Extended definition essay aims at detailed explanation of complex terms and entities. This means that this type of academic assignment requires more than mere definition of basic terms.
You are to dwell upon the details of the subject you are going to explain and define. If you have been assigned to write an extended definition essay, but have never done it before, do not worry. It may seem difficult at the first glance, but when you organize your work and make some preparations, it will not look like a difficult task at all.
First of all, find the dictionary definition of what you are going to describe. You can include it into the initial paragraph of your extended definition essay. Make a short study of the issues related to the thing you are going to define, survey the structure and classification of the subject of your extended definition essay. After that, start writing. Figure out the ideas you are going to dwell upon and make an outline.
It is a common practice to start writing an extended definition essay with an outline. An outline is a brief plan of the ideas you are going to present. You are to follow this plan and the order you have stated in the outline. To arrange the outline well, make it the following way.
Start with the definition you have found, then take a closer look into the essence of the subject, go into details describing structural peculiarities and classification. After that you should dwell upon each point in the classification and develop the definitions in one or more aspects. The extended definition essay is to follow this pattern.
Of course, to cope with extended definition essay writing successfully, you need to figure out relevant points that you can state in your definition. There are two general approaches to the definition of concepts. They are observatory definition and informative definition.
Observatory definition means that you expand the definition of the subject defined the way you observe it, from the point of view of senses and observable characteristic features of the subject.
Unlike the observatory definition, the informative definition concentrates upon the structure and functions of the term described. When you are writing an extended definition essay, you should make use of both of these approaches.