Counterargument

1. Counterargument • In persuasive-argumentative writing, used to show your readers that you are knowledgeable about a full range of positions other than your own. • As a rhetorical strategy, it demonstrates that you are interested in finding common ground and consensus with your opponents. • As a statement of your character, it shows that you are honest and forthcoming about other viewpoints that might jeopardize your position.

2. ACKNOWLEDGMENT: a paraphrase, with useful examples, of an argument posed by your potential opponents proof to your readers that you can, not only understand the complex ideas of your opponents, but digest them clearly for the edification of your readers. remains neutral in tone introduces the counter-argumentative process as if to say, “Let me see if I understand my opponent correctly: . . . .” 3 Stages of CounterargumentSTAGE 1: ACKNOWLEGMENT

3. Example of AcknowledgmentIn "Rudeness at the Movies," Bill Wine argues that the primary cause for rudeness in our culture is the increasing role of television in the raising of our youth. Television at home, Wine contends, creates an environment in which viewers are held to no particular standards of social interaction: parents and children alike are free to interrupt each other and carry on activities that, in a public setting, might be considered interruptive and distracting but in a private setting are carried out with television entertainment as the backdrop. Dinner, for example, is often a family activity that happens in front of the distractive environment of the television, which diverts attention away from family conversation.

4. ACCOMMODATION: a statement conceding to the merit of some part of the opposing argument--either in the argument, itself, or in the character and values of the arguer establishes common ground. shows you are representing the opposition as fairly as possible. points out logic, values, interpretations, motivations that you respect in the opposing argument shows you are capable of empathy and understanding. is careful to agree ONLY IN PART with the opponent proves you've chosen an opponent of equal or greater strength STAGE 2: ACCOMMODATION

5. Example of AccommodationIt is true that television these days is one of the most important pieces of technology providing not only babysitting activities for young children but also schooling youngsters on the delicate business of family values, with images of family dynamics, etiquette and parenting skills. With parents increasingly leaving children on their own while they enter the work force and pursue careers, television shows like Family Matters become the surrogate parents and nannies.

6. REFUTATION: 1)Argue against the opponent on the terms introduced by you in acknowledgment, OR 2)Subvert the choice of criteria used the opponent, by introduced what you believe to be a more valid set of criteria to discuss the argument. remains even-tempered and uses a rational tone responds by addressing those parts of the opposing argument with which you CANNOT agree: interpretations of the facts; inappropriate examples subverts logic or questions the values in the opposing argument, in defense of your own position. does not veer off topic: stays focused on the criteria introduced in acknowledgment STAGE 3: REFUTATION

7. Example of RefutationHowever, the choice to behave rudely in public seems a truer motive for the phenomenon: people know their actions are rude and immodest in the public space of a movie theater, but they choose not to demand better from one another. In part, the value of the move-going experience is to blame. At one time, movie theaters where a unique experience in which films were presented with visual and sound systems that kept the moviegoer in awe. Today, such movie experiences are commonplace, and even expected. If the technology of the movie theater does not succeed in impressing moviegoers, then, like the commonplace use of television at home, they will not feel beholden to respecting the environment and the people who have paid to share it. Rudeness, then, in the movie theater is a phenomenon created by the collective agreement of today's moviegoers that the contract of manners is unnecessary in this space. It is caused by a new contract forged by younger audiences who aren't impressed by manners or persuaded by the need for respect for a public space. In other words, people today are rude in movie theaters because they choose not to ask for it to be otherwise out of a lack of care. Newer and more relevant technologies like iPods and texting cell phones and iPads are taking center stage in every public space. Perhaps one day, when technology fails to impress, what will remain is a respect for one another again. Maybe then, manners and the values underlining them will have a place again in our public spaces like movie theaters.

8. Pitfalls • Avoid becoming shrill in your tone. • Address the issue at hand to avoid making ad hominem attacks or red herring arguments. • Be sure to do a full and thorough job of accommodation; do not, for example, write, “My opponent might make a good point, but . . .” • Don’t forget to include examples in every stage of the counterargument. • Be certain that your refutation doesn’t change the topic capriciously. If you do intentionally change the issue that was introduced in the Acknowledgment, make sure that you explain your rationale. • Identify the source of your opposing arguments as specifically as possible, and represent your opponent fairly and honestly.

9. Persuasive-Argumentative Essays • Devote one portion of your essay to an anticipation of the opposing arguments. • Address three separate opposing points. • Dedicate a single paragraph to a single opposing argument. • Include all three stages--Acknowledgment, Accommodation, and Refutation--in a single paragraph. For example, do not group all three acknowledgments together. Do not start a new paragraph with accommodation or refutation (unless the refutation is exceptionally complex and much longer than the other components).

10. Show your quality!Impress readers with your sophisticated and subtle reasoning, and used sources, not only for their information, but for the authority and expertise that they can loan you.Refutation is not about logic only. Appeal to your readers’ emotional sensibilities and their values.Make the process intellectually enjoyable to yourself, without creating the impression that you are sparring with adversaries.