This essay assignment requires you to write an expository essay, an extended definition essay, using three sources to support your discussion.
I encourage you to back to Unit One and remind yourself about exposition by watching the five-minute PowerPoint.
Pay particular attention to the slides on extended definition.
You will be writing this paper using three sources. The paper must document those sources using APA style, including in-text citations and bibliography. Look to use the 7th Edition APA Student Style.
The topic for your extended definition is American slavery, and life as a slave in America. How was slavery, or enslavement, practiced in the United States? How did being a slave impact the enslaved person, and how did owning enslaved persons affect the slaveowner? See strategies for developing your discussion below, under How to Develop Your Essay.
Focus your discussion on enslavement in the American Colonies and the United States. However, you may contrast slavery as practiced in the United States with slavery as practiced in other nations. If you include any discussion of the laws of enslavement in the United States, you may also contrast those laws to the laws of other nations, and in particular, if and when other nations ended / outlawed the practices of enslavement.
ESSAY REQUIREMENTS:
Title Page, APA style, with your name, word count, ENG 1110-1N7.
Essay must have a title indicating its specific subject matter. (Do NOT use the assignment information.) Revisit the Titles
Download Titles
document in Unit 1.
Minimum length 1000 words; maximum length 1500 words.
Double-spaced
1? margins
Centered headings
Inserted page numbers in the top right corner
Times New Roman 12 pt. font
Submitted as a Word document or an .rtf file
Again: Your essay should be typed and double-spaced on standard-sized paper (8.5? x 11?), with 1? margins on all sides. Include page numbers.
HOW TO DEVELOP YOUR ESSAY
Organization:
Begin your extended definition with a sentence definition, which is a broad one-sentence definition of
your topic. Sentence definitions begin with (topic) is/was a/the
(examples: A guitar is a musical
instrument belonging to the string family; George Washington was the first president of the United
States).
From here, there are eight (8) definition strategies you can use to write your extended definition. Your topic
will determine which ones you use; however, you should plan to use at least three of them. Using three aligns the use of 3 sources required for this assignment, but more is possibly appropriate (as long as you can fit them all within 1000-1500 words).
1. Visuals: provide a graphic representation of a topic. For example, for a definition of the water cycle, the
writer might use a visual illustration of the process to supplement his or her written description. (These do not count in your essays WC, though.)
2. Examples: explain an abstract or complicated topic. For example, for a definition of compound exercise,
the writer might provide several compound exercises as examples (squat, bench press, deadlift, etc.).
3. Partition: divides complex topics into multiple categories. For example, for a definition of diabetes, the
writer would want to partition the three kinds of diabetes (type 1 diabetes, type 2 diabetes, and gestational
diabetes) and discuss them one at a time rather than try to define them all at the same time.
4. Principle of Operation: defines a process or an object involved in a process; as such, it is likely to appear
in documents like a users manual or instructions. For example, for a definition of four wheel drive, the
writer could explain, step-by-step, how four-wheel drive works.
5. Comparison and Contrast: useful when the topic consists of two categories with clear similarities and
differences. For example, for a definition of electric current, the writer might want to set up the definition
as a comparison/contrast between the two types of electric current: alternating current (AC) and direct
current (DC).
6.Analogy: draws a comparison between the topic and something likely already familiar to readers. For
example, for a definition of central processing unit, the writer might want to draw an analogy between
how a CPU works and how the human brain works.
7. Negation: defines the concept by what it is not. For example, one way to define automatic transmission
would be to explain how it is different from manual transmission, its predecessor.
8. Etymology: explains where the name of the topic comes from. For example, for a definition of
tyrannosaurus rex, the writer might explain that the name comes from the Greek words meaning tyrant
and lizard and the Latin word meaning king.
Typically, your extended definition will proceed from general to specific; start with the broad
informationthe basicsthat your readers would need to know about slavery. Gradually make your
paragraphs more and more specific, but remember that your larger document and your audience will
determine how specific you need to get.
