willing to leave the comfort and security of the status quo to seek new experiences. An adventurer is always open to new possibilities, new opportunities. He may be young or old, rich or poor, fit or ailing; whatever his description, he lives his life– deeply and now. Adventurers sail tall ships and climb mountains, write novels and solve impossible equations. They take leaves of absence from regular jobs to trek across country, live in grass huts, run hundred-mile races. They start new businesses, adopt hard-to-place children, discover cures, embrace hopeless causes. The adventurer is a risk taker. She is the person you read about who inspires you to tackle something difficult. She is the Bengali mother of six who grows food for a hundred, the Chilean boy who sells sandals made from rubber tires, your ninety-year-old tango-dancing grandmother.