Jacob Hickey
English 110-H4
Professor Miller
Playing the Naysayer in Your Text
- This chapter “urges” the writer “to tell readers what others might say against you” (Graff and Birkenstein). It gives examples on how to incorporate counterclaims into your writing. The authors make sure to tell the writers to make sure it is in depth saying that you should, “stay with them for several sentences or even paragraphs” (Graff and Birkenstein). Going in depth with this will show readers you are confident in your own ideas and are not afraid to go against your idea if it means it will help you idea in the long run.
- The authors also make sure to let the writer know to not “bully” your readers by not making a counterclaim, by quickly “brushing” over one, or by poking fun at certain topics. It states in this chapter that often time, “the more you give voice to your critics’ objections, the more you tend to disarm those critics, especially if you go on to answer their objections in convincing ways” (Graff and Birkenstein). Giving a voice to you objector can often times, help your own argument by making you seem to care about your topic.
- Another topic that is covered in this chapter is the fact that your own counterclaim might be more persuasive that your own claim. If this is the case you might have to go back and rework your original claim or part of your essay to make it even more persuasive. The writers tell the readers, “to avoid having this kind of unintentional reverse effect on readers, you need to do your best to make sure that any counterarguments you address are not more convincing than your own claims. It is good to address objections in your writing, but only if you are able to overcome them” (Graff and Birkenstein). It is important to give evidence to support your own claim while not making your counterclaim overly persuasive.
