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Defining Problems Problematic Definitions

Page history last edited by Abigail Heiniger 12 years, 1 month ago

The Question of Definitions

 

Return to Schedule of Sessions

Return to Home Page

 

Housekeeping:

  • Questions about Project Two?? 

Agenda:

  • Definition Paper: "Hard Test Case"
  • Homework (for Friday): Defining Terrorism  

 


Project Two Housekeeping

How to cite your text(s): 

Works Cited 

 

  • Author. "Article Title." Journal Title #.# (DATE): Pages. Medium. 

    • Beddoe, John. “On the Supposed Increasing Prevalence of Dark Hair in England.” Anthropological Review 1.2 (1863): 310-12. Web.  
    • Cole, Pamela McAurthur. “New England Funerals.” The Journal of American Folklore 7.26 (1894): 217-223. Print.
    • Davis, Tracy. 1989. “The Actress in Victorian Pornography.” Theatre Journal 41.3 (1989): 294-315. Print.  

 

  • Speaker/Author. "Speech Title." Place Given. Date. Address (or Reading, Sermon...).

    • King, Dr. Martin Luther. "I Have a Dream." Washington, D.C. 1 Jan. 1963. Address.   

 

  • Author. Book Title. Place: Publisher, Year.

  • Author. "Chapter." Book Title. Place: Publisher, Year.  

    • Auerbach, Nina. Woman and the Demon: The Life of a Victorian Myth. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard UP, 1982. Print.  
    • Baudelaire, Charles. “Her Hair.” Baudelaire: His Prose and Poetry. T.R. Smith, ed. New York Modern Library, 1919. Print.  
    • Bell, C. Jeanenne. Collector’s Encyclopedia of Hairwork Jewelry: Identification and Values. Paducah, KY: Collector Books, 1998. Print.  

 

WEB PUBLICATIONS:  

  • Author. "Title of Work (smaller work)." Web site. Version. Publisher (or N.p.), Date (or n.d.). Web. Date of Access.

    • Green, Joshua. "The Rove Presidency." The Atlantic.com. Atlantic Monthly Group, Sept. 2007. Web. 29 Nov. 2007.  

  • Author. Title (larger work). Publisher, Date. Web. Date of Access.  

    • Eaves, Morris, Robert Essick, and Joseph Viscomi, eds. The William Blake Archive. Lib. of Cong., 28 Sept. 2007. Web. 20 Nov. 2007. 

    • Antin, David. Interview by Charles Bernstein. Dalkey Archive Press. Dalkey Archive P, n.d. Web. 21 Aug. 2007.  

 

EVERY PAPER FOR PROJECT TWO NEEDS TO HAVE A WORKS CITED PAGE. IF MORE THAN ONE TEXT IS USED/REFERENCED, LIST TEXTS ALPHABETICALLY BY LAST NAME. 


In the body of your paper:

Introduce the text and the full name of the author. After that refer to the author by LAST NAME ONLY.

 

  • In the article "Empire of Images," Elizabeth Bordo states...
  • Bordo claims that... Bordo...  

 

Remember - everything you need for CITING and creating an AUTHOR'S NOTE is in Course Materials!! 


 

 

Definition Test Cases

 

1. Terms that require technical (dictionary-ish/encyclopedic) definitions, such as

 

dictionarist: a maker of dictionaries. OED Online.  

 

Question What criteria designates and distinguishes a dictionarist from all other people?

 

Criteria Match Strategy: When placing something in a category, one must match the item's attributes to the criteria being proven/proposed/stipulated. The definition of a dictionarist would most likely be a formal definition.

 

Some other terms that require formal definitions: pencil, pen, desk, chandelier

 

In the comment section write the FORMAL DEFINITION of a word (use the link to the OED Online located above).  


2. Terms that have taken on a certain controversy or confusion, such as

 

According to the OED OnlinePatriotism is: "The quality of being patriotic; love of or devotion to one's country" ("Patriotism").

 

 

In my WORKS CITED page I would list the entry for this term as: 

"Patriotism." The OED Online. 3rd ed. Oxford U P, Sept. 2011. Web. 16 Oct. 2011.  

 

"A patriot must always be ready to defend his country against his government." 

- Edward Abbey (1927) 

 

"Patriotism is supporting your country all the time, and your government when it deserves it." 

- Mark Twain 

 

"And so, my fellow Americans, ask not what your country can do for you; ask what you can do for your country." 

- John F. Kennedy

 


3. The application of established terms to a "hard case." 

 

Broadcasting the Islamic call to prayer over mosque loudspeakers in Hamtramck:

Is it a (legal) aspect of community life or (illegal) noise?

 

*This may seem like an uncomfortable topic, but it demonstrates the importance of "hard case" definitions in a local setting. Moreover, the issue was resolved and the community of Hamtramck continues to enjoy diversity and religious tolerance.

 

 

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2004/04/20/national/main612805.shtml)

http://www.clickondetroit.com/news/3026297/detail.html)

http://www.clickondetroit.com/news/3550663/detail.html)

 


In the above articles, how do those against the noise ordinance amendment define the broadcasts, and by what criteria?

 

Consider the following example against the noise ordinance:

 

"I wouldn't want that piped in my window. I'd like to be able to go to sleep," resident Jerry Radziszewski said. "We have no idea what's being said or sung or anything. We have no idea. To us, it's just noise. That's it. It's racket" (http://www.clickondetroit.com/news/3550663/detail.html).

 

The components of a definition argument:

 

"Something is (is not) a ____ because it has (does not have) features A, B, and C."

 

Using this formula, we can rephrase Radziszewski's argument in the following way:

 

"The broadcasts are noise because they have the following features: A) intrusive and untimely loudness; and B) unintelligibility."

 


 

Group Exercise

 

"Something is (is not) a ____ because it has (does not have) features A, B, and C."

 

Using the above as a model, spend about ten minutes thinking about how those in favor of the noise ordinance amendment might construct a definition argument. If you have specific examples from the articles in mind, use those. For those in favor of the amendment, would it be more persuasive to define the broadcasts as "not noise" or as something else (i.e. by the same or different criteria that those against the amendment use)?

 

Argument FOR call to prayer - EXAMPLE

 

Hard Test Case Call to Prayer - GROUP EXERCISE PAGE

 


~Pause~

 

You've just created a DEFINITION PAPER THESIS. 

 

Think about how this thesis could be used to construct a 4-6 page definition paper that meets the guidelines of Project Three. 

 

  • How would you make an outline.
    • What does an outline need?
  • What rhetorical strategies would you use?

 

 


Another "Hard" Test Case:

 

The term "child" has been defined and redefined for centuries as contexts change: 

During the nineteenth-century, Great Britain and the United States began passing legislation to protect children working in the mines and factories spawned by the Industrial Revolution. However, in order to pass child_labor laws, legislators and activists had to define the term "child": 

 

 

Laws regarding Children's Rights (such as the Child Labor Laws passed in the nineteenth-century) continue to change as contexts change:  

 


Child, Embryo, and Divorce Laws: 

 

Consider the 2003 Embryo Imbroglio in the UK.

 

 

Two infertile couples separately conceive several embryos in a test tube and then freeze the fertilized embryos for future use. Both couples then divorces and disagrees about the disposition of the embryos (in both situations, the women wish to use them to conceive a child with another, whereas the men want them destroyed).

 

Technically, this is a proposal issue: what action should be taken regarding this controversy?

However, all proposals are built on evaluations and this situation in particular begs to be analyzed by definitional stasis (perhaps via resemblance as well as cause/consequencestases):

 

Resemblance

Are the embryos “persons,” in which case they should be “fought” over much like a child in a custody hearing?

 

Or, are the embryos property, therefore suggesting that the couple should split them equally in accordance with standard property settlements?

 

Either point can be argued using standard Definitional and/or Categorical strategies, such as criteria-match.

 

Issue: In a divorce proceeding, is a frozen embryo a “person” rather than “property”?

 

Criteria: What criteria must be met for something to be a “person”?

 

Match: Does a frozen embryo meet these criteria?

 

Cause-Consequence

Specifically, if the ex-wives are allowed to carry and deliver these children, will the ex-husbands be liable for child support?

 

Generally, will the result of this ruling alter abortion laws? Laws regulating technologically-aided procreation?


Another test case: Calvin Klein and the Definition of (Child) Pornography

 

 

The clothing company Calvin Klein has recently come under criticism for its so-called "Threesome" advertising campaign. Images such as the above (and related commercials) have already been banned from appearances in the US. This is only the most recent in a series of controversial marketing strategies by CK; previously the company was widely criticized for advertisements featuring images of (very thin) model Kate Moss and, more recently, commercials and print pieces with nude photos of actress Eva Mendes. 

 

However, one of the reasons the "threesome campaign" the all of these pale in comparision to a mid-nineties ad campaign featuring underage models (and models that "looked" underage) in various states of undress. Concerns over this campaign went as far as to prompt an FBI investigation into whether the CK ads violated laws against child pornography.

 

 

 

 

Even more difficult test cases:

 

As they often do, bathtime photos end in tragedy

 

Pornographers/Victims face "Sexting" charges

 

Verdict Rendered: "virtual child pornography"

  

 

Other possible established terms that can be applied to a "hard case":

terrorism or marriage

 


HOMEWORK:

Choose one of the texts in the definition resource terrorism (located in the Project Three Toolbox). Select one of those readings and use it to think through Project Three. Use the reading to answer the following questions. Bring your answers to class and be ready to discuss.     

 

  1. What word/term/concept/idea will you be defining and why?
  2.  What do you offer in defining this idea that has not been (well) covered elsewhere? What is your unique perspective?
  3.  What is the audience for this piece (be as specific as possible)? 
  4. How is your audience likely to feel about this issue/concept before the read your project?
  5.  What is your purpose in arguing this definition? (I.e, what's your point?)
  6.  What strategies (pathos appeals, resemblance arguments, etc.) do you plan to use in making this argument?

 

 

 


 

Mid(ish) Semester Feedback: 

On a piece of paper (without your name appended), please respond to the following queries about your experience of the class thus far:

1. What is your general feeling of the course? Do you think you're learning what you hope(d) to?

2. What has been working and what has not been working in the course (as far as what we do day to day)? I'm particularly interested in what you'd like to see "more of" and what you'd like to see "less of" (this could be, for instance, more or less rough draft workshops, more or less in-class rhetorial "work-outs," more or less group activities). If you have difficulty coming up with a response for this, you can just tell me what is your favorite thing about class and what is your least favorite.

  • Also tell me what FORM of conferencing you prefer - meeting in my office OR in-class mini-conferences.

3. How do you feel about your grade/comments for Project One? Do you think the strengths and weakness of your work were adequately explained? Did you feel as if something was missing in my response?

4. If you had to describe this course in just one word, what would that word be?

 

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