Argument and counte

r argument
What is a counter-argument?
• A counter-argument is an argument opposed to your t
hesis, or part of your thesis. It expresses the view of a
person who disagrees with your position.
• Why use counter-argument?
• Why would you include a counter-argument in your es
say? Doesn’t that weaken your argument?
•
• Actually, no. Done well, it makes the argument stronge
r. This is because it gives you the chance to respond to
your reader’s objections before they have finished rea
ding. It also shows that you are a reasonable person w
ho has considered both sides of the debate. Both of th
ese make an essay more persuasive.
•
How should a counter-argument be presented?
• A counter-argument should be expressed thoroughl
y, fairly and objectively. Do not just write a quick se
ntence and then immediately rebut it. Give reasons
why someone might actually hold that view. A few s
entences or even a whole paragraph is not an unrea
sonable amount of space to give to the counter-arg
ument. Again, the point is to show your reader that
you have considered all sides of the question, and t
o make it easier to answer the counter-argument. I
t’s easier to respond to a point you have already sp
elled out—and it’s easier for your reader to follow y
ou.
Make sure you express the counter-argument fairly and objectively.
Ask yourself if the person who actually holds this position would ac
cept your way of stating it. Put yourself in their shoes and give the
m the benefit of the doubt. Don’t use biased language or stack the
deck when presenting their position. Readers see through that sort
of thing pretty quickly.

• Obviously, if you really believe the position expressed in your thes

is, you will not be able to be completely objective in how you expr
ess the counter-argument—but you should try. One of the most c
ommon purposes of counter-argument is to address positions tha
t many people hold but that you think are mistaken. Therefore yo
u want to be respectful and give them the benefit of the doubt ev
en if you think their views are incorrect. They’ll be much more like
ly to be persuaded then. (The other approach, to use sarcasm and
satire to expose mistaken ideas, is very powerful, but should be us
ed with care, especially before you’ve mastered the art of rhetori
c.)
How can a counter-argument be rebutted?
• One of the most effective ways to rebut a counter-argumen
t is to show that it is based on faulty assumptions. Either th
e facts are wrong, the analysis is incorrect, or the values it i
s based on are not acceptable. Examples of each are given
below. Furthermore, some counter-arguments are simply ir
relevant, usually because they are actually responding to a
different argument. And some counter-arguments actually
make your argument stronger, once you analyze their logic.
• All of these examples use a claim from James Loewen’s book, Lies
My Teacher Told Me. In that book Loewen makes the claim that “T
o function adequately in civic life … students must learn what caus
es racism” (143). The examples below are ideas that you might use
as a counter-argument to this claim, in a paper agreeing with Loew
en. Then you would rebut, or answer, the counter-argument as a w
ay to strengthen your own position.
• Faulty Factual Assumption
• Racism is a thing of the past; therefore, students don’t need to bot
her with it.
•
• The factual assumption in this example is that racism is a thing of t
he past. One response would be to muster facts to show that racis
m continues to be a problem. (There’s a second assumption, which
is that students don’t need to bother with what’s in the past. Anot
her response would be to show that students must understand the
past as well as the present “to function adequately in civic life.”)
•
Faulty Analytical Assumption
Learning about racism might make students more racist.

The analytical assumption is that learning about racism can make you racist. The respo
nse would be that understanding the causes of a problem is not the same as causing or
creating the problem. (Another assumption in this argument is that it’s not good to ma
ke students racist. Loewen’s argument shares this assumption, so you wouldn’t rebut i
t.)

Top

Faulty Values
Who cares if students are racist?

• This counter-argument is based on an assumed value that your readers probably do n

ot share—namely, the idea that it’s ok for students to be racist. The response would b
e to point out this value, state why you don’t share it and state why you don’t think y
our readers do either. Of course, values are both deeply personal and extremely varie
d, so you’re always going to have some readers who do not share yours. The key is to
base your arguments on values that most readers are likely to share.
True but Irrelevant
Students are already familiar with racism; they don’t need to study it in school.

Many students are, in fact, already familiar with racism. But Loewen is not saying they need
to learn about racism, he’s saying they need to learn what causes it. You might be very famil
iar with racism but still not know what causes it. This is a very common form of counter-arg
ument, one that actually rebuts a different argument. (Note that here, too, there’s a faulty a
ssumption: being familiar with something is not the same as knowing what causes it.)

Top

Makes the Argument Stronger

Previous generations didn’t study the causes of racism, so why should we start now?

• The response here would be to show that previous generations did not “function adequat
ely in civic life,” because they had a lot of problems with racism (segregation and more hid
den forms of discrimination). Therefore, the fact that they didn’t learn about the causes of
racism, together with this other information, actually supports the claim that students do
need to learn what causes racism. (Here again there’s a faulty assumption, implied but not
stated: Previous generations supposedly did function adequately in civic life. The response
shows that that assumption is incorrect.)
When should a counter-argument be conceded?
Sometimes you come up with a counter-argument that you think is true a
nd that you think responds to your actual argument, not some other poin
t. Then you are faced with a choice: Do you abandon your thesis and ado
pt the counter-argument as your position? Often it turns out you don’t n
eed to abandon your thesis, but you might need to modify or refine it.

Let’s take a modified version of the second example given above (learnin
g about racism might make students more racist). The new version might
look like this:

• Students get turned off by what they are forced to learn, especially whe
n it’s about forcing them to be “good.” Then they turn against what the
y’ve been taught and deliberately go in the other direction. So, studying
racism might just make them want to be racist out of sheer contrariness
. This might help explain the backlash against “political correctness.”
One way to respond to a counter-argument like this is to acknowledge that, if it’s done incorrectly, education about racism might just e
nd up turning kids off and making them hostile. Then, you refine your original thesis to say something like this:

Students should learn what causes racism, but should not be constantly lectured that “racism is bad.” Instead, they should be taught t
he causes and history in a way that they find interesting and that lets them decide their own values.

By refining your thesis in this way you are able to retain your original point, while strengthening it by incorporating part of the oppositi
on’s views. This also takes away some of the reasons a reader might have to disagree with you.

Top

What makes a good counter-argument?

Some counter-arguments are better than others. You want to use ones that are actually somewhat persuasive. There’s nothing to be g
ained by rebutting a counter-argument that nobody believes. Two things to look for are reasonableness and popularity.

If you yourself are somewhat unsure of the position you’ve chosen as your thesis, it will be easier for you to identify good counter-arg
uments. You already recognize that there are reasonable arguments on the other side—that’s why you’re a little unsure. Look for thos
e arguments that make sense to you or that seem reasonable, even if you don’t agree with them.

On the other hand, you may be quite sure of your position, which makes it harder to see other views as reasonable. They all look flawe
d to you because you can point out their errors and show why your view is better. In that case, look for ones that are popular, even if t
hey are flawed. Remember, you’re trying to persuade your readers to agree with you. So you want to speak their language. That mean
s answering their objections even if you don’t think the objections are reasonable.

If you look at the examples above, you’ll probably find some more convincing than others. Most people will probably not find the “Wh
o cares if students are racist” argument very convincing. On the other hand, you might find the “students already understand” argume
nt pretty persuasive.

• Pick the arguments that you, or a lot of other people, feel are reasonable. The more you can answer those objections, the stronger y
ou’ll make your case.
Argument
• adalah sebuah paragraf yang menerangkan dan me
yakinkan kepada pembaca tentang pro (setuju) dan
contra (tidak setuju), yang sering disebut dengan Ar
gumentative paragraph. Sesuai dengan namanya, A
rgumentative paragraf berisi topik yang kontroversi
al untuk umum dan berita yang aktual yang ada di
masyarakat saat ini.
Ciri-ciri Paragraf Argumentasi
Berdasarkan pengertian di atas, suatu paragraf dapat
dikatakan paragraf argumentasi jika memiliki ciri-ciri
berikut ini.

1. Berisi pendapat, pandangan, atau keyakinan pe

nulis terhadap suatu permasalahan.
2. Memiliki data-data faktual yang digunakan untu
k meyakinkan pembaca.
3. Menjabarkan suatu permasalahan dengan cara
menganalisa dan menganalogikan.
• 4. Diakhiri dengan kesimpulan berupa pendapat
yang lebih luas.
Secara umum, Argumentative memiliki generic structure, ya
itu :
1. It has a topic sentence.
Topik kalimat atau kalimat utama harus ada pada setiap par
agraf. Begitupun dalam paragraf argumentatif, kalimat utam
a harus ada. Kalimat utama merupakan kalimat yang menja
di gagasan utama atau masalah utama yang akan dijelaskan
di kalimat selanjutnya.
2. It has supporting sentences for pros and supporting se
ntences for cons.
Supporting sentence merupakan kalimat pendukung yang m
enjelaskan kalimat utama.
3. It has conclusion.
• Setiap paragraf harus ditutup dengan kesimpulan. Bagi an
da yang ingin menulis paragraf argumentatif, kesimpulan p
ada paragraf jangan sampai dilupakan.