1. Writing Descriptions

3. Key Terms

7. sentence

9. Standard Pattern for Sentence Definitions Item = Category + Distinguishing Characteristics

11. Avoid writing circular definitions: definitions that merely repeat the key words or the distinguishing characteristics of the item being defined in the category.

14. examples

15. partition

16. principle of operation

18. Principle of Operation Describing the principle of operation—the way something works—is an effective way to develop an extended definition, especially for an object or a process.

19. The system maintains the host vehicle’s following interval by adjusting its speed. If the target vehicle speeds up, increasing the following interval between the two vehicles, the system informs the engine control module to accelerate and increase the vehicle’s speed until either the set following interval or the cruise control preset speed are reached. However, if the gap between the target and the host vehicles is decreasing, the system informs the engine control module to reduce the vehicle’s speed. The engine control module then issues a command to dethrottle the engine (e.g., by reducing fuel), apply the engine brake, and, when available, downshift the automated transmission.

20. Comparison and Contrast Using comparison and contrast, a writer discusses the similarities or differences between the item being defined and an item with which readers are more familiar.

21. Voice over Internet Protocol is a form of phone service that lets you connect to the Internet through your cable or DSL modem. VoIP service uses a device called a telephony adapter, which attaches to the broadband modem, transforming phone pulses into IP packets sent over the Internet.

22. Analogy an analogy is a specialized kind of comparison. In a traditional comparison, the writer compares one item to another, similar item: an electron microscope to a common microscope, for example.

23. Negation Negation a special kind of contrast is sometimes called negation or negative statement. An ambulatory patient is not a patient who must be moved by ambulance. On the contrary, an ambulatory patient is one who can walk without assistance from another person.

24. EtymologyEtymology, the derivation of a word, is often a useful and interesting way to develop a definition. The following example uses the etymology of spam—unsolicited junk e-mail—to define it.

25. For many decades, Hormel Foods has manufactured a luncheon meat called Spam, which stands for “Shoulder Pork and hAM”/“SPicedhAM.” Then, in the 1970s, the English comedy team Monty Python’s Flying Circus broadcast a skit about a restaurant that served Spam with every dish. In describing each dish, the waitress repeats the word Spam over and over, and several Vikings standing in the corner chant the word repeatedly. In the mid-1990s, two businessmen hired a programmer to write a program that would send unsolicited ads to thousands of electronic newsgroups. Just as Monty Python’s chanting Vikings drowned out other conversation in the restaurant, the ads began drowning out regular communication online. As a result, people started calling unsolicited junk e-mail spam.

26. Descriptions Verbal and visual representations of objects mechanisms processes

27. Objects. an object is anything ranging from a physical site such as a volcano to a synthetic artifact such as a hammer. A tomato plant is an object, as is an automobile tire or a book.

28. Mechanisms. a mechanism is a synthetic object consisting of a number of identifiable parts that work together. A DVD player is a mechanism, as is a voltmeter, a lawn mower, or a submarine.

29. Processes. a process is an activity that takes place over time: species evolve; steel is made; plants perform photosynthesis. Descriptions of processes, which explain how something happens, differ from instructions, which explain how to do something. Readers of a process description want to understand the process; readers of instructions want a step-by-step guide to help them perform it.

37. Introduce the description clearly.

38. Provide appropriate detail.

40. Introduce the Description Clearly Many descriptions begin with a one-sentence definition, answering the question, “What is the item or process?”

42. What is the function of the item?

43. What does the item look like?

44. How does the item work?

46. What is the function of the process?

47. Where and when does the process take place?

48. Who or what performs the process?

49. How does the process work?

51. functional

52. spatial

54. Functional or Spatial?

55. Functional or Spatial?

56. Functional or Spatial?

58. Explain causal relationships among steps.

59. Use the present tense.

61. Go to Funnelinc.com Find a description to present to the class. Explain how the chart works or fails to works.

62. Complete the Planning Worksheet