What you’ll learn to do: evaluate strategies for rebuttal and refutation of counterargument

An integral part of composing a strong argument is including a counterargument. This can be difficult, especially if writers are arguing for a position they already agree with and support. In such cases, writers can sometimes make good points to support their stances; however, their arguments are vulnerable unless they anticipate and address counterarguments.

When a writer does address counterarguments, it is often referred to as a rebuttal or refutation. Some scholars of rhetoric differentiate the two words in terms of whether you can actually disprove a claim or just argue against it; however, in this section, we will use the terms as basically interchangeable to help get you more used to their function in argument.