ESSENTIALS OF A COUNTERARGUMENT BODY PARAGRAPH
Adapted from Graff, Gerald, and Cathy Birkenstein. They Say/I Say: The Moves That Matter in Persuasive Writing.
New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 2007. 163-76. Print.
A disclaimer: I think this is formulaic, and I don’t generally like formulaic writing—but this template I found will at least remind you of what elements should be part of a decent counterargument. You can use a more Rogerian approach by appealing to common ground if you so choose, though that is not included in this template. I would avoid using first person here if at all possible, too. Please note that I would expect about 2-3 claims per paragraph in order to fully flesh out your argument.
FIRST, INTRODUCE STANDARD VIEWS(explain what the other side thinks or what people typically think about this issue)
Americans today tend to believe that…
Conventional wisdom holds that…Common sense seems to dictate that…
At first glance, people might think that…
Some people believe that…
It is often said that…
The standard way of thinking about X is…
Often, people assume that…
MEANINGFUL ½ SENTENCE TO INTRODUCE QUOTATION
(author’s name, title, summary of evidence)
According to…
In “Title,” X …X supports this idea in “Title,” when he
“LOADED” ARGUMENT VERB AND COMMA
claims, asserts, urges, notes, observes, points out, maintains, admits, alleges,
QUOTATION/EVIDENCE(Direct quotation from text that opposes your main view – can use ellipsis (…) or brackets [to change words or word endings] as needed to make sentence flow smoothly)
CITATION AND PERIOD
(Author’s last name). OR (Author’s last name and pg. #). OR (“Abbreviated Title”).
…THEN, REFUTE, WITH REASONS…(explain what the other side ignores or misses)
X is mistaken because she overlooks…
X’s claim that ______rests upon the questionable assumption that…
I disagree with X’s view because, as recent research has shown, …
By focusing on ______, X overlooks the deeper problem of…
X claims ____, but we don’t need him to tell us that. Anyone familiar with ______has long known that…
…OR, MAKE CONCESSIONS WHILE STANDING YOUR GROUND…
(admit that there is some truth to what the author above says—just not as valid as your point of view)
Although I grant that _____, I still maintain that…
Proponents of X are right to object that ______. But they exaggerate when they claim that ____ because…
While it is true that ____, it doesn’t necessarily follow that…
While it may seem that ____, actually, it’s more likely that…
…OR, QUALIFY—DISAGREE AND AGREE SIMULTANEOUSLY—WITH EXPLANATIONS…
(when both sides have some merit)
Although I agree with X up to a point, I cannot accept his overall conclusion that…
Although I disagree with much of what X says, I fully endorse his final conclusion that…
Though I concede that _____, I still insist that…
While X is probably wrong when sheclaims that ______, she is right in that…
Whereas X suggests ______, Y and Z’s research on ______and _____ convinces me that ______instead.
My thoughts on this are mixed. I do support X’s position that __, but I find Y’s argument about ______to be equally persuasive
While X’s ideas make sense in circumstances like ______, in other cases it’s true that…
Although X is suggesting that______, surely we must remember that sometimes ______is more important.
…THEN, ALWAYS END ON YOUR TERMS.
(remind us of your ideas and what we should consider)
And so, we should consider…
Thus, we should…
This challenges the earlier ideas of ____ and instead suggests that…And so, on closer inspection, we see that…
This should be of interest to anyone who…
In making this point, I challenge the commonly held belief that…
Although some people may object that ____, I would answer that…
Although this may seem trivial, it is in fact crucial in terms of today’s concern over…
Consequently,…
In the end, what matters most is…
NOW TRY A SAMPLE COUNTERARGUMENT PARAGRAPH: