Extended Definition Assignment

You practiced parts of this in the previous discussion. Now, youll work hard to make your own extended definition of another term.

Background

Part of communicating with others is being sure you are working with the same definitions of terms and concepts. To help avoid confusing your reader, its important to define any key terms that come up in your technical documents. Usually, this can be accomplished with a parenthetical or sentence definition. However, sometimes more explanation is needed, especially for a term central to a technical document.

This assignment will give you practice writing a sentence definition and then properly extending it out to be much more informative for your reader.

What you need to demonstrate

For this assignment, you need to demonstrate that you know how to write a sentence definition and that you know that the entire rest of the document has to be specifically derived from the extension methods discussed in the reading.

Task

Your task is to write an extended definition of a specific term or concept. You may choose any ONE term from this list, or you can choose a term/concept you are more knowledgeable and/or more interested in, with instructor permission. Your job is to define ONE term, and youll use multiple extension techniques to do it. Again, choose one term from the list linked to above. Do only one term, not a category of terms.

To write this extended definition, you will write a sentence definition and then use the extension techniques discussed in our class readings.

Specifications

Apart from your sentence definition, all portions of your document must derive from using the extension methods discussed in the chapter. For instance, after your sentence definition, you might have a section with the heading of Partition or Principle of operation. Do not stray from using the extension techniques.

Assume that your audience is an intelligent, educated reader who is familiar with the topic your concept is a part of but unfamiliar with your particular term or concept. 

Format

Treat this as a section in a larger document. This is an example of where you would include more information about an important term that came up in your document. It doesnt need a title or other overall header, but it should follow these specs:

• 12-pt size in a traditional font such as Arial, Times New Roman, or Cambria.

• Be in full-block format, as its defined for this class.

• Use a bold heading for each section (properly tagged as a heading, please).

• Use at least three of the extension techniques from the readings.

• Visuals do not count as an extension method on their own, but one of your extension methods should also incorporate a visual. That is, include a visual as part of your comparison/contrast or as part of principle of operation or some other extension method you choose to use.

• Caption and label your visual appropriately

• In Word, use the caption tool

• In Docs, improvise.

Tips

• In the workplace, you most likely would be given a task and very limited guidance or feedback. However, you are still in a learning environment. For this assignment, please take advantage of the opportunity you have to communicate with your group members and your instructor. Here is an example of an extended definition. Its neither amazing nor terrible. Its just an example of how to use a sentence definition and then expand upon it using the techniques from the readings. 

• Use your time wisely. The most successful definitions will have gone through several drafts and be read by several different people for feedback.

• Literally make each section of your document one of the expansion techniques. For example, each section should have a heading of Comparison and contrast, or Etymology, or another extension technique.

Due Date

Submit by the due date listed on Canvas to avoid late penalties.

Evaluation

Your definition will be evaluated based on the rubric for this assignment (copied below).

For each criterion, youll receive a score of exceptional (this is akin to an A grade, or a score in the 90s.), passing (this is akin to a C grade or a 75%), or non-passing (this is akin to a score between 0 and 50%), or . What follows is what the grading rubric for this assignment will look like, including an explanation of what passing means for each criterion.

Course outcomes addressed by this assignment

This assignment will give you practice in meeting the following course outcomes:

• Develop a sense of how purposes, audiences, situations, technologies, and methods affect writers’ and users’ perceptions of written documents.

• Implement and demonstrate theories of document design (e.g. format, layout, graphics) in course projects.

• Understand the recursive nature of writing process in terms of researching, drafting, reviewing/testing, editing, and revising.

• Develop strategies for written and/or oral communication with peers, instructors, users, and/or clients that foster mutual respect and responsibility, including peer review and usability testing.

• Implement and evaluate a range of research methods and information resources to develop and produce ethically responsible professional documents.

• Demonstrate awareness of how various media genres and technologies affect and are affected by users and readers and, thus, are integral to the writing process.

• Use and adapt various technologies, including MS Word, to produce attractive, persuasive, professional documents.

  
  

   WORD CHOICE… Offsides (Hockey or Soccer or American football)