definition essay “what is an American”

English 111
Essay Two: Definition Argument Essay **Claim of Fact**
The definition argument answers the questions “What is it?” “What category does it belong to?” In other words, the definition argument attempts to assign a specific case to a larger category because it shares the essential characteristics of that category. Examine the following definition claim:
A hog “factory” is an environmentally-unsound farming practice.
Notice that this claim argues that the specific case, hog factory, belongs to the category of environmentally-unsound farming practices. The underlying structure at work in definition claims can be expressed as x is y, where x stands for the specific case and y represents the larger category.
Definitions can be explained in various ways:
Formal Definitiona dictionary definition
Operational Definitionidentify an object or an idea by what it does, how it behaves, or what conditions create it
Definition by Exampledefine a class by listing its individual members
Definition by Negationillustrates what something is by explaining what it is not
Your Assignment:
Again, I am not giving you the freedom to choose your own topic, but I will in the next two essays. For this essay, I want you to answer the question What is an American? This is a definition essay because you will have to determine the criteria for what defines us as Americans. You will have to explain with the use of examples and perhaps an operational definition, various formal definitions, and even negation precisely what it means to be an American. I am giving you as one of your sources Hector St. John de Crevecoeurs What is an American from his series Letters from an American Farmer, published in 1782.There is a link to it in this week’s work. You are to find at least two additional sources to support your definition argument. You may not count dictionaries toward your source count, so if youre grabbing a definition from a dictionary, you must cite it, but it wont count as one of the two other sources you must find on your own.
Requirements:
2-3 pages
3 Sources (Crevecoeur and two additional sources)
MLA format for manuscript
MLA format for in-text citations and works cited page

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