I don't fully understand my essay assignment. 4 parts, 10 pages?

You could start here: http://www.urban.org/Publications/307452.html It looks long :-p

You might also be allowed to make the definition section shorter, and the other sections a little longer each.

Thanks, great link! Yes, I can shorten some parts. The paper can be 8–10 pages.

I’m mostly wondering, is the description/definition part like an introduction and what the problem/issue is? What would I be saying for 2 pages? Describing who the young offenders are? what they have done? crimes? I’m not sure…

The only person who can really answer this is your professor. If she’s not clearing things up, can you ask a TA? Someone who took the class last year? A fellow classmate?

I’ll try. Thanks for the advice. I should be able to sort this out!

Asking your prof or a TA is good advice. Off the top of my head, I would think that definition would be a description of the issue; in your case, what youth offenders are and what they do but also what are the issues surrounding how they are handled.

@janbb I think that is what my prof is asking. She did not go into much detail, but did say to look the worlds of our topic up and give an extended definition.

I guess I’ll write the introduction above that later? or should I write them both now together?

You can do it whichever way works out best for you, although my pattern would probably be to get something down for an introduction and then move into the definition of the issue part (since they are quite related.)

By the way, if you go to your library, there is an excellent series of books on current issues called the “Information Plus” series that probably has a volume on youth offenders with definitions, statistics, graphs, etc. Ask your reference librarian if they have it.

Give a few examples: profiles, summaries of case studies. An extended definition describes, elaborates, explains, illustrates.

You might, for example, think of dividing youngsters by background and socioeconomic status (“Youthful offenders come from all walks of life”) or by level of offense (“We can’t put an occasional marijuana user into the same category as someone who murdered his grandfather”) or history (“Some youngsters are caught on their first violation of the law, and some are still engaged in unlawful activities after serving more than one sentence”)

By the way, I recommend writing the introduction after everything else is written. Then you know for sure what you’re introducing and don’t make promises you can’t keep.

Also remember that you can go back and add something to an earlier section. If you start talking about recidivism, for instance, and realize that you need to distinguish between two classes of juvenile offenders, you can always go back and add that distinction to the “definitions” section.

@le_inferno This is different… s/he is asking for guidance on understanding the assignment. You were asking for an answer when you hadn’t read the source material.

I really feel ready to jump into this now! Thanks all. I understand what to do now :)
@le_inferno ;) Yeah, thanks! I just wanted some guidance!

(I ment @augustlan )

@kutelilkat Sometimes you just need someone to prise the window open just a little, let them fresh air in, after that it’s all go. You go girl!

@augustlan I did read the source material, and I was unsure about a certain bit of information. It’s really not much different from this. And I’d appreciate it if you didn’t jump to conclusions about my behavior. Thanks.