Respond to TS/IS Pg. 78-91 – “Playing the Naysayer in Your Text”
- By imagining what others might say against your general argument, you are able to strengthen your claim and persuade your audience even more. Birkenstein and Graff recollect, “Paradoxically, the more you give voice to your critics’ objections, the more you tend to disarm those critics, especially if you go on to answer their objections in convincing ways” (Birkenstein and Graff 79) If you are able to disprove or make a mockery of arguments that go against your own, you essentially are able to strengthen your argument as a whole.
- You always need a reason to counter an opposition or it can weaken or completely disarm your general argument. Birkenstein and Graff state, “One surefire way to fail to overcome an objection is to dismiss it out of hand – saying, for example, ‘That’s just wrong.’” (Birkenstein and Graff 88) By saying something inherently wrong about an opposition, but providing no solid back up to support your claim, it can disarm your own general argument and also make you look like a moron in the process.
- Writing isn’t about proving something right, it’s about stretching your beliefs and thinking critically about the world around you. Placing a naysayer in your writing forces you as a writer to shape your opinions and take fresh perspectives on pressing topics. Birkenstein and Graff write, “After all, the goal of writing is not to keep providing that whatever you initially said is right, but to stretch the limits of your thinking.” (Birkenstein and Graff 90) To strengthen your writing, you have to anticipate what will oppose it, and ultimately that improves your writing over time.
