Page 360 - Wordsmith A Guide to College Writing

Subjective and Objective

Definitions

As you examined the sample dictionary entry, you may have noticed

that it was strictly factual, that it did not reflect its writer’s opinion. Such

factual definitions are called objective definitions. When you define
something objectively, your task is relatively simple. An objective

definition is a factual definition. You define a person, place, thing, or

idea by providing facts such as physical characteristics, function or

use, how it works, and its history. To define a mosquito objectively, for

instance, you might say it is a winged insect that draws blood from
humans and animals and sometimes spreads disease. An objective

definition is the type that you would write when answering an essay

question or writing a research paper.

Real-World Writing: Is Subjectivity

Bad?

How often have you heard people say, “Oh, that’s just an
opinion,” as if opinions don’t count? Such statements give

subjectivity a bad reputation.

True, there are some forms of writing in which subjectivity is not

appropriate—factual reports, encyclopedia entries, and

scientific experiments, for example.