Introducing Counterarguments, and When to Address Them: Study Guide (English Language 9.5)

Two questions about every counterargument

Once you know how to concede, rebut and refute (Topics 9.3 and 9.4), two practical questions remain.

1. How do I introduce a counterargument so that the reader knows what is happening?
2. Where should it go, and does it need to be there at all?

The course gives short but useful answers. First, transitions may be used to introduce counterarguments. Second, not all arguments explicitly address a counterargument. This topic works through both, and it also prepares you for the argument and synthesis essays, in which choosing when to address opposition is part of the skill.

Transitions that introduce a counterargument

A transition is a word or phrase that connects one idea to the next and tells the reader how they relate. Transitions that introduce counterarguments tell the reader that an opposing view is coming, and often what the writer will do with it.

Purpose	Transitions	Example (written by Marlbridge)
Introduce the opposing view	“Some argue that…”, “Critics claim…”, “It might be objected that…”, “One might say…”	“Critics claim that the scheme is too expensive.”
Grant a point (concede)	“Admittedly”, “Granted”, “It is true that”, “To be sure”, “Of course”	“Admittedly, the costs are high.”
Turn back (pivot)	“However”, “Yet”, “Still”, “Even so”, “Nevertheless”, “On the other hand”	“Even so, the benefits last for decades.”
Contrast with evidence	“In fact”, “By contrast”, “Yet the figures show…”	“In fact, the figures show a net saving.”
Return to the thesis	“Therefore”, “For this reason”, “Thus”	“Therefore, the council should proceed.”

A typical sequence is: introduce → concede → pivot → respond → return.

Some argue that cycle lanes slow traffic. Admittedly, a lane can narrow a road. However, on the three busiest routes, journey times fell by a minute after the lanes opened. Therefore, the claim does not justify removing them.

A transition is also a small signal of tone. “Of course” can sound generous or condescending. “It might be objected” is formal and calm. “Some people foolishly believe” is hostile and loses the audience. Choose the transition that fits the audience and purpose (Topic 8.3).

Where to put a counterargument

A counterargument can appear in several places. Each has a different effect.

Position	Effect	Suits
Introduction	Shows at once that the writer knows the debate; sets the thesis against a rival view	Controversial topics; sceptical readers
Early in the body	Clears away a strong objection before building the case	A hostile audience that will not listen until its concern is acknowledged
Middle	Follows a related point naturally (“This benefit, however, has a cost…”)	Arguments with several strands
Late (before the conclusion)	Lets the writer build the case first, then answers the main objection as a final test	Audiences already inclined to listen
Within a single paragraph	Concede, pivot and return in a few sentences	Timed essays; minor objections
Conclusion	Acknowledges a limit or remaining uncertainty	Complex questions where full resolution is not possible

Does every argument need a counterargument?

The course makes a careful point: not all arguments explicitly address a counterargument. Some arguments do not name an opposing view at all. A commemorative speech, a personal essay or a brief opinion piece may be built to move or inspire. It may still manage opposition implicitly, for example by:

• Qualifying claims so that the strongest objections do not apply.
• Choosing evidence that already answers the likeliest objection.
• Using diction that anticipates doubt (“As unlikely as it seems…”).
• Framing the issue so that an opposing view seems out of place.

For your own writing, the working rule is: address the objection a careful, informed reader would raise first. If there is a strong one, an explicit counterargument is usually worth a few sentences. If the topic has no serious opposing view, do not manufacture one.

For analysis, the rule is: describe what is there. If a passage has no counterargument, say so, then describe how it handles opposition if it does so implicitly. Do not claim that a writer “refutes the opposition” when there is none.

Public-domain examples

A transition that introduces a counter-consolation: Thomas Paine, The American Crisis (1776). Paine writes: “Tyranny, like hell, is not easily conquered; yet we have this consolation with us, that the harder the conflict, the more glorious the triumph.”

The first clause concedes the difficulty (tyranny “is not easily conquered”) and the transition “yet” turns to a claim that answers discouragement. It anticipates the objection of readers who feel that the struggle is too hard and gives them a reason to continue. The structure is concede, pivot, reassert, in one sentence.

An argument that does not explicitly address a counterargument: Abraham Lincoln, Gettysburg Address (1863). The speech does not name or answer an opposing position. Its purpose is to honour the dead and to call the audience to a “new birth of freedom”, and it gets its force from its structure, its rhythm and its framing of the war as a test of the principle that “all men are created equal”. It manages doubt implicitly: it presents the dead soldiers’ sacrifice as a reason to take “increased devotion” to their cause, which makes withdrawal from that cause difficult to defend. A reader who analysed the speech by inventing an explicit rebuttal would misdescribe it.

Worked example 1: introducing and placing a counterargument

Task. Thesis (written by Marlbridge): “Libraries should stay open on Sunday.” The strongest objection is that Sunday opening costs too much for too few users. Write the counterargument in two positions, and say which suits a council audience.

Step 1: choose transitions. Introduce: “Some councillors argue…” Concede: “Admittedly…” Pivot: “However…” Return: “Therefore…”

Step 2: write Version A (early in the body). “Some councillors argue that Sunday opening costs too much for too few users. Admittedly, a Sunday session costs about £400 in staffing. However, the three trial Sundays drew an average of 210 visitors, a cost of under £2 a visit, which is less than the weekday cost per visit. The objection therefore does not hold, and the case for Sunday opening can rest on what the service gives.”

Step 3: write Version B (late, before the conclusion). “One objection remains: that Sunday opening costs too much. It is true that a session costs about £400. Yet the three trial Sundays drew an average of 210 visitors, which works out at under £2 a visit. A service that costs less per visit on Sunday than on Tuesday is not an extravagance.”

Step 4: choose. A council, which is budget-minded, is likely to be thinking about cost from the start. Version A answers the concern before the reader has the chance to dismiss the essay. Version B would suit an audience that is inclined to agree and needs only to be reassured. For a council, A is stronger.

Step 5: check. Each version names the opposing view fairly, concedes what is true, pivots with a transition and returns to the thesis.

Worked example 2: deciding whether to include a counterargument

Task. Plan a 40-minute argument essay. The prompt: “To what extent should public money support the arts?” Decide what counterargument to include and where.

Step 1: identify the strongest objection. Public money is limited, and there are more urgent needs (hospitals, schools). A careful reader will think of this first.

Step 2: decide how much space. In 40 minutes, a full separate paragraph on the objection may cost too much. One strong paragraph within the body could concede the priority of urgent needs, then refute that the arts and urgent services are in competition, using evidence (for example, that arts spending is a small share of budgets and supports jobs).

Step 3: choose the position. Place it in the second body paragraph, after the writer has made a first positive case. The writer has by then shown the benefits that the objection must be weighed against.

Step 4: choose transitions. “It might be objected that public money is better spent on urgent needs. Granted, hospitals and schools come first. Yet the choice is rarely either-or…”

Step 5: check what not to do. Do not spend a whole paragraph on an obscure objection, and do not invent a counterargument that no reasonable reader would raise.

Result. The plan answers the reader’s likeliest objection briefly and returns to the thesis, which is a sensible use of limited time.

Common misconceptions

• “Every argument must contain a counterargument.” Not all do explicitly, and some are effective without one.
• “A counterargument must come last.” It can come anywhere, and the best place depends on the audience.
• “Any ‘however’ introduces a counterargument.” It does only if it introduces an opposing view and not merely a contrast between two of your own points.
• “If a source has no counterargument, it is weak.” It may have a different purpose, such as commemoration.
• “I should invent a counterargument to look balanced.” A made-up objection is a strawman.
• “A long counterargument is a better one.” Brief, accurate and well answered is better, especially under time limits.

Where this leads

This is the last topic in the course. Practise now with the practice questions, use the revision notes and checklist, then take the Unit 9 diagnostic and the Unit 9 review. To recall the moves you are introducing, revisit the Topic 9.3 study guide and the Topic 9.4 study guide.