The Counterargument That Isn't
A student argues that schools should start later for teenagers. One body paragraph reads: "Some people say that later start times would interfere with sports and after-school jobs. But sports are not as important as academics, and students can just do their homework earlier. So the counterargument is wrong." The student believes this paragraph "addresses the other side," which the prompt requires. The rest of the essay is well developed and cites sleep research accurately.
1. Evaluate whether this paragraph genuinely engages a counterargument, and explain what is missing.
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The paragraph names a counterargument but does not engage it. "Sports are not as important as academics" dismisses the objection by assertion rather than by reasoning, and "students can just do their homework earlier" ignores the actual conflict-later dismissal pushes practices and shifts later, not earlier. Genuine engagement requires stating the objection in its strongest form, granting what is true about it, and then showing why the position still holds or under what conditions it would. Here the writer defeats a weakened version of the objection (a straw man), which reads as avoidance. On Ideas and Analysis, acknowledging a perspective means analyzing its logic, not outvoting it.
2. Rewrite the paragraph so it fairly represents the objection and responds to it, in about the same number of sentences.
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Model: "Critics correctly note that a later start time pushes athletics and after-school jobs into the evening, and for students who depend on wages or on practice time, that cost is real. The objection assumes, however, that the current schedule is cost-free; it is not, since chronic sleep deprivation measurably undercuts the same academic performance sports are meant to complement. A workable policy would pair a later start with adjusted practice schedules and protected work hours, so the burden is managed rather than transferred to students." This version concedes the valid part (real cost to jobs and sports), exposes a hidden assumption (that the status quo has no cost), and offers a condition that answers the objection. That is analysis of a perspective rather than a dismissal of it.