Definition and Examples of a Concrete Noun

Definition and Examples of a Concrete Noun A concrete noun is a  noun (such as chicken or egg) that names a material or tangible object or phenomenon- something recognizable through the senses. Contrast with an abstract noun. In grammar, notes Tom McArthur, an abstract noun refers to an action, concept, event, quality, or state (love, conversation), whereas a concrete noun refers to a touchable, observable person or thing (child, tree) (Concise Oxford Companion to the English Language, 2005). Examples and Observations Pound cakes sagged with their buttery weight and small children could no more resist licking the icings than their mothers could avoid slapping the sticky fingers.(Maya Angelou, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings. Random House, 1969)The black candle fell out of its brass holder and the flame touched the dry petals and leaves. (John Twelve Hawks, The Traveler. Doubleday, 2005With your sheets like metal and your belt like lace,And your deck of cards missing the jack and the ace,And your basement clothes and your hollow face,Who among them can think he could outguess you?(Bob Dylan, Sad-Eyed Lady of the LowlandsAt middle age the soul should be opening up like a rose, not closing up like a cabbage.(John Andrew HolmesIt came to me today, walking in the rain to get Helen a glass of orange juice, that the world exists only in my consciousness (whether as a reality or as an illusion the evening papers do not say, but my guess is reality).(James Thurber, letter to E.B. White, October 6, 1937. Se lected Letters of James Thurber, ed. by Helen Thurber and Edward Weeks. Little, Brown, 1981 John Updikes Concrete Nouns I kept looking out of the windows. The three red lights of the chimneys of the plant that had been built some miles away, to mine low-grade iron ore, seemed to be advancing over our neighbor’s ridged field toward our farm. My mother had mistaken me for a stoic like my father and had not put enough blankets on the bed. I found an old overcoat of his and arranged it over me; its collar scratched my chin. I tipped into sleep and awoke. The morning was sharply sunny; sheep hustled, heads toppling, through the gauzy blue sky. It was an authentic spring in Pennsylvania. Some of the grass in the lawn had already grown shiny and lank. A yellow crocus had popped up beside the BEWARE OF THE DOG sign my father had had an art student at the high school make for him.(John Updike, Packed Dirt, Churchgoing, a Dying Cat, a Traded Car. Pigeon Feathers and Other Stories. Alfred A. Knopf, 1962 Balancing Abstract and Concrete Diction Beauty and fear are abstract ideas; they exist in your mind, not in the forest along with the trees and the owls. Concrete words refer to things we can touch, see, hear, smell, and taste, such as sandpaper, soda, birch trees, smog, cow, sailboat, rocking chair, and pancake. . . .Good writing balances ideas and facts, and it also balances abstract and concrete diction. If the writing is too abstract, with too few concrete facts and details, it will be unconvincing and tiresome. If the writing is too concrete, devoid of ideas and emotions, it can seem pointless and dry.(Alfred Rosa and Paul Eschholz, Models for Writers: Short Essays for Composition. St. Martins, 1982)Abstract and general terms represent ideas, explain attitudes, and explore relationships such as contingency (if something will happen), causality (why it occurs), and priority (what is first in time or importance). Concrete and specific words clarify and illustrate between abstract and concrete words and general and speci fic language, blending them naturally. To achieve this mix, use abstract and general words to state your ideas. Use specific and concrete words to illustrate and support them.(Robert DiYanni and Pat C. Hoy II, The Scribner Handbook for Writers, 3rd ed. Allyn and Bacon, 2001) The Ladder of Abstraction The Ladder of Abstraction is one way to visualize the range of language from the abstract to the concrete- from the general to the specific. On the top of the ladder are abstract ideas like success, education, or freedom; as we move down each rung of the ladder the words become more specific and more concrete. When we reach the bottom rung of the Ladder of Abstraction, we should find something that we can see or touch, hear, taste, or smell.(Brian Backman, Persuasion Points: 82 Strategic Exercises for Writing High-Scoring Persuasive Essays. Maupin House, 2010)

Is the Death Penalty Justified

Is the Death Penalty Justified Death Penalty Essay Death penalty debate often becomes a topic for an argumentative essay. Students are asked to make arguments for the death penalty and arguments against the death penalty. The capital punishment essay example below is a kind of opinion essay for legal discussions. If you need another topic  for discussing in your argumentative essay here is a great list: Argumentative Essay Topics   The Death Penalty is the Code of Judgment Want to divide a room fairly quickly? Get a conversation going about justifying the death penalty. That will scatter folks, absolutely. Plus, everyone will feel differently about the issue. Some will hold some deeply rooted convictions about the topic: Should a person be sentenced to death because they deliberately killed another person? Isn’t God their ultimate judge, and because of this, shouldn’t they get a free pass in this life because they are judged in the next? Is killing a murderer – via gas chamber, electric chair, lethal injection – committing the same exactly crime the murderer did? There are many questions to ask when giving this heavily debated topic a good thinking. First, one has to accept that there are some pretty evil people in the world who want to take the lives of others, to play God, ultimately; then there are accidental killings; and lastly, one has to consider that we all have the potential to kill another human being if pushed ove r the edge of reason. Nonetheless, in this instance, a justification for the death penalty shall be provided. The Death Penalty is Justified When a Murder Was Done out of Cold Blood For one, the death penalty is justified when a murder was done out of cold blood when it was premeditated. Of course, this is not when a person accidentally kills another person – wrestling around when the wrong move is made or someone goes too far, for example; or a car crashing into another on late night. Those are different. A murder in cold blood is when a person deliberately wishes for, plans and executes a murder. Regardless of why the murder is done, or how many people the person killed, even if to avenge another’s murder or wrongdoing, it is still murder – a deliberate ending of another person’s life on this earth – and murderers should be killed themselves. They must pay for their wrongdoing, and this is one case of how the death penalty is justified. Secondly, the death penalty is justified because of the prevention factor: When a vicious murderer is given the death penalty, they cannot be left out in society to do it again. This is done for a great reason. This justifies the death penalty for sure. Now there is always the possibility that the killing is righteous – maybe the man who savagely raped, beat and killed an innocent woman should be killed – and the person who killed the rapist is innocent to a degree, but all of this is subjective thinking, and emotions should not influence rationalization. We can refer to Hammurabi’s Code – â€Å"eye-for-an-eye† – to justify this reciprocity: that the state should put to death a murderer. Make no doubt about it: this is one more way that illustrates how the death penalty is indeed justified. Dead Murderer Cannot Kill Again Lastly, what if the atheists are right? What if there is no God? No judgment in the afterlife? We can never know for sure of an afterlife. Now is all we can ever know for sure. This mentality justifies the death penalty because it means there is a chance this murderer could go on in the universe never having to pay for what they had done – when they took a person’s life and played God for just a few seconds. One can speculate that if the everyday person kills another, even intentionally, that person will live for the rest of their years with immense regret, guilt, and paranoia. The mental anguish would be a harsh enough punishment itself. Ah, but many killers are psychopaths, they lack empathy and conscience – so they may not think they are doing wrong. Therefore they should be wiped out of this world. They deserve the death penalty. The death penalty is most justified here – a sick, deranged person should be taken out of this world. There may be no judge in the afterlife, no God; therefore, the evil of this world shall be judged on earth, and evil shall die. Let’s conclude this heavy argument by apologizing to the reader: this is a tough topic to discuss – everyone’s got a different viewpoint on it – and it’s easy to offend a person. If any offense was taken, the writer offers their apologies. The truth is, there is no right answer. The student can relate to Christian (God is my judge) and Buddhist (people attract suffering) ideologies, and to Hammurabi’s Code (eye for an eye), to approach this issue objectively. Which is correct? What is inhumane and what’s wrong? How do you tell? Need a death penalty essay? Our writers are experienced in writing different death penalty argumentative essays. The most popular topics are: Why the Death Penalty Wrong? and Should the Death Penalty Be Allowed? If you need an essay on these or other death penalty essay topics, place an order.