IXL | Evaluate counterclaims | 9th grade language arts

Consider this claim:

It would be better to have music on a desert island than books, since you can listen to music over and over again without getting bored.

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

Books often have vivid, interesting characters who could make you feel less lonely on the deserted island.

Books are more engrossing than music, so if you had one you wouldn't worry about having to build a fire or find food on the island.

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Learn with an example

question

Consider this claim:

Veggie burgers are every bit as tasty and satisfying as regular beef burgers.

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

Veggie burgers have no taste whatsoever and cannot compare in any way to a delicious beef burger.

Regular beef burgers have more good-tasting fat and filling protein than veggie burgers.

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:

Veggie burgers are every bit as tasty and satisfying as regular beef burgers.

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

green checkmark, Regular beef burgers have more good-tasting fat and filling protein than veggie burgers.

This is not a strong counterclaim:

red X symbol, Veggie burgers have no taste whatsoever and cannot compare in any way to a delicious beef burger.

This counterclaim is an exaggeration. It is unlikely that veggie burgers have no taste whatsoever.

$Confetti$

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O.4Identify counterclaims

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