proposal memo writing

Assignment 2: (Re)Definition Proposal Due: Tuesday, September 22

Rough Draft Due: Tuesday, September 29 Final Draft Due: Tuesday, October 6

Overview: The need for definition arises when people have diverging ideas about what a term means or when an audience has difficulty understanding a concept. In addition, people often use definitions to achieve larger rhetorical purposes: if you accept all my definitions, I will most likely convince you of my point. In that sense, argument by definition is a very important rhetorical tactic. The purpose of this assignment is thus to teach you how to define something—the nature of an activity, a kind of person, a condition, or a concept you know well—either in order to change an audience’s thinking about the concepts meaning or to help an audience understand it better. Prompt: Your purpose in this assignment should be described by one of the two types of rhetorical situations described below:

1. You can change someone’s mind about what a term or concept means. For example, your mother thinks feminism means one thing, but you think it means another: change her mind. Or your friends have a negative impression of the pro-life (or pro-choice) movement: define the term in a way that will change their impression. Or members of your high school community think a university is a place of higher learning, and you want them to think of it as a business. Or most people think of a jock as one thing, but not you. Humanism; creationism; evolution; terrorism; freedom of speech; racism; conservative; natural; family values; marriage: all these are words that people may define differently than you. Enlarge their understanding.

2. You can define a term that is unclear to your audience, but which they have some need to understand. For instance, you might define the West Coast offense so that your boyfriend or girlfriend might better enjoy an upcoming football game. Or you (as a well-informed scientist) might define a term like bioluminescence or quark or fractal to a perplexed friend facing an exam. Or you could define gothic vision to a friend for a visit to the Cloisters Museum in New York. Or you could take a term which your audience has only a vague notion of—sea kayaking or dub-step or literal or urban sprawl—and pin down the meaning for someone who can profit from a better understanding. New words or foreign words or slang words might be a possibility. Or you could inform someone of the meaning of an ethnic or religious term—like chrism or Cincinnati chili.

Process: As always, you will submit a proposal, a rough draft for peer review, and a final draft. As part of your proposal, you will lay out the basics of your argument for your instructor to review, as well as the word, term, idea, or concept you find a particular group/audience often misunderstanding or misrepresenting. Especially, you will provide an explanation of what makes your audience interested in/ in need of this definition, convincing your instructor that you have the appropriate exigence for the paper. You may have to research how your audience is using this term. What are key factors/elements/criteria of their current definition? How does this definition differ from your own? What do these differences reveal, and why is it important that your audience pay attention to your definition? As you’re drafting, you will construct an argument that defines or redefines your term as you see fit and supports why this word needs to be known or needs to change meaning. Also consider what form your definition will take. Will it be a letter? A script for a talk presented to a group of listeners? A brief article for publication in a magazine or pamphlet? A web or blog post? A memo to particular groups of an organization? In any case, your choice of form depends on your audience—how are they best reached?

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What claims must you make about your term or concept, and how will you support such claims? Remember, your definition is an argument. After drafting, you’ll revise and edit. Consider carefully the organization of your piece. Arrange your definition so that the term and your explanation are easily accessed and understood by your audience. Format: Your final draft should be 3-5 pages, formatted according to the rules laid out in the syllabus. When citing your outside source(s), you will follow MLA format (see EAA Ch. 21 and/or the PSU Libraries’ Citation Research Guide: http://www.libraries.psu.edu/psul/researchguides/citationstyles/MLA _citation.html).

Grading Criteria: Your definition essay will be graded according to the following criteria: it (1) makes a claim (a thesis) about term or concept in order to define or redefine it; (2) identifies an audience and the audience’s need for or interest in the definition; (3) effectively appeals to that audience in an attempt to alter their understanding of the word; (4) is supported by strong organization, topic sentences, and even research (if necessary). Your writing must also demonstrate awareness of Strunk & White grammar rules #1-8, and at least a consideration of the S&W rules of composition #12-15 and 21-22.