Definition Essay About Happiness Assignment | Get Paper Help

Definition Essay
A definition essay goes beyond just a dictionary definition of a word. Usually a word or
concept can be defined in just one sentence. A definition essay, however, needs to be several
paragraphs. Therefore, the definition must be extended to include examples, details, personal
experience, description, causes, effects, analysis, etc.
Above all, a definition essay must demonstrate a detailed account of your own opinion about
the word or concept. For example, if you are writing an essay about “love,” the thesis and the
details must be based upon your personal ideas of what “love” is.
Topics for definition essays are always general. In other words, you can write about “Love”
or “Truth” or “Justice,” but not “My love for my wife” or “The truth about violence on T.V.”
Definition essays are also subjective: you need to assert and support your own opinions
about the concept.
Definition essays have two basic parts:
1. The denotation, or direct explanation of the meaning, and
2. The connotation, or the ideas that the word implies or includes.
For example, you may say that “love” means “an affection for a person or thing”
(denotation). However, what does the word “love” imply? Does it imply loyalty,
dedication, gift-giving, sexual passion (connotation)? Do any of these not mean “love”
for you? You can check in a thesaurus for words of similar meanings that may show
connotations.
Topics for a definition essay
Your instructor should set a certain topic or topic area.
I. Abstract concepts
Define one of the following (or another abstract concept):
Truth Love Hatred
Justice Honor Loyalty
Fidelity Courage Cowardice
Liberty Prejudice Tolerance
Greed Ambition Generosity
Self-confidence Pride Modesty
Sensitivity Insensitivity Boredom
Adventure Good taste Poor taste
From The Advanced Writing Handbook for ESOL by John Sparks. Used with permission.

To Be or Not to Be—Happy
Explanation: Happiness is commonly defined as the state in which one is happy, the
quality of contentment, and the state of well-being. Though it does not have one strict definition,
it is a foundational goal that many strive for throughout the duration of their entire lives.
Synthesis: The author should introduce two sources from Current Issues and Enduring
Questions . After introducing these sources, the author needs to synthesize essential ideas from
both of them in order to form their own definition of happiness. Thesis: Happiness is a sense of
contentment and inner peace that is attained when, in one’s perspective, more constructive
emotions are experienced rather than damaging ones. This thesis isn’t as developed as it could
be. Remember, your thesis should be broad enough to encompass your whole essay, but it should
also use specific terms (not to be confused with examples). The author will need to elaborate
upon the concepts of “contentment”, “inner peace”, “constructive emotions”, and “damaging
emotions”. These terms in themselves are vague, and therefore the author will need to specify
what they look like. Consider the various ways of defining and secondary sources when writing
your thesis.
Topic sentence: To start off with, happiness is synonymous with contentment.
Explanation: Being happy requires some form of satisfaction. Otherwise, one would say that they
feel monotonous. The idea of satisfaction is a bit more detailed, which is good; however, the
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author could have explained how feeling monotonous leads to a lack of happiness. Remember to
provide plenty of examples and elaboration or you run the risk of merely trading synonyms for
“happiness” Contentment in itself is being happy with what is provided. By definition,
contentment incorporates happiness. The first results that pop up on Google, a renowned search
engine, upon looking up the word “happiness” state that contentment is a synonym. Likewise,
one finds that happiness is a synonym of contentment when searching “contentment”. Synthesis:
According to Cutler, a psychiatrist, and Gyatso, a Tibetan spiritual leader who won the Nobel
Peace Prize in 1989, “The second, and more reliable, method [to reach contentment] is not to
have what we want but rather to want and appreciate what we have” (746). Elaboration: Given
that a professional whose job is essentially revolved around feelings and a leader that many look
up to identify contentment as a feeling of fulfillment, this indicates that happiness is required to
be content and vice versa. If one is satisfied, they are happy with what they have, including their
possessions, life circumstances, relationships, etc. Moreover, nothing more is required to be
happy. This idea is similar to nirvana. Here’s a relevant idea the author is tying into her
definition of happiness. To not desire anything can be a powerful concept the author should
expand upon. Nirvana is a state of utmost bliss that is the desired final destination for many.
However, if one dwells on not having things that are “good enough”, then they are clearly not
content. By doing so, they do not allow themselves to accept responsibility or the opportunities
that are given to them while utilizing these things to do the simplest of things that may be
required to become happy. The previous sentence is a bit awkward and should be revised.
Someone focusing on what they don’t have only points out what they’d consider flaws in life,
which issues a sense of misery. Yearning is a human feeling that cannot be denied, but it is the
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way that one deals with their wishes that may be more important. Happiness is often measured
by what one has, which aligns with the notion of materialism. Materialism is yet another relevant
idea the author is weaving into his paper, which is good. He could have delved even deeper into
it. Easterlin, a man who examined the relationship between happiness and income, determined in
a cross-country study that degrees of happiness between those in rich and impoverished countries
are equivalent (Tian and Yang). From the study, a content person claimed that they have what is
needed to be in high spirits. In fact, many prioritize and give value to the things that are available
to them, like health care. For instance, a median of two-thirds of those in new countries
identified health care and education as a ten, or the most important factors of the country
(Simmons). In this respect, they are acknowledging what they have to be thankful and happy for.
Here, the author could have explained how health care and education run counter to the idea of
materialism. As maintained by George Eliot, a noteworthy writer of the Victorian era, “The
contented man is never poor, the discontented never rich.” To be wealthy stipulates that you have
an abundance of something to a range of things. This implies that a person who is wealthy in all
aspects, which is a content person, has all that is needed to be happy. Real wealth is
contentment. On the contrary, a poor person lacks what is necessary to be happy, and therefore
lacks contentedness. Without satisfaction, nothing will ever seem like it is enough and there will
be a gaping hole that eats at the mind, heart, and soul of the lacker. Here again, the author
elaborates on the concept of satisfaction and the consequences of not being content; nevertheless,
Schmoe ought to have explained what he means by having “a gaping hole that eats at the mind,
heart, and soul of the lacker. If one is not, at the minimum, okay with what they possess and
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what surrounds them, then it is unreasonable to take those things that one cannot get rid of and
attest that they’re elated at the thought of their life when these are massive components of it.