A definition helps people understand the use of a word or a phrase when they don’t know it. Without the definitions of words, the human language probably would not exist or it would not make much sense. Anyways, during a conversation, people tends to give the definition of the words or statement to clarify what they are saying.
For instance, if I were to say something like, “a cheetah is a fast animal”, people would want me to be more specific. Therefore, I would replace my previous example by saying, “The cheetah is related to the cat family, it can accelerate faster than most sport cars, it’s also record as the fastest land animal in the world (according to wiki)”, which would help people to understand what I was trying to explain. Without replacing my previous information, people will not be able to have a clear description on speed of the cheetah.
Another way to explain or define an object, is to show a picture of it or pointing it out. Although I believe that showing a picture is more suitable. A friend of mine, Jack, told me over the phone that he recently went to purchased a new car. He told me that he bought a Subaru WRX, and since I don’t know much about car brand or types, I asked him to describe it for me. After a few minutes, Jack gave up on explaining how the car looks like. Instead, he sent me a picture of the car to my cellphone and I was able to see it. This example shows that if you cannot define something verbally, it’s better to show a picture of it.
I thought this was a good part of Chapter 2, even though I chose to write on a different concept. It's a good section as it not only helps in defining a certain term, but it focuses on further proving your point by using a definition properly to be more precise.
ReplyDeleteGood post though, your two examples helped illustrate the main point of the section. You did a good job emphasizing the importance of being as specific as possible. Otherwise, people won't be able to accurately gauge "how fast a cheetah" is in your example, unless they were to actually see a cheetah run in person, or look up the information themselves. "A cheetah is fast", like you said, is too vague.