Short on time? This page is the recap. For explanations and worked examples, use the full study guide.
Recap
- Definition and description are methods of development.
- Writers relate characteristics, features or sensory details of an object or idea, sometimes using examples or illustrations.
- Definition: what is it, exactly? Description: what is it like?
- Both help the audience trace the writer’s reasoning.
Key relationships
| Tool | What it does | Example pattern |
|---|---|---|
| Formal definition | Class plus distinguishing feature | “A drought is a period in which…” |
| Extended definition | Examples, negation, features, origin | “Courage is not… it is…” |
| Description | Specific, sensory detail | “Crates scraped on stone…” |
| Example | A particular case of a general idea | “Take the neighbour who…” |
| Illustration | A scene or image that shows the idea in action | A brief scenario |
| Reading question | How to answer |
|---|---|
| What is being defined or described? | Name the term or subject |
| What features or details are chosen? | Quote or paraphrase them |
| What does the choice do? | Link to purpose and audience |
| Is the definition fair? | Does it favour the claim unfairly? |
Assumptions and conventions
- Define terms only when the argument depends on them.
- Use a dictionary only as a starting point.
- Choose the three or four most telling details of a description.
- Place a definition early, where the argument needs it; description often belongs where it supports a point.
Mistakes to avoid
- Opening with “Webster defines…”
- Defining a term circularly (“Fairness is being fair”).
- Stacking adjectives instead of choosing precise nouns and verbs.
- Describing without a purpose so the details do not support the claim.
- A definition that decides the argument without defence.
- Writing about features without examples.
- Naming “description” in analysis without saying what the details do.
Worked mini-example
Task: develop the idea “a good neighbour” by definition.
A good neighbour is not simply someone who lives next door. A good neighbour is someone whose absence you would notice: the light that does not come on across the lane, the dog that is not walked at six.
The definition uses negation (“not simply someone who lives next door”), a feature (“someone whose absence you would notice”) and examples (the light, the dog). Each element makes the idea more concrete.
On the exam
In a reading question, say whether the writer defines or describes, name the features or details chosen and explain what they do for the argument. In writing, define only the term the argument depends on.
Quick self-check
- What is wrong with “Loyalty means being loyal”? (It is circular and adds no information.)
- Which is more effective: “The market was busy” or “Crates scraped on stone and a vendor shouted the price of figs”? (The second: concrete sensory detail.)
- Why might “Success means a high salary” be an unfair definition? (It decides the argument in advance and is not defended.)
Next: practice questions.