51. Converse with the counterargument (persuasive paper)

51.Converse with the Counterargument (persuasive paper):

the ability to enter into an existing or imaginative conversation about your claims is one of the fundamental principles of cogent essay writing. Since the counterargument starters allow you to establish what others are saying or what you imagine others are saying as a counterargument and the concession starters allow you to establish credibility as a reasonable thinker by conceding a point to the opposing side, you then need to stake your claim with this opposing perspective in view. All persuasive writers will do this for each of their claims, but you will find that all essays (fiction analysis, poetry analysis, illustration essays) make claims and these claims become all the more powerful when they are made within the context of a conversation with opposing views. Below are starters that will assist you in conversing with the counterargument and establishing your view:

For example, in the paragraph below the converse starters are in bold:

Many critics believe Eve is vain and therefore was predestined to fall by God, but her obsession with her first view image is a natural fascination that is mistaken as vanity. The reader can make a parallel with Eve and Narcissus, a Greek God in love with himself. In his epic poem Paradise Lost, Milton describes Eve’s reaction as she looks into a pool of water at herself. Milton writes:

A shape within the wat’ry gleam appeared

Bending to look on me, I startled back,

It startled back but please I soon returned,

Pleased it returned as soon with answering looks

Of sympathy and love; there I had fixed

Mine eyes till now, and pined with vain desire

(IV, 460-465)

At this point in the epic poem, the reader has encountered the powerful, persuasive, and compelling Satan for 3,000 lines, and this is our first view of our parents-Adam and Eve. In discussions of this text, whether or not God predestined Eve to fall so that He could pardon Adam and Eve after the fall and thereby maintain power over them and their progeny has been a controversial issue. It is true that Milton refers to Eve’s gaze at her self as loving, pining and desirous. (converse): While Milton’s use of the word “vain” to describe Eve’s gaze at her image leads the reader to believe Eve is self-centered and susceptible to evil, it does not necessarily follow that Eve is vain and hopeless in her defense against Satan’s flattery. It is my view that the narcissistic interpretation of Eve is false. In his criticism of Paradise Lost, “Discovery As Form in Paradise Lost,” Stanley Eugene Fish explains how the reader tends to only see the surface of the situation. He writes, “On the surface, the account of Eve’s infatuation with her reflected image…seems to deny the freedom of the unfallen will by circumscribing our first parents…Yet in each instance Milton provides evidence that makes it possible for the reader to disengage these incidents from the Fall.” (Fish, 530) It is impossible that Prelapsarian Eve is conceited or vain, because God created Adam and Eve as perfect human beings. We must remember the description of Adam and Eve as “(t)he image of their glorious Maker shone, / Truth, wisdom, sanctitude severe and pure” (IV, 293-294) Eve and Adam can’t have these characteristics because God created them with perfection. Eve has never seen what she looks like, and is simply interested in the image she sees. Anyone in this situation would be curious, and somewhat complacent if they had never before seen themselves. So, Eve was capable of remaining obedient to God.

CONVERSE STARTERS:

DISAGREEING:

-My own view is _____________________________________.

-Whereas some are convinced that ________________________________, others argue that _______________________________. The latter view is more persuasive because _________________________________.

-Although some believe the text is about _______________________________, it is in fact about _______________________________________________.

-However, _______________________________________________________.

-Nevertheless, ___________________________________________________.

-The assertion that _________________________________ is contradicted by the claim that _______________________________________________.

-This interpretation is mistaken because it overlooks ____________________________.

-This interpretation rests upon the questionable assumption that _____________________________.

-By focusing solely upon ______________________________, this interpretation overlooks _____________________________.

-Although some claim that __________________________, it does not necessarily follow that _________________________________. In fact, __________________________.

AGREEING AND DISAGREEING:

-It is true that _______________________, but it is also true that ___________________.

-While it is a fact that _____________________, and even more that ___________________, it is also true that ___________________________.

-Proponents of _____________________, are right to argue that _____________________, but they go too far when they ____________________________.

-While it is true that _______________________, it does not necessarily follow that _______________________.

-It is without question that _______________________, but it is also true that _______________________.

-He claims that __________________________________. On the one hand, it is true that ____________________________. On the other hand it is also true that _________________________________________.

-The interpretation ___________________________ is right, but the conclusion _____________________ is suspect because ____________________________.

ANTICIPATE OBJECTIONS:

-Some readers may challenge my view that _______________. Indeed, my argument ignores _____________________________. However, ______________________.

-Many will disagree with my assertion that ____________________________, but ________________________________.