You want to show that you have considered the many sides of the issue. It is usually better to consider one or two serious counterarguments in some depth, rather than to give a long but superficial list of many different counterarguments and replies. Be sure that your reply is consistent with your original argument. If considering a counterargument changes your position, you will need to go back and revise your original argument accordingly.
Audience is a very important consideration in argument. Take a look at our handout on audience. A lifetime of dealing with your family members has helped you figure out which arguments work best to persuade each of them.
Maybe whining works with one parent, but the other will only accept cold, hard statistics. Your kid brother may listen only to the sound of money in his palm. At the same time, do not think of your audience as capable of reading your mind. You have to come out and state both your claim and your evidence clearly. Critical reading is a big part of understanding argument. Although some of the material you read will be very persuasive, do not fall under the spell of the printed word as authority.
Very few of your instructors think of the texts they assign as the last word on the subject. Remember that the author of every text has an agenda, something that he or she wants you to believe. For more information on objectivity and bias and on reading sources carefully, read our handouts on evaluating print sources and reading to write.
Take notes either in the margins of your source if you are using a photocopy or your own book or on a separate sheet as you read. Put away that highlighter! Simply highlighting a text is good for memorizing the main ideas in that text—it does not encourage critical reading. Then you can stop thinking of these ideas as facts and start thinking of them as arguments. Does the author adequately defend her argument?
What kind of proof does she use? Is there something she leaves out that you would put in? Does putting it in hurt her argument? What kinds of support did the participants use to back their positions? What do you think are the possible consequences that could have resulted from the exchange—or perhaps actually did?
Particularly in our digital age, consider how easily something posted online goes viral, and what that can mean for the long term future. Skip to main content. Argumentation and Persuasion. Search for:. Teachers assign argumentative writing so students can learn to examine their own and other's ideas in a careful, methodical way. Argument teaches us how to evaluate conflicting claims and judge evidence and methods of investigation. They also provide lists of verbs for expressing disagreement, agreement, making a claim, and more.
While many of these academic words may be advanced for middle schoolers the book is used mainly at colleges and high schools , the list could be adapted for middle school. One of the hardest things to teach students when integrating argumentative writing in the academics is to pay attention to the counterclaim, and as participants in the book group, we paid particular attention to the reasons why counterclaims are so important to students making claims in their argumentative papers.
As a curriculum coordinator responsible for ensuring that our academic courses are aligned with the most recent standards adopted by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, Leslie found this book to be an invaluable resource for teachers at her school, and she plans to replicate this book study in her school district.
Writing is speaking on paper and the authors of this text are cognizant of this. In order for students to become comfortable sharing their beliefs on paper, they must become comfortable sharing ideas within a group orally.
As a society we are constantly trying to navigate the often murky waters of media and social media, and our students are bombarded with the opinions of many voices — at an unprecedented level of intensity. Students often share their opinions on social media but rarely pay attention to the other side of the argument.
This is a skill that has to be taught through discussion and academic writing. This text addresses those skills and can spill into the literary lives of young people outside of the school in meaningful ways. This book uses strategies that force students to look outside of themselves and their claims and put their claims up against those whose claims are extremely different.
In order to have an argument, you have to know what you disagree with and why. As to the initial question we posed at the start of this piece — Is argumentative writing important? Leslie Skantz-Hodgson has been an educator for almost 24 years. She has spent most of her years teaching students in urban areas and regularly coaches her peers in areas of engagement and literacy.
MiddleWeb is all about the middle grades, with great resources, book reviews, and guest posts by educators who support the success of young adolescents. Argumentative writing assists test-takers in preparing responses to many speaking items. From writing a college application or scholarship essay to academic writing and then to writing in sales, education, law-every discipline requires some ability to posit a claim and prove its credibility.
Organizing written words helps immeasurably with making oral arguments, whether in a meeting with a client, in a conference room, with a doctor or before a judge.
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