Definitions in Technical Writing

DEFINITIONS in Technical Writing

-More explicit questions: What is X? and How do we classify or categorize X?

-Less explicit questions: What actions or decisions are now possible because of how X is classified? How might this act of (re)classification shift power (resources, etc.)?

Questions that govern the act of definition:

Definitions (even scientific and technical ones!) aren’t simply objective, rational descriptions of what is. They always serve some set of interests.

condimentorvegetable?

molecule?

chemist: yes! (behaves like one with respect to kinetic theory of gases)

physicist: no! (displays no molecular spectrum)

WetlandsAreas “sufficiently saturated by water that only specially adapted plants can grow there. Saturation with water prevents oxygen from working its way into the soil and therefore creates conditions of no oxygen” (Tripp 1991, 203, qtd in Schiappa 72).

• U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (habitat)• Environmental Protection Agency (water presence)• Army Corps of Engineers (water presence) • Agriculture Department’s Soil Conservation Service

(soils)

1980s federal agencies with jurisdiction over wetlands and their classification of wetlands:

“[W]etlands are lands where saturation with wateris the dominant factor determining the nature of soil developmentand the types of plant and animal communities living in the soil and on its surface. The single feature that most wetlands share is soil or substrate that is at least periodically saturated with or covered by water. The water creates severe physiological problems for all plants and animals except those that are adapted for life in water or in saturated soil”

(Cowardin et al. 1979, 3, qtd in Schiappa 74).

e.g. U.S. Forest Service Definition of “wetlands”

Bush: “no net loss!” of wetlands

Proposed redefinition:• doubled

consecutive days of saturation

• specified water at the surface (not just near it)

Effect: radically reduced the number of viable “wetlands” in the US

Definitions vary according to use, purpose, and accepted disciplinary knowledge.

• the communicator’s purpose• the needs of the audience • the rhetorical situation (e.g. the type of

communication in which the definition appears)

Definitions are rhetorical: they differ according to…

Definitions do things:

• They explain, or help audience gain new/different understandings of a term, concept, or thing (explanatory definitions).

• They help audiences engage in a specific activity (operational definitions) - knitting

• They enable audiences to undertake future action (deliberative definitions)

To begin planning your definition:

• Identify the audience.• Identify the needs of your audience

(what problem will having a definition help them solve?).

• Identify how much your audience already knows about the issue (or related issues).

To extend your definition, use one or more of the following rhetorical moves (according to how you defined audience needs and prior knowledge):

• Classify or categorize the term.• Compare/contrast.• Analyze and explain causes and effects.• Explain what it’s not.• Use examples and analogies.• Provide historical background.• Use visuals