Concession and Rebuttal

Analyze how acknowledging opposing views and answering them strengthens an argument's purpose.

A concession grants that an opposing view has some merit; a rebuttal then explains why the author's position still holds. Together they make an argument more persuasive, especially to skeptical audiences, because they show the author has considered other views fairly. Writers rebut in several ways: by showing the opposing evidence is flawed, by arguing that the concern is real but outweighed, or by proposing a solution that addresses the concern. Consider an original example: 'It is true that a later start time complicates bus schedules, and this is a serious cost.

But districts that have staggered routes have managed the change within a year, and the gains in student health outweigh the temporary disruption. ' The concession builds ethos; the rebuttal uses evidence and a weighing of costs. Weak arguments either ignore counterarguments or present them in a distorted form that is easy to defeat, sometimes called a straw man. When analyzing, ask whether the opposing view is stated fairly and whether the rebuttal actually answers it.

• 1A concession grants merit to an opposing view.
• 2A rebuttal explains why the author's claim still holds.
• 3Fair concessions build ethos with skeptics.
• 4Distorting the opposition creates a straw man.