opposition

Examples of opposition in the following topics:

• Addressing Opposing Viewpoints

  • Being familiar with oppositional viewpoints is a way of strengthening your understanding of your own position.
  • You may choose to state your main points, then address and refute the opposition, and then conclude.
  • While the previous two examples use the addressing of oppositional arguments to provide a framework to the paper, it is important to include a brief engagement with opposing viewpoints in the opening paragraph.

• Refuting Your Opposition

  • Now that you've built a strong foundation of credibility by presenting the likely objections and reasoned opposition to your argument (respectfully, of course!)

• The Practice of Conversation

  • Once you've found a topic and an academic conversation to enter into and you've begun forming your own arguments, expect that you will encounter opposition.
  • You may choose to state your main points, address and refute the opposition, and then conclude.

• Entertaining Objections

  • Hearing out your opposition is key to developing a strong argument.

• Making Concessions

  • No matter what phrases you use to make concessions, your goal is the same: To demonstrate that you have considered the opposing viewpoint fairly, that you can recognize when the opposition brings up a good point, and that your argument still holds true despite this valid objection .

• Precision

  • General words and specific words are not opposites.

• Assembling Your Argument

  • In general, there are five different elements of argument: evidence, conclusions, warrants or reasons, knowledge of your audience, and knowledge of your opposition.
  • In fact, knowledge of your opposition is one of the most important elements of your argument.

• Techniques for Acknowledging Opposing Views

  • As you're researching, spend some time putting in search terms as if you were arguing for the opposition.
  • Don't dismiss your opposition from the outset with language like this: "John Smith naively argues ..."
  • An advantage of using quotations is that you are allowing the opposition to speak for itself.

• Deciphering an Argument You're Reading

  • What can often happen in particularly dense or difficult articles is that authors do not signal to readers that they are transitioning into an engagement with counter-arguments, so suddenly it seems as though authors are arguing for the opposite of their thesis.

• Introduction to Writing in the Humanities

  • Sometimes mislabeled as the "opposite" of the applied sciences or professional programs such as business, the humanities are in fact at the core of every human endeavor to pursue, discover, and pass on knowledge.