Counterargument and Refutation: Practice

1. Pretend you are writing an essay in favor of al

lowing smoking on campus.

You think

students should be allowed to smoke on campus. To m

ake your argument, you need to

defeat the arguments of people who hold the opposit

e view (the counterargument). Your

thesis is “Smoking should be allowed on campus.”

Thesis: Smoking should be allowed on campus.

Counterargument: Some people say that smoking shou

ld NOT be allowed on campus

because____________________________________________

_________

Refutation: (Think of an argument that will destro

y the counterargument above.)

___________________________________________________

_____________________

___________________________________________________

_____________________

___________________________________________________

_____________________

___________________________________________________

_____________________

2. Pretend you are writing an essay in favor of al

lowing students to use iPhones in class.

You think students should be allowed to use their i

Phones in class. To make your

argument, you need to defeat the arguments of the p

eople who hold the opposite view

(the counterargument). Your thesis is “Students sh

ould be allowed to use iPhones in

class.

Thesis

: Students should be allowed to use their iPhones

in class.

Counterargument #1

: Some people say that students should NOT be allow

ed to use

their iPhones in class because_____________________

___________________________

Refutation

: (Think of an argument that will destroy the coun

terargument above.)

___________________________________________________

_____________________

___________________________________________________

_____________________

___________________________________________________

_____________________

___________________________________________________

_____________________

Counterargument #2

: Yet other people say that students should NOT be

allowed to use

their iPhones in class because_____________________

___________________________

Refutation

: (Think of an argument that will destroy the coun

terargument above.)

___________________________________________________

_________________