What 4 Things Should a Rebuttal Do?
1.Summarize
2.Find Common Ground (concede points)
3.Expose bad reasoning (analogy)
4.Advance a counterargument
Real life rebuttal forms:
Letters to the editor
Personal letters
Essays to the public
Speeches
?
Rebuttal: Finding Your Topic
1.Respond to a columnist from the Collegian or from any of the
other fine newspapers we have been reading.
2.Write a “Defense” of your proposed career or major to the
person or group who doesn’t understand your career or major (or
they might have misconceptions).
3.Write a letter to one of the publications (e.g., journals, etc.)
from your field regarding an article or a particular stance that
publication is taking.
4.Write a rebuttal (open letter) to people who hold an opinion
regarding any issue that has come up in class discussion.
Analogies can persuade like
Michael Phelps can win.
I don't think there's anything certainly more unseemly than
the sight of a rock star in academic robes. It's a bit like
when people put their King Charles spaniels in little tartan
sweats and hats. It's not natural, and it doesn't make the
dog any smarter." -- Bono, 2004 Commencement Address at
The University of Pennsylvania
"Remember this, ladies and gentlemen. It's an old
phrase, basically anonymous. Politicians are a lot like
diapers: You should change them frequently and for
the same reason. Keep that in mind next time you vote.
Good night.
"I want to say 'thank you' to all the fans that voted for me
and Owen [Wilson] for Wedding Crashers. And I feel a
little guilty about winning the award 'cause it's not that
hard of a thing to do. When you work with someone like
Owen Wilson, I kind of feel like a jockey on the back of a
great horse like Secretariat. My job is just to hold on."
"Don't worry about the future; or worry -but know that worrying is as effective as
trying to solve an algebra equation by
chewing bubble gum." -- Baz Luhrmann,
Everybody's Free (to Wear Sunscreen)
"Dumb gorgeous people should not be allowed to
use literature when competing in the pick-up
pool. It's like bald people wearing hats."
-- delivered by Matt McGrath (from the movie
Broken Hearts Club)
"Withdrawal of U.S. troops will become like
salted peanuts to the American public; the more
U.S. troops come home, the more will be
demanded."
-- Henry Kissinger, Memo to President Richard
Nixon, 10 September 1969.
Ogres are Onions
Hatians are guests who
didn’t RSVP.
Body glitter is like mono.
Naming a child is like trying to fit in at a party.
Ryan Seacrest is like celery.
Analogies are like monsters.
Starbucks is like a crazy ex-girlfriend that you still visit.
Wikipedia is like hearing a great story in a bar.
Smoking cigarettes for the rest of your life is like
running with the bulls; eventually it will catch up to you
and kill you.
Saying citizen journalism
can provide a foundation
for news is like saying a
neighborhood watch
program can do the job
of a professionally
trained police force.
Yeah, the people of the
community can help out
and provide positive
contributions, but the
professionally trained
policy and journalists
provide the effective
base.
Negativity can take over your day like
the plague devours a village.
Arguing over athletic
achievement of
different eras is like
Seinfeld. It may
entertain you, make
you think, or even
enhance your
livelihood. But really,
what’s it about?
Web Courses are like breast implants because
they are both enhancements of the real thing.
(I don’t have an appropriate picture for this…)
Intelligent Design is simply
not science, so to suggest
that it be taught in science
classes is like saying the
Story Theory should be
taught in sex ed classes.
Judging those involved in THON without actually
trying to understand the mission of the organization
and trying it for yourself is like saying that the
Grand Canyon isn’t beautiful if you’ve never been
there. Something that you may feel is overrated,
may actually help to give you a different perspective
and actually take your breath away.
Care-giving without
compassion is like marriage
without love. It may fulfill
some basic needs but
creates no additional
happiness to the two
involved.
The failing economy has
put enough pressure on
this issue to solidify it into
a diamond-hard point,
which pricks at the
thoughts and conversations
of enthusiasts across the
country.
Saying race dialogue is no
longer important is like saying
the wound is healed once a band
aid is placed on it. Special care
must be given to that wound in
order to let it heal properly and
function as it once did.
Ignoring the wound, like the
topic of race, only allows it to
grow or heal improperly.
In this war, edges blur like the vision
of a mirage blurs in the smoldering
heat of the Iraqi desert. “Terror”
takes no tangible shape in the form
of an enemy.