How to Write Better Essays

from one culture to another. A dictionary definition, then, can only ever

be a single snapshot taken in a constantly moving reel of images.^1

If you take concepts like ‘aunt’ and ‘democracy’, you can see that in

some societies and at some times they have a fairly unambiguous,

unchanging meaning. The concept of ‘aunt’, for example, in some soci-

eties, has a narrow definition exclusively grounded in relations by blood

and marriage. But in other societies it is more open, encompassing not

just relatives in the strict sense, but also older, long-standing friends

of the family. This is likely to be a reflection of the social practices

prevalent in different societies and at different stages in their develop-

ment. A predominantly rural society with limited social mobility might

use ‘aunt’ in the narrow sense. In contrast, in a society undergoing

rapid industrialisation, with greater social mobility and less permanent

communities, the concept is likely to be applied more loosely to close

friends of the parents of a child. A young couple, having recently moved

to a city some distance from their parents’ homes, may seek to recon-

struct the security of an extended family by including close friends as

aunts and uncles to their children.

Much the same can be said for a concept like ‘democracy’. We might

all agree that it implies government in accordance with the popular

will, but beyond this principle everything is open. Western liberal

democracies, believing that democracy implies one-man-one-vote,

regular elections, secret ballots, multi-party politics and freedom of

expression, are just one adaptation of the principle, serving the needs

of a particular type of society: a liberal society with its emphasis on

the importance of individualism, competition, free trade and consumer

sovereignty.

In other societies, under different cultural influences, democracy has

taken on different forms where accountability, participation, multi-party

politics, even regular elections and voter sovereignty, are much less

important. More significant is the progress that is being made towards

achieving democratic goals, like the eradication of epidemic diseases,

alleviation of poverty, improvement in literacy, even industrialisation.

The achievement of these goals, rather than voter approval at elections,

is seen as evidence of the democratic nature of government.

Start with the way we use them

As you can see from this, if any of the concepts in essay questions are

up for grabs in this way, if there is any doubt about the way we use

16 Interpretation of the Question

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