Definitions

Sometimes as writers we need to define things about our topic for our audience.  Today, in class, we chose terms that may need definition and cited how other authors of our topic do this.  For my topic I chose the terms gang violence, school climate, school uniform, morale, and opting out.  These terms cover a wide range of the knowledge needed to understand the debate being covered.
It is important for the audience to know the definition of these terms so they can think about and analyze for themselves the argument being presented.  For example, it is important to know that school yard gang violence is just an extension of street gang violence and is just as deadly.  Knowing that, in most cases where school uniforms are the rule, there is a clause of opting out is important to the audience.  Morale and climate speak to the emotional side of schooling and inform that there is more to consider than test scores alone.  To make a successful claim these terms need to be addressed and illustrated before the argument can really be debated.