Refuting Opposing Arguments

You should always assume that any proposal—no matter how strong—will be objectionable to some readers. Moreover, even sympathetic readers will have questions that they will want answered before they accept your ideas. That is why you should always anticipate and refute possible objections to your proposal. For example, if the federal government did more to relieve the student-loan burden, would some students try to take advantage of the program by borrowing more than they need? Would all students be eligible for help, even those from wealthy families? Would students who worked while attending school be eligible? If any objections are particularly strong, concede them: admit that they have merit, but point out their shortcomings. For instance, you could concede that some students might try to abuse the program, but you could then point out that only a small minority of students would do this and recommend steps that could be taken to address possible abuses.

EXERCISE 15.1

List the evidence you could present to support each of these thesis statements for proposal arguments.

  1. Because many Americans are obese, the government should require warning labels on all sugared cereals.

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  2. The United States should ban all gasoline-burning cars in ten years.

  3. Candidates for president should be required to use only public funding for their campaigns.

  4. Teachers should carry handguns to protect themselves and their students from violence.

  5. To reduce prison overcrowding, states should release all nonviolent offenders.

EXERCISE 15.2

Review the proposals in Exercise 15.1, and list two problems that each one could create if implemented.

EXERCISE 15.3

Look at the following ad, which is designed to promote recycling. In what sense is it a proposal argument? For example, what problem does it identify? What solution does it propose? What arguments does it present to support this solution? How does the image in the ad help to support the proposal?

image
An ad to encourage recycling
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