Today: form grading lattice, preview Unit Two, begin blogging definition/analogy

But first: everybody, go to this page and make sure you sign up to do at least three remixes, and turn in your portfolio!

what is love? what is money?

Often, when we think of definition, Webster’s dictionary comes to mind. But dictionary definitions can't attend to the exigence of a particular time and place--terms, concepts, and meanings emerge to frame issues, according to the rhetorical situation. Definitions, in use, don’t usually function like perfect classical mathematical equations. Rather, in everyday situations, definitions have more to do with  probabilities; therefore, writers tend to amplify certain aspects of definitions in circulation and turn down the volume on other uses.

As soon as you ask, what is love Baby don't hurt me? or "what is not love?" you immediately begin to imagine a specific event, a scene from a story that requires narrative art...and then, you also begin to imagine a specific audience for your story and who could/should share your understanding of the term or concept under consideration. The practice of composing a definition emphasizes the importance of actual audiences.

Here's a basic template composing with defintions:

For example: how to define standup comedy? In this video, we find that a "border case" (here, the performances of The Amazing Mr. Slug) creates the conditions for a structured definition of this particular genre of comedy. "Border cases" and counterarguments actually help us define our terms and categories.

Now, this particular "controversy" may not matter to us, but in our own projects, occasions will arise when these rhetorical strategies can clarify key concepts, and establish what's important and what's not at a particular and important point in a document.

getting started

Blog: write a definition argument. Definition is one of the most useful strategies for finding/inventing fertile compositional terrain. Often, when we think of definition, Webster’s dictionary comes to mind. But dictionary definitions can't attend to the exigence of a particular time and place--terms, concepts, and meanings emerge to frame issues, according to time and place. Definitions, in use, don’t usually function like classical mathematical equations. Rather, in everyday situations, definitions have more to do with probabilities; therefore, writers tend to amplify certain aspects of definitions in circulation and turn down the volume on other uses.

some background on the uses of definition in the West

Long ago, Cicero wrote that “when you have taken all the qualities of the thing you wish to define has in common with other things, you should pursue the analysis until you produce its own distinctive quality which can be transferred to no other thing” (Topics v, 28, cited in Crowley and Hawhee, 216). To illustrate this process, Cicero provided an example close to our course content. To define “inheritance,” he placed it in a class, “property.” Next, he added a vector of difference, stating that inheritance is a form of property “which comes to someone at the death of another” (vi, 29). Here, Cicero starts down a particular process of definition called “species/genus” definition: first he places the thing to be defined in a category, then he begins to list differences that distinguish the species from other members of the proposed genus. We could also call this process “defining as…,” and in this process, argumentation begins as soon as a writer sets limits on her definition by selecting a particular class or category, even before the procedure of selecting differences and distinctions. One group of writers may place intellectual property in a class with tangible property, and in this case, much of what we call fair use would in this case be defined as “free riding.” Of course, another series of arguments might place “free riding” in a different category, and argue that free-riding is part of creative, innovative work in markets. When competing definitions arise out of the same terrain, writers must select differences and points of distinction, but they may choose do so as a process of showing how one thing (say, free-riding) is NOT another thing (say, theft), as well. Some folks call this method “negative definition.” Furthermore, definition arguments are often more like “re-definition” arguments—re-definition processes radically displace the “it” in question into seemingly ill-suited categories, as a way of amplifying or tuning in on a specific aspect of the “it” to be defined, or leveraging a boundary-example as a means to shine a new light on an issue. For example, some readers may be unprepared to think aboutthe Burning Man Festival in terms of gift economics, but traversing the ground between the species (the Burning Man festival) and the genus (gift economics) provides ample opportunity to turn a particular readership towards the notion.

Writing to establish such connections, we rely on definitional recipes including but not limited to

• enumeration (listing the most important parts that make up a whole—not all the parts, because defining something well actually requires that we leave certain contested aspects out of the “equation,” so that we can focus our readers’ attention)

• etymological definition (studying the history of a concept and its uses, and then selecting and amplifying the use that will make your case persuasive),

• and definition by way of example. Generally speaking, definition requires us to determine when greater or less ambiguity will be more persuasive in a particular case. The simple art of telling stories usually brings about opportunities for experimenting with these (and other) techniques, so you may want to revise and build on the narratives you composed and remixed in Unit One. Narrative is a flexible genre, and definitions easily nestle into stories with compelling plots.

Grading

rubric

let this grading rubric be your guide as you evaluate peer Unit One portfolios. Set aside 20 minutes or so to grade each portfolio. Read over the narrative carefully, read over the remixes carefully, and write a rationale justifying the grade you assign each portfolio. Think of this rationale as a causal argument, i.e. "this narrative caused me to assign the grade of "B" because....". Reference [Good and Bad Reasoning for basics on the core structure of argument with examples. Great for transitioning out of "writer's block," and great for structuring your grading rationales, as well.