Checklist

The title, “In Defense of Domination”, does not remind me of anything I have ever read. After going over the reading, it relates to the author’s point he is trying to get across but I do not think it strongly summarizes the text.

I was able to gain an idea of what kind of person the author is, based on his strong opinions. The author clearly states that he roots for the most successful people, teams, etc. to exist. It can be apparent that the author looks up to those million dollar celebrities and teams, inventors, ideas, etc.

Knowing somewhat what the text is about, I can somewhat relate to the author’s opinions. Although it seems as if he is pushing his beliefs upon and shooting down any other beliefs, I have similar beliefs in rooting for the most successful people, teams, and ideas. I root for those that work hard to be where they are and earn their success. Being a college student, there are a lot of texts that can even slightly relate to this reading. Growing up, we are given multiple texts that explain to us that what we get out of something, is what we put in and we have to work hard to achieve our goals.

The purpose of this text to could be compared to what I have mentioned before, teams like the Yankees and players like Alex Rodriguez have worked hard to be where they are today. The author refers to the underdogs as “losers”, possibly not to be rude but to get his point across that you can settle to be mediocre, or you can push to be the best. This text could be seen as just a man’s idea on the Yankees and why he believes they are the best team out there, or as a reader, you can challenge yourself to relate to this reading and try to gain your own sense of purpose out of it. Wether you feel passionate about Yankees like Joel Stein or not, everyone feels passionate about something and as a reader, it is important to attempt to obtain the most out of a text that you can. Relating to a text in your own personal sense can allow you to cite this source in your own writing, even if it has nothing to do with the Yankees or baseball at all.

After the First Read

Stated in the first paragraph by Joel Stein, he said some people believe in rooting for the underdog and feel the need to fight against the “privileged”. Similar to the author, I root for those who are very successful. Everyone has their underdogs that they root for, but I am a firm believer that people earn what they work for.

People can be given more opportunities and be born into privileged families, and if people are not famous with millions of dollars, everyone can push to be the absolute best version of themselves that can be to end up successful. I think this is the most important point the author is trying to get across, there is nothing wrong with using talent and working hard to be as successful as you can be.

Something that I disagree with the author about is how he strongly he pushes his opinions and beliefs on the readers. This piece of writing comes off as very argumentative. Everyone is entitled to their own opinions and I believe it is okay to stress your own opinions without having to put down anyone else’s beliefs.

I do appreciate how in depth the author gets into MLB and relates it to America as a whole. He might have a firm belief on how the two relate, but I think it is extraordinary that an author can relate two very different things you would think, and cause the readers to see the two as very similar.

Evidence and Assumptions

The text is based solely on belief and opinion. The only accurate information given in this writing is the information on the contract deal between the Yankees and Alex Rodriguez.

The tone of the author can cause confusion to the readers, it is hard to take him serious but he still gives off a strong point that I think challenges readers to ask themselves a lot of questions and challenges readers to think about their own beliefs on this specific topic. The only source coming from this author, is his own opinion. The text does strongly relate to the author’s claim and opinion, as he is very aggressive with his point of view.

The author could have provided more evidence to convince the readers to also support his claim, but I believe that this text is aimed more for the readers to question themselves after hearing the author’s opinion on the matter. Every example the author provides, he also provides us with his own beliefs relating to the topic.

The assumptions made by the author that I can also relate to, is relating a topic simple as the MLB and Yankees to America as a whole. It is challenging to relate specifically to the author’s point of view because you do not know what parts to take him serious at throughout his writing. The author comes off very aggressive but also somewhat sarcastic, but I think it allows the readers to really question wether the success story of America is as real as it is portrayed to be or if it is based purely off of belief and opinion.

I believe that the author portrayed his beliefs very well, and targeted the readers directly to gain their own opinions on the subject, but I do not believe the author offered shared values or facts that could contribute to his argument. If the author was to provide the readers with values or facts, it would be easier for the readers to be convinced to agree with the author’s argument. Since this text is based mostly off of opinion, it allows the readers to easily gain their own opinion.

The author portrays that people believe you will be happier when put into the most privileged and successful situations, but this reading challenges readers to think about if that is entirely true. America is portrayed to be this amazing place where everyone should be so thankful to be a part of, but every success story has its own issues and as time goes on, America is not as perfect as everyone thinks. But I believe that the author also stresses that success has to be worked for, and some people just work for it in the wrong way occasionally.