Key Terms for Argumentation
Claim​ – Your basic belief about a particular topic, issue, event, or idea
Counterclaim​ – A solid and reasonable argument that opposes or disagrees with your claim
Rebuttal​ – A written or verbal response to a counterclaim. The object of the rebuttal is to take
into account the ideas presented in the counterclaim and explain why they aren’t persuasive
enough, valid enough, or important enough to outweigh your own claim.
Support​ – Your specific facts or specific evidence used to support why your claim is true
Refute​ – Argue against a position or prove it to be wrong
Qualify​ – A “partly-agree” stance in which you agree (in part) with another person’s argument
or position but also disagree with part of it.
Simple outline for an argumentative paper:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Intro: Claim (and introducing the counterclaim)
Rebuttal to counterclaim/introduction of your claim (or vice versa)
Support of your claim
Refutation/rebuttal (if necessary)(can include qualification)
Close
In 350 B.C., Aristotle was already wondering what could make content — in
his case, a speech — persuasive and memorable, so that its ideas would pass
from person to person. The answer, he argued, was three principles: ​ethos
(head), pathos (heart), and logos (head)​.​ Content should have an
ethical​ appeal, an ​emotional​ appeal, or a ​logical ​appeal. A rhetorician
strong on all three was likely to leave behind a persuaded audience. Replace
rhetorician with online content creator, and Aristotle’s insights seem entirely
modern. Ethics, emotion, logic — it’s credible and worthy, it appeals to me, it
makes sense. If you look at the last few links you shared, or the last article you
e-mailed or recommended to a friend, chances are good that they’ll fit into
those categories.