A rebuttal is an argument that rejects or challenges the claim of another argument – Essay Help Services

Paper 3: Refutation Essay
3-4 pages
Final Draft Due: Mon. March 15
A rebuttal is an argument that rejects or challenges the claim of another argument. This means that you will locate an essay that takes a position on a topic that is contrary to your own. A rebuttal is an attempt to weaken, invalidate, or make less credible a claim with which you disagree.
1) First, locate an essay in the “Contemporary Arguments” section of your text that you believe contains a point of view that you do not agree with. After selecting an essay, read it very carefully, making certain that you do in fact understand the claims that the author is making.
2) Then, read the essay again, this time marking passages that you believe to be particularly weak arguments offered by the writer. Then re-read the essay and outline the main points on a separate sheet of paper that the author uses. You may need to read and re-read the essay several more times because it is imperative that you fully understand the article before you can successfully attack it.
3) Next, do some planning. Decide how you will structure your refutation. What weaknesses of the essay will you focus on?
• Is the evidence or proof that the writer uses the problem? Is the evidence not up to date, insufficient, irrelevant, or not representative?
• Are the warrants or assumptions that underlie the claim faulty?
• Does the essay contain logical fallacies?
• Does the author offer a solution that you feel will not work?
• What counter-claims can you offer that support your opposing view?
Note: you may decide to attack the argument for one or more of the reasons listed above, but only use those that you feel to be justifiable. Choose only the most important points to refute in any case.
4) Plan an outline. Typically, a refutation breaks down into the following divisions:
• Introduction that sets the scene, establishes the broad issues, introduces the author and article and then proposes a thesis asserting why the article is weak or unconvincing; be very specific in your claims.
• One or two paragraphs that briefly summarize the article so that your audience knows what the issues are. Be objective and fair in representing the essay.
• Begin your refutation. Arrange your body paragraphs from minor to major disagreements to have the maximum impact on readers. Cluster your paragraphs around similar problems. If, for example, you are discussing poor use of evidence, discuss in the same paragraphs all examples of bad evidence. If you focus on logical fallacies, discuss an author’s hasty generalizations in one paragraph and non sequiturs in another. Identify the problems by quoting or paraphrasing the text, and then—and this is imperative—analyze and explain why these examples represent poor argumentation. Document quotes and paraphrases like this: Hitler claims that “This is only too natural” (312).
• Offer your own opposing point of view on the subject that is an improvement over what the author claims.
• Provide a conclusion that summarizes the faults of the essay and establishes the soundness of your counter-argument.
Writing Studies 1 Paper 3 Rubric
Organization
• Essay will have an identifiable introduction, thesis, body paragraphs, topic sentences, and conclusion (5 points)
• Each type of weakness will be discussed in its own paragraph (5 points)
• Organization will ultimately aid the argument and reflect the purpose of the refutation (5 points)
__________/15
Purpose
• Essay will ultimately work towards the goal of refuting an article, or arguing why you disagree with the author (5 points)
• Uses compelling reasons and evidence to explain the issues of the original article (5 points)
• Does not simply point out the article’s weaknesses, but explains HOW the evidence proves your opinion/argument is superior (10 points)
_____________/20
Evidence
• Uses direct quotes from the article to point out the weaknesses (5 points)
• Also paraphrases or summarizes the article’s argument in one paragraph (5 points)
• Correctly identifies the weaknesses of the original article (5 points)
• Article’s weaknesses range from the following: logical fallacies, author’s authority, evidence, faulty warrants, a faulty solution (5 points)
• Provides a counter-argument (5 points)
______________/25
MLA
• Correctly uses in-text citation to cite information from the original article (10 points)
• Uses paraphrases, quotes, or summaries and cites them accordingly (10 points)
________________/20
Mechanics
• Uses proper grammar, language, and syntax throughout paper (5 points)
• Precise word choice (5 points)
• Uses appropriate language and style for an academic audience (5 points)
• Sentences are well structured and varied (5 points)
________________/20
Total Grade_________/100