IXL | Evaluate counterclaims | 12th grade language arts

Consider this claim:

Messenger bags, which are carried over one shoulder, are better than backpacks because they provide quicker access to what's inside, and they are more stylish.

Now consider how someone might argue against this. Which sentence presents the stronger and more reasonable counterclaim to the above claim?

Experts say that backpacks are better because they can hold more than messenger bags, and they are easier on your back and neck than messenger bags are.

The popularity of messenger bags has risen in recent decades, and one study has suggested that half of all people have back pain, so messenger bags probably cause back pain.

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Learn with an example

question

Consider this claim:

It would be better to be able to change the past than see the future because changing the past could have an immediate, positive effect now.

Now consider how someone might argue against this. Which sentence presents the stronger and more reasonable counterclaim to the above claim?

Changing the past could have unintended consequences, such as erasing yourself from existence; seeing the future would provide useful information without damaging the present.

Learning from the past would be better than changing it, because the lessons that can be learned from past mistakes could be applied to making a better future.

key idea

When you're writing an argument, you want to consider how someone might argue against your claim. Arguments against your claim are called counterclaims, or counterarguments. Acknowledging counterclaims makes you appear more fair and balanced as a writer, and refuting counterclaims strengthens your argument.

You don't need to address every possible counterclaim that you can think of while writing. Instead, you should decide which counterclaims are the strongest and address those. Strong counterclaims directly address a claim without making any exaggerations; they provide logical reasons why someone might object to the claim. For instance, consider the following claim:

Super strength would make a better superpower than being able to fly.

This would be a strong counterclaim:

green checkmark, While super strength would only be useful occasionally, flying would make your daily life easier.

In contrast, these would not be strong counterclaims:

red X symbol, Many popular superheroes in movies and on television are able to fly.

This counterclaim does not directly address the claim. The claim is about which superpower is better, not which superpowers are used by popular superheroes.

red X symbol, Super strength would cause you to hurt everyone around you, since you would always hug or shake hands too hard.

This counterclaim is an exaggeration. Having super strength would not necessarily cause you to harm everyone by always giving crushing hugs and handshakes.

red X symbol, With the ability to fly, you would have to wear special goggles to protect your eyes.

This counterclaim uses faulty reasoning. It actually presents a reason why being able to fly is worse, not better, than super strength.

solution

Consider the claim:

It would be better to be able to change the past than see the future because changing the past could have an immediate, positive effect now.

This is a strong counterclaim since it offers a reasonable challenge to the claim:

green checkmark, Changing the past could have unintended consequences, such as erasing yourself from existence; seeing the future would provide useful information without damaging the present.

This is not a strong counterclaim:

red X symbol, Learning from the past would be better than changing it, because the lessons that can be learned from past mistakes could be applied to making a better future.

This counterclaim does not directly address the claim. It compares changing the past to learning from the past, but it does not compare changing the past to seeing into the future.

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