Feb 23

Study the Opposition

Find 10 articles that take a different stance on the controversial issue you've been working on. Aim to gather articles from a variety of sources (newspapers, personal blogs, etc.) In some cases, you may find that there are several distinct kinds of opposition:

• people who disagree with you on principle
• people who agree on principle but disagree on method

If so, take note of that complication and consider gathering articles for both categories. You may decide to focus just on one group in your speech, but by gathering more sources now, you're prepping for either possibility, allowing you to make that big decision later on, once you know more.

Choose two articles from your collection, one that's completely wrongheaded and another that you're impressed by. Write a ¶ on each article, as follows:

• A ¶ referencing the wrongheaded article to dismiss the logic of some members of the opposition. Note: quoting from the source will help you pin down your opponent's false logic or bad faith—or whatever other objection you're lodging.
• A ¶ referencing the impressive article to acknowledge the strength of its argument, followed (possibly) by a refutation of some kind. You may decide to make this a 2-¶ sequence.

From these two responses, choose ONE to share with the class, under the appropriate heading below.