1) Chavez’ intends for the first six words to inform the reader that she sees the need for courtesy when engaging in discussions. These words are important because throughout most of the article Chavez discusses how eliminating offensive words will “denude our language of color, passion, or good metaphor".
2) Chavez uses the word "bellicose", which means inclined to war, because she wants to make the point that these type of metaphors have always been used in politics. She says that if the phrases such as "took his best shot" are no longer used it would leave us unable to accurately express ourselves.
3)Chavez is trying to persuade the reader that we should not stop using words or phrases just to avoid offending certain people. We must think before speaking, but this does not mean we need to say everything in a gentle, soothing way so we do not offend anyone. Her best example to get this point across is the Los Angeles Times restricting the use of the words "Indian", "Hispanic", "ghetto", and "inner-city" and replacing them with what they saw as less offensive words. She has a very good point after this in that it is not the words we use that are the problem, but they attitude behind them. Simply forbidding certain words will not resolve the problems.
4) I agree with Chavez that we should not stop using certain words, to avoid offending someone. It is not the words used that cause problems, rather the intent behind them.
