Planning Your Essay Last week, we looked at two versions of the same argument. In both versions, Elizabeth did a great job of addressing the opposing position. Remember: we write arguments to convince an audience that does not agree with us, so presenting the opposing claims and your counterargument to those claims is vitally important! We do have choices in deciding how we will organize the ideas and where in the essay we will address the opposing claims.
Here is a short review of Plan A:
If you select Plan A, please make a copy. Here is a short review of Plan B:
Writing to Convince The purpose of argument writing is to change the minds of people that may not agree with you. In order to convince others that your argument is more reasonable, you will need to show your reader the weakness of their argument. Today, you will learn how to address the counterarguments in your argument essays. Let's analyze an example. Bug Cafe You are a famous chef. Your restaurant needs more business. You want to convince the owner to serve some big dishes on the menu. This is the problem:
Read the infographic, "The Perfect Meal." You will be using facts from the infographic to convince the owner of the restaurant to allow you to serve bug dishes at the restaurant. However, you will also need to address the opposing opinions about bugs: they sting, bite, can carry germs, and can destroy property.
Let's see how good writers use transitions to signal that their evidence is superior to the opposing evidence. In your classroom folder, you will find: Using Transitions to Address Counterarguments.
