I chose to write this post about the readings from Chapter Nine in Everything's an Argument. I think its interesting that they used Obama and his patriotism as an example. The most important part however was it talked about the criteria for defining something. The list included: what it is, what it isn't, what it includes, specific examples, what authorities observe, what emotions does it pertain to, etc. This is important when describing anything to anyone in order for them to completely understand and be able to define it. Another quote I liked was, "...definitions matter because they are, in fact, arguments that define concepts by which we live and operate." An idea like patriotism is something that lives and something that we live through but yet has a different definition to everyone. The next quote that is interesting is, "Arguments of definition can be important and contentious. They wield the power to say what someone or something is or can be." This goes back to the idea of the importance of defining something. Because that definition holds the power to sum up an individual or thing. I also liked how they used the example of a dictionary. Mainly he quote, "...like any form of writing, theses reference books mirror the prejudices of their makers." This is interesting because we have always grown up going to references as a source of knowledge but never thought about the bias of the source. With every kind of definition comes a different bias from the source.
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