counter-arguments

(noun)

Ideas and evidence which refute or oppose the original claim.

Related Terms

  • academic writing
  • "so what"
  • genre
  • claim
  • rhetoric
  • genres
  • Academic Writing
  • analysis

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.
  • Psychology and the Scientific Method

    • Critical thinking can be thought of as an equation: Argument = Reason + Conclusion.
    • In other words, a logical argument needs a specific reason and a valid conclusion in order to be considered scientific.
    • Other aspects of critical thinking include assumptions, principals, and counter arguments.
    • Counter arguments are statements that counter another person's statement or argument.
  • 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.
  • Limits and Continuity

    • A study of limits and continuity in multivariable calculus yields counter-intuitive results not demonstrated by single-variable functions.
    • A study of limits and continuity in multivariable calculus yields many counter-intuitive results not demonstrated by single-variable functions .
    • Continuity in each argument does not imply multivariate continuity.
    • However, continuity in multivariable functions yields many counter-intuitive results.
    • Describe the relationship between the multivariate continuity and the continuity in each argument
  • Antithesis

    • Antithesis is a counter-proposition that denotes a direct contrast to the original proposition.
    • By explaining a concept, idea or argument with its opposite, you give your audience a 360 degree understanding of your point.
    • Antithesis is a great way to lead into exactly how you want to portray an idea or argument.
    • Antithesis makes for a great way to set up your argument or idea by showing your audience the opposite.
    • From there, you can then specifically tailor your argument to fill the void left when describing its opposite.
  • The Proslavery Argument

    • From the late 1830s through the early 1860s, the pro-slavery argument was at its strongest, in part due to the increasing visibility of the small but vocal abolitionist movement, and in part due to Nat Turner's rebellion in 1831. 
    • Among those most famous for propagating the pro-slavery argument were James Henry Hammond, John C.
    • The famous Mudsill Speech (1858) of James Henry Hammond, depicted in , articulated the pro-slavery political argument when the ideology was at its most mature.
    • In this view, any efforts toward class or racial equality ran counter to this theory and therefore ran counter to civilization itself.
    • These arguments asserted the rights of the propertied elite against what were perceived to be threats from abolitionists, lower classes, and non-whites to gain higher standards of living.
  • Types of Supporting Materials

    • Scientific evidence is evidence which serves to either support or counter a scientific theory or hypothesis.
    • Personal experience is useful for emotional appeals, but is not always good for more scientific arguments.
    • Statistics are a type of scientific evidence that can bolster arguments.
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