Persuasive Definition Essay Guidelines

Most students know what a definition is, and they have a good idea of what persuasion is. So it would seem that synthesizing the terms to come up with one assignment would be relatively simple; however, most students make the mistake of either defining the term without persuading the reader, or they persuade the reader of some point unrelated to the definition of the term. A persuasive definition essay, however, must both define the term and persuade the reader that the author's definition is the correct one.

1 Choose a term that is not easily defined; more ambiguous terms are best for this kind of essay. However, you should avoid terms and arguments that have a religious overtone as you cannot be certain that your actual audience will share your beliefs.

2 Narrow the term to a particular type or situation. For instance, if you were going to define "love," you might narrow to "platonic love" or "romantic love," but you would not want to write about both in the same paper.

3 Decide on your own definition. DO NOT LOOK UP THE DEFINITION IN THE DICTIONARY.

4 Now comes the tricky part. If most reasonable people would agree with your definition, you won't be able to persuade the readers. In other words, your definition must have a purpose, and if that purpose is already agreed upon, then there is no point in writing about it. For instance, if you were defining "digital media," but you were not saying anything new about what "digital media" is, then that paper would have no purpose. However, if you were defining "liberty," and you pointed out that liberty is not the same thing as "freedom" or "justice" as many people think, then you would have clearer purpose for your writing.

5 Once you know what your term is, your intended audience, and your purpose, you can start writing your thesis statement. For instance, if you were to define "academia," your thesis might be one that expands the definition: "Though many people who consider themselves ‘academics' are often defined as such by their position in a college or university, true "academia" is a process of growing and learning, and as such it must reach beyond the ivory tower of colleges and universities if it is to survive."

6 Finally, you can start thinking about how you will support this thesis statement. What points will you make to prove your definition correct? Will you use negation? Comparison-contrast?

- Be at least 3 pages

- Have an introduction that engages the reader, and a conclusion that emphasizes the significance of the argument

- Contain transitions to effectively connect the ideas throughout the paper

- Have a clear thesis and use clear paragraphs to develop the thesis