counter-arguments

Examples of counter-arguments in the following topics:

• Introducing Quotations

  • Instead, strategic use of quotations can be a way to provide clarity to your position and increase the argumentative strength of your paper.
  • Quotations can also be introduced in order to present a counter-argument.
  • However, engaging with a counter-argument demonstrates to your reader that your research was not limited to positions that confirmed what you already thought.
  • " Additionally, a counter-argument can be an opportunity for you to begin transitioning into the body of your argument by first showing why you think the counter-argument is incorrect.
  • For example, early in your paper is best for introducing a quotation that contains a counter-argument in order to articulate how it is problematic and how your position addresses this important problem.

• Step 3: Outlining

  • You'll be able to see whether you have enough evidence to support a given claim, whether your claims support your larger thesis, how to link your arguments and counter-arguments, and what order of presented evidence feels most powerful.
  • Does it make more sense to do it early on to preempt audience objections, or would you be better off building up your argument before addressing any counter-arguments?
  • Looking at your outline board, come up with counter-arguments and questions for each claim.
  • Make it your goal to address these questions and counter-arguments sufficiently in your essay.
  • Once you have the elements of your argument, you need to connect them together in an outline, forming the skeleton of an argument that makes sense.

• Introduction to the Thesis Statement

  • You want the reader to be drawn in immediately to the heart of the argument.
  • (This is a debating technique that allows the debater to skillfully parry any counter-argument.)
  • Including counter-arguments in your paper is a technique we'll discuss in the drafting section.
  • Make a list of the strongest arguments for and against your thesis statement.

• Step 4: Drafting

  • You have your thesis and all of the points of argument and counter-argument mapped out, along with their supporting evidence.
  • Each point of argument or counter-argument will have a paragraph of its own.
  • Let your topic and style of argument guide your method of introduction: A controversial topic that includes strong parries with counter-arguments might best be introduced by a provocative statement.
  • Whether you start off with your strongest point or a counter-argument, or you reel your reader in slowly, your body paragraphs will each have the following elements:
  • Paragraphs that articulate a counter-argument need to refute it: Perhaps it goes without saying, but if you're going to bring up a counter-argument (and this is an excellent strategy), you need to acknowledge it and then give the reasons it does not lead to the conclusion its proponents espouse.

• Deciphering an Argument You're Reading

  • Within the body, an author may also suddenly take up a contrary position in order to demonstrate why his or her argument is more accurate than the former.
  • If in the course of reading a text, you suddenly find yourself lost or confused, stop reading and go back to the last place in it where you could still follow the author's argument.
  • Some scholarly articles are particularly arduous and require slow, repetitive reading to understand the argument of the author.
  • What can often happen in particularly dense or difficult articles is that authors do not signal to readers that they are transitioning into an engagement with counter-arguments, so suddenly it seems as though authors are arguing for the opposite of their thesis.
  • In many scholarly articles, as it should be within your own work, authors will not introduce a quote into a text unless they feel it provides something important to their larger argument.

• Techniques for Acknowledging Opposing Views

  • However, if you cite counterarguments from experts in the field, and then work to refute those arguments effectively, you can lend authority to your own argument.
  • Just as with your own argument, you'll want to find the best thinkers on the opposing side of the argument.
  • Gather quotes summarizing their viewpoints and then go digging to find statistics and other research that both back and counter their claims.
  • You are conceding that the opposing argument is not completely false.
  • The second example presents the argument more sympathetically and realistically.

• Addressing Opposing Viewpoints

  • When preparing to write a persuasive paper, it is helpful to not only search for materials that support your argument, but also those that oppose your argument.
  • Additionally, addressing arguments that oppose your own within the body of an essay can strengthen the persuasive power of your own argument and provide a useful framework for your paper.
  • In academic writing, the strength of an argument depends largely on the quality of evidence you bring to support it.
  • There are multiple ways to address opposing arguments within the body of a paper.
  • You might summarize the opposition's views early in the body of your paper, and then revisit them with rebuttals after you have presented your side or the argument.

• The Basics of Quotations

  • Most often a quotation is taken from the literature, but also sentences from a speech, scenes from a movie, elements of a painting, etc. may be quoted if they further the argument you're trying to make.
  • Look for statements that concur with your argument, but also for assertions that contradict your claims, as you'll use these for refutation purposes.
  • Constitution to recognize and counter "free market fundamentalism" which he believes, among other policies, has undercut the document's intention (West, 2004).
  • It's a decision based both on the needs of the argument and artistic sensibility.
  • The citations, throughout, are a foundational element, showing the reader how your argument developed and why you think as you do about the subject.

• Making Concessions

  • If you encounter an objection that is supported by a good argument, you should admit the point.
  • If you encounter an objection that is supported by a good argument, you should admit the point.
  • You can recognize the validity of another author's argument and counterargue it without rejecting it fully.
  • Think about the difficulties or questions your argument is likely to produce.
  • Use arguments that go against your thesis to support your argument by giving opposing viewpoints a fair chance and refuting them thoughtfully

• Assembling Your Argument

  • 3) Analyze your object and gather evidence to support your claims: find places in the text of your object that support your argument. 4) Do research: review literature that concerns your object and the elements of your argument.
  • Likewise, an ad hominem argument is an argument made personally against an opponent instead of against their argument.
  • You cannot make a good argument unless you have strong evidence in sufficient amounts.
  • Choose whatever forms work best for your argument.
  • That same knowledge will help you understand what you need to include in your argument.