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An Effective Response to Objections and Alternative Solutions: Handling Objections

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Proposal writers usually try to anticipate readers’ objections and questions and concede or refute them. How writers handle objections and questions affects their credibility with readers, who usually expect writers to be respectful of other points of view and to take criticism seriously while still arguing assertively for their solution. Brownell and Frieden anticipate and respond to five objections they would expect their readers to raise.

ANALYZE & WRITE

Write a couple of paragraphs analyzing and evaluating how Brownell and Frieden respond to objections:

  1. Reread paragraph 5. First, summarize the objection and their argument refuting it. Then evaluate their response: How effective is their refutation likely to be with their readers?
  2. Reread paragraph 6, in which the authors respond to a number of objections. What cues do they provide to help you follow their argument?
  3. Given their purpose and audience, why do you think Brownell and Frieden focus so much attention on the first objection and group the other objections together in a single paragraph?
  4. How would you describe the tone of Brownell and Frieden’s refutation? How is their credibility with readers likely to be affected by the way they respond to objections?

    Question

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