Practice with Writing a Rebuttal
Read both abortion rights articles. Then choose which of the articles you disagree with. Fill in the blanks for the acknowledgement section, using information from the article you disagree with.
After you have written out your acknowledgment, fill in the blanks for the counter-argument section. Feel free to use information from the article you agree with to help you fill in the blanks for the counter argument. However, you will need to refer back to the article you disagree with in the blanks that require it.
Make sure you don’t just fill in the blanks but actually re-write the entire sections from the beginning, replacing the generic information in each section with appropriate information from the articles, just like in the example rebuttal to the Bovy article.
Your rebuttal as a whole should be one paragraph with the first line indented. Do not add any unnecessary spacing.
Acknowledgment
Opposing viewpoint to your own
The general argument made by ___________ (full name of author) in his/her/their work, _______________, (title of work) is that _______________ (summary of main idea). More specifically, ___________ [last name of author(s)] argues that _______________ (paraphrase main piece of evidence). He writes, “ _______________” (use most powerful quote). In this passage, ____________ [last name of author(s)] is suggesting that _______________ (explain quote accurately). Therefore, ____________’s [last name of author(s)] belief is that _______________ (paraphrase author’s concluding/most forceful point).
Counter-Argument
Articulate your viewpoint
In my view, __________ [opposing author(s) last name] is wrong because _______________ (summarize your counter-argument’s main idea). More specifically, I believe that _______________ (provide your most damaging point to the opposing argument) For example, ___________ (give evidence supporting your previous point). Although __________ [opposing author(s) last name] might object that __________ (give opposing author’s strongest objection to your counter-argument), I maintain that _______________ (counter opposing author’s objection). Therefore, I conclude that _______________ (give your concluding/most forceful point).
