I will be providing several examples of this assignment that I'll post today; you can use these as a template if you like. You'll need to provide a sequence of objection/concession/rebuttal in your own opinion piece, so I would definitely review examples.
The premise of this assignment is easy; the details require a good amount of critical thinking. As what we're about to do here is such a critical part of an opinion piece (a great one, that is), I will be posting a voice lecture that will help you with both blog and paper.
1. That said, what I want you to do is find an opinion piece on a topic that interests you. Regardless of subject, whatever you choose should be relatively recent - let's say within the last month. I want you to isolate the piece's major claim (keeping in mind that opinion writing is always argumentative writing) and note whether the claim is implicit (implied, not directly stated) or explicit (directly stated). If it's explicit, quote the sentence(s) that encapsulates the argument. If it's implicit, use your own words to infer the author's argument.
2. Now, I want you to look for any anticipated objections to the claim. This means counter-arguments or objections to at least part of the claim. "Anticipated" here means this: any good piece of argumentative writing is going to address the audience's likely objections to the claim. This means that writer is anticipating what an audience might disagree with/find flawed, etc. In doing so, that writer can then actually address these objections in their writing. Doing so widens possible and probable audience and avoids alienating readers. Readers are much more likely to stay with you, even if they vehemently disagree with your claim, IF you deal with other points of view. Well balanced opinion pieces don't offer just one point of view; they promote/present a particular point of view as superior/correct/best while also engaging with competing points of view.
Usually, writers who address objections in their writing often offer a concession, which, in its most basic form, is an acknowledgment that the other point of view is valid/important/partially correct, (whatever it may be). Even if you're a die-hard proponent of a particular viewpoint, you should be able to come up with at least some minor point about the "other side's" validity or importance. Last, you offer a rebuttal: after conceding a point, you return to your own, reaffirming why your claim, ultimately, is the one to adopt. Does your writer address any objections, whether implicitly or explicitly? How so? Quote if you find an explicitly addressed reader objection. If you don't find any in the opinion piece, move down to the "Comment" sections. Guaranteed, you're going to find readers raising objections. What do they have to say?
3. Having identified possible objections (explaining briefly who might make such objections and why), note whether the writer makes a concession (concedes a point to the other side). You can look at the Comment section for this as well, but ideally you'll find your author making at least some sort of concession.
4. Lastly, identify any rebuttals made. IF you find any concessions in your piece, you're going to find rebuttals. What are they?
***Often, the title of an article will instantly confirm it's an opinionated piece of writing. I've provided some examples of such below. News/Culture/Politics sites like Slate and Salon don't usually have "Opinion" sections per se; they're often laid out topically, so you'll see sections like "Life"; "Community"; "News/Business"; "Art"/ etc. As such, there's no central "opinion" section to go to wherein all the opinion pieces are conveniently collected. So looking carefully at titles/subtitles is important here. If you go to a newspaper or newsmagazine, you're usually going to find a section titled "Editorial" or "Opinion" (usually, it's going to be "opinion"). Easy to search, obviously, since opinion writing is confined to one section. I ask that you choose the piece for this assignment from one of several different forums/sites; you'll see both "kinds" of sites here.
You can choose an opinion piece from one of the following site, even one of the articles listed below. I will add more tomorrow.
Why the Higgs boson is not like a sea of milk that sustains the gods."
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