Eristic

//__Eristic __//

of or characterized by debate or argument.
 * Definition:: **

mid 17th century: from Greek // eristikos //, from // erizein // 'to wrangle', from // eris // 'strife'
 * Origin:: **

eristically
 * See also:: **

Definition taken from Oxford Dictionary of English

Everything That Rises Must Converge “Julian sighed. ‘Of course,’ she said, ‘if you know who you are, you can go anywhere.’ She said this everytime he took her to the reducing class. ‘Most of them in it are not our kind of people,’ she said, ‘but I can be gracious to anybody. I know who I am.’ ‘They don’t give a damn for your graciousness,’ Julian said savagely. ‘Knowing who you are is good for one generation only. You haven’t the foggiest idea where you stand now or who you are.; She stopped and allowed her eyes to flash at him. ‘I most certainly do know who I am,; she said ‘and if you don’t know who you are, I’m ashamed of you.; ‘Oh hell,’ Julian said. ‘Your great-grandfather was a former governor of this state,’ she said. ‘Your grandfather was a prosperous land owner. Your grandmother was a Godhigh.’ ‘Would you look around you,’ he said tensely, ‘and see where you are now?’ and he swept his arm jerkily around to indicate the neighborhood, which the growing darkness at least made less dingy. ‘You remain what you are,’ she said. ‘Your great-grandfather had a plantation and two hundred slaves.’ ‘There are no more slaves,’ he said irritably. ‘They were better off when there were,’ she said. He groaned to se that she was off on that topic. She rolled onto it every few days like a train on an open track. He knew that ever stop, every junction, every swamp along the way, and knew the exact point at which he conclusion would roil majestically into the station: ‘It’s ridiculous. It’s simply not realistic. They should use, yes, but on their own side of the fence.’
 * Example ** from text:

(RO)