The counterclaim, or rebuttal, is the final element essential to make a complete argument. Essentially, “effective arguments respectfully anticipate objections readers might offer” (Lunsford et al., 2013, p. 150). Aside from being aware of the possibility of counterclaims in order to ensure the solidity of claims, students must also directly address those counterclaims in their writing. While students often leave rebuttal to the end of the writing process, “understanding and reacting to these conditions are essential to support your own claims where they’re weak and also to understand the reasonable objections of people who see the world differently” (Lunsford et al., 2013, p. 143).
When students think about the opposing arguments when they are constructing their thesis and general ideas, they will be able to start thinking about how to defend against them throughout the writing process. This way, when students address those counterclaims later on in their work, they will be able to more thoroughly dismantle them. Once they are able to use their experience considering the opposing mentality to establish their argument as stronger than that opposition, they will be able to bring closure to their well-proved and defended argumentative writing.
Activity #1: Not a Good Ruler Source: My Brain
Taking the picture from the last activity, the teacher can either give the students information or have them research about what the ruling class considered important during the time. The students will take the arguments that they have made about why the prince is not a good ruler, and imagine that they are having a conversation with someone from hundreds of years ago. With a partner, one student will be from the present, and one from the past. The past student's ideas of what a ruler should be will be the counterarguments that the present student needs to address. The goal for the present student is to convince the past student that their version of what a leader should be is accurate, and why the man in the picture does not qualify. They should use the qualifications of the past rulers and dismantle them one by one, using what they know about past and current rulers and the qualifications that make good ones to do so.