Counter-Argument Example

First, I will state my assertion. How about: Schools should make hot chocolate available to students in the morning and at lunch time.

Second, brainstorm supporting arguments: Hot chocolate contains lots of milk which is full of calcium and protein. Growing kids should have three servings of dairy each day. They can be served hot or iced, so they would be appealing both in summer and winter. They are a popular drink among older teens and adults whom students are likely to emulate. Hot Chocolate would replace sodas for lots of students, improving their nutrition. Hot Chocolate seems more ‘special’ than canned sodas or juice, so maybe it would make students feel more positive about school.

Third, decide on a couple of main arguments to include in my thesis statement: I think I’ll include the nutrition aspect and their popularity. So, my thesis might be ‘Schools should make hot chocolate available to students in the morning and at lunch time because they would improve students’ nutrition and they are popular.’ That’s kind of long. I’ll shorten it to ‘Schools should serve hot chocolate because they are nutritional and popular.’ I’ll start with that.

Fourth, identify an audience: I’ll try to convince parents.

Fifth, think of the concerns or arguments parents might raise. (These will be the counter-arguments I will answer in my paper.) Well, I know parents might argue that kids shouldn’t have too much sugar. They might think of the hot chocolate with whipped cream on top and say hot chocolate has too much fat. They might be concerned that they are messy—more likely to be spilled than a soda with a lid. No, I think that would be more of a concern if I were writing for the administrators; I’ll leave that one out. Maybe parents would worry about how expensive the drinks are.

Sixth, think of answers to the parents’ concerns and counter-arguments. Well, for the too much sugar argument, I could recommend sugar-free hot chocolate. I could also compare the amount of sugar in a hot chocolate with how much is in a soda. I could also check and see if it was the same kind of sugar: I have read that the high fructose corn syrup in sodas is worse than regular sugar. That would take a little research, but it should be easy to find out. What else? Oh, yes – fat. Everybody has heard of "skinny" hot chocolates made with non-fat milk, so I could include that in my recommendation. Now for the last one: expense. Hot chocolates are kind of expensive compared with a soda. How could I answer that concern? If students learned
to make them and ran a student stand in the cafeteria, they wouldn’t be so expensive; there wouldn’t have to be a profit built in – although I suppose the equipment is expensive. Maybe instead of some of the other prizes and awards that the parent club buys, they could pay for hot chocolate tickets to give out as incentives or awards. Ok, I think that is enough to start with.

Seventh, write down an outline. Ok. First, I have my thesis statement.

Then, my first section is going to be Improved Nutrition. Under that I can include the calcium, protein, the nutritional needs of growing kids, and the substitution for the "empty calories" in soda. I think this would be a good time to put in the counter-arguments related to nutrition. My second section will be about Popularity of Hot chocolate. I could even take a short survey of students and use a statistic to show that more kids would drink milk if it were in hot chocolate instead of a regular ol’ carton. I could put in how they can be served in summer or winter and about how kids aren’t likely to "outgrow" them because they are popular with older teens and
adults. This could be where I answer the counter-argument about expense with some ideas about kids being willing to work at a student-stand and about giving out tickets as awards. Now I need to enter the counter-arguments related to nutrition. I could say ‘Some parents might counter that hot chocolate is high in sugar, and fat. However, those arguments fail to take into consideration the fact that hot chocolate can be made with sugar-free flavorings, and non-fat milk – or even soy milk.’ I could add ‘Also, when one considers the sugar content of the sodas they will be replacing, this argument seems even weaker." Then I could I answer the counter-argument about expense with some ideas about kids being willing to work at a student-stand and about giving out tickets as awards.

And my paper is practically written at this point!