The underlying rhetorical structure of the definition argument is x is/is not y. Review the following examples of definition claims and notice that they are all concerned with saying what something is (or isn't) and assigning it to a category (or excluding it).

• The lottery is really a tax on the poor.
• The sign language used by Kanzi, the chimpanzee, represents a real language.
• Nicotine is not a dangerous drug.
• The practice of training and racing two-year old thoroughbreds (which do not mature until age four) is a kind of animal abuse.

Sometimes a claim can look like a definition claim, but it actually expresses a fact rather than a stand on one side of an argument. All the following examples are statements of fact and are NOT definition claims. It's simply impossible (under ordinary circumstances) to argue about these facts.

• The moon is a natural satellite.
• Contour-plowing is an environmentally-sound method of plowing hills.
• Arson is a criminal act.
• Painting can be classified as a form of art.

Occassionally, students slip out of their definition arguments and into some other kind of argument. The following examples are NOT definition claims.

• Violent pornograpy leads to violent crimes against women. (causal argument)
• Our nation's wetlands should be made federally-protected areas. (proposal)
• Leaving national forests untouched is a better conservation strategy than selective logging. (comparative evaluation)
• Continued overuse of antibiotics will result in powerful, drug-resistant strains of bacteria and widespread epidemics.  (prediction)

As you attempt to formulate your own definition claim, ask yourself the following two questions: 1) Is my thesis a definition claim or have I lapsed into some other rhetorical form? 2) Is my thesis arguable? If my thesis is arguable, I should be able to think of reasons why my opponents disagree with it.

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