Juliana Spahr's Response is an assessment of knowledge and the intricacies of truth. While truth and knowledge are simple in concept, Spahr proves the difficulty of really obtaining them. The main problem with truth is how interpretive it has become, so the "truth" is really just a reflection on an individual or group mentality. She refers to the "The claims of truth in the age of cover-up and misinformation"(pg 53). Spahr follows these "claims of truth" from their point of origin in an attempt to display the elusiveness of the real truth. Truth starts with the witness of something, to the responding to that something, and finally to testifying about that something. It is through this chain of truth that Spahr proves how knowledge is really just deciphering what you experience and she conveys the greatness of the responsibility that comes with those interpretations.
             The first event in a series of truth would be the way people tell you information. The first line of the book is, "How to tell without violating?"(pg 9). This emphasizes the importance of the violation of truth that can occur from hearing things from other people. Human existence is too short to experience everything firsthand, so if one desired to have knowledge about everything, then he has to accept information from others. In sifting through all the information that is hearsay one has to identify the biases that come from the source of the information.
             "We know [name of a major historical figure] calls, authentically, for a more total, more radical war than we can even dream in the language of the avant-garde. We know a commercial promises to reduce plaque more effectively in the same tone,"(pg 14)
             Spahr uses a political example to display that the information we are told by others can have intentions as honest as a toothpaste advertising campaign. A politicians words, while possibly inspiring, are truly intended to get him into office and likew...