Essay on the word “freedom”
- As you may have experienced while composing The Fact Paper, our ability to make an argument is
limited when we cannot appeal to values. Contrary to the belief that values diminish the validity of an
argument by rendering it mere opinion, values are a necessary part of argument. Indeed, they are the
very heart of argument. And we argue over evaluative terms because they are notoriously difficult to
define.
To establish what is meant by any evaluative word, we must rely on precedent and context. We can refer
to authoritative sources such as dictionaries, but we must also take into account common usage and
intent. In the case of subjective concepts like hot, cold, short, or tall, we might establish a specific unit
of measurement so that we have general agreement. (Generally speaking, we would agree that anyone
over six feet qualifies as tall.) We do not have definitive definitions for other value terms, especially
cultural values like freedom, happiness, efficiency, maturity, ingenuity, independence, health, security,
life, criminality, loyalty, compassion, responsibility, and sustainability.
Cultural values are key terms to which we appeal again and again when deciding a course of action.
They are the fundamental values of our society, even if we cannot agree on the definition of each word.
This assignment is designed to give you practice in another technique of persuasive writing: defining a
cultural value in such a way that seems credible to your reader and that helps you to make an
argument. Your ability to make credible value claims will help you to contribute to a range of public
discourse in influential ways. -
After you find the instance that you want to dispute, explain how the other person/organization/
entity seems to define the word. This is hard to do because the person probably doesn’t come right
out and say, By freedom’ I mean…. More likely is that they just use the word in the course of
talking about other things. So, your task is to interpret how they define the term based on how they
use it. Thus, for this essay, you will be composing both value claims and interpretive claims.
You will need to make use of your fact-generating skills and point to verifiable evidence (i.e., the
person’s own words) to make your case. In other words, you cannot speculate about the person’s
thoughts or psychologize them based on your impressions. You need to support your summary
with concrete examples that you can point to.
3. Next, you need to build your case for your definition of the term. This, too, is a challenge because as
David Foster Wallace explains, meanings are not definitive. They must be worked out. We can turn
to dictionaries to help us out, but to make a strong case, we also have to show how the word is used
in practice. You are going to do both.
Specifically, you are going to reference two different dictionaries (and no, you cannot just use
Webster and Dictionary.com – you can only reference one or the other). For a list of other
possible dictionaries, visit the tutorial on value claims. Nor is it enough to simply quote them.
You must show alignment between the two and show how the definitions they offer differ from
how the word is used in the text that you are disputing.
In addition to two different dictionaries, you will also reference three non-dictionary sources.
These could be anything – speeches, movies, newspapers, academic articles, or anything else.
Your chosen word must appear in these texts. In other words, you cannot reference a movie that
does not actually use your specific word. Euphemisms and synonyms are not good enough. It
must be your word. An exception to this rule would be a different grammatical form of your
word, like an adjectival form of hero (i.e., heroic). As you did in step #2, you will need to
explain how each of these three texts defines your word, and you must point to verifiable
evidence to support your case.
4. Once you establish your preferred definition of your word, you want to circle back to the person that
you dispute and explain what your definition would change about their argument. I will pause to
allow you to read that last sentence again… Your task here is explain the implications of defining
your word as you propose versus defining it some other way.What changes if we use your definition instead of another? Does your definition include some
people that the other definition excludes? Does your definition direct us to see value in activities
or practices that the other definition does not? Would your definition change current approaches
to a topic in a way that the other definition does not? In this section of your essay, you are
making the case for why your definition matters.
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