Hi everyone
I have my external exam for English coming up and I have a question regarding my exam.
Of course we are all familiar with the basic essay structure
Introduction
Body
Conclusion
The body contains your 3/4 main points/arguments to prove my thesis on the topic/novel etc
I’ve been thinking, to truly prove my point and to assist my thesis, would it be a good idea to write a little counterargument that goes against my own thesis and then proving it wrong? My essay would look something like this:
Introduction
Argument 1
Argument 2
Argument 3
Counter-argument followed by me proving it wrong or discrediting the argument using evidence.
Conclusion
I know this is something you may do for an essay for legal studies or history, but I think that it could really help bring my points across and it could also show the examiner that I have a deeper understanding of the novel, if that makes sense.
So basically, this is my question,
Would it be ok/better to write an argument that goes against my own thesis in an analytical essay if I discredit it and prove it wrong?
The book the exam is on is Burial Rites by the way
Okay, you definitely
can have a 'counter-argument' or 'challenge' paragraph. Some teachers are big fans of this! But I'll explain how to do this in a smart way to ensure you're not undermining your own argument!
Basically, you don't want to have one argument that completely destroys all of your others, like:
THESIS: Agnes is an innocent victim.
PARAGRAPH 1: Agnes is mistreated in childhood and this warps her worldview.
PARAGRAPH 2: Agnes is taken advantage of by others and cannot stand up for herself.
PARAGRAPH 3: Agnes only commits murder because of the circumstances others put her in.
COUNTER-ARGUMENT: But Agnes is actually evil and mean; she killed Natan out of jealousy and her only regret was that she didn't seem as sweet or innocent as Sigga so she could get away with it!!
CONCLUSION: but... yeah... Agnes is still mostly an innocent victim...
This makes it really hard to transition back to your conclusion to end your essay on a high note. You also don't want your 'challenge' to turn into a paragraph full of examples that disprove your point, as this isn't really an effective
argument.
Instead, the job of this counter-argument paragraph should be to argue that
"it's complicated!" For example:
THESIS: Toti has a positive influence on Agnes.
PARAGRAPH 1: Toti shows a desire to look beyond rumours and prejudices, which Agnes appreciates.
PARAGRAPH 2: Toti earns Agnes' trust and the two bond while he offers Agnes companionship.
PARAGRAPH 3: Agnes sharing her story with Toti is an important and cathartic experience for her and helps her to process the reality of her situation.
COUNTER-ARGUMENT: However, Toti is also a reminder of the empathy and kindness Agnes didn't receive in life, and he is unable to achieve justice for her. All he can do is offer her solace and promise to be by her side when she is executed.
CONCLUSION: Therefore, although Toti's positive impact on Agnes was limited by their circumstances, Hannah Kent ultimately shows how compassion and a desire to understand another person's story can have a profound impact even when that person is close to dying.
Now, we have a more sophisticated conclusion that takes into account this 'complication.' This counter-argument paragraph isn't saying "here's a bunch of stuff that proves me wrong" - it's saying "here are things that make this not entirely 100% true." And that's a really useful way to show that you understand the complexity of the text!
Then, your conclusion comes in swinging with a sentence like 'Although it's complicated, ultimately here's my main argument/thesis' which lets you end powerfully!
I hope that makes sense - if you want to try this out with a prompt we can discuss some possible counter-arguments here! Burial Rites is a great text for discussing complex psychology and character motivations, so you'll have a lot of opportunities for interesting challenges