Acknowledgment & Response Or, how to convince doubters

? Why bother acknowledging the other side? Haven’t you been telling us to take a firm stand, to make a convincing argument?

1: This Isn’t math Academic arguments are generally not logical proofs with only one answer.

2: Rarely “Killer” Evidence It’s rare that your evidence is so indisputable that it will cause all doubters to instantly change their opinion.

3: Your Audience Those doubters--“the other side”--always exist. There are few universal truths. That “other side” generally has some good reasons to believe what it does. If you think about it, that “other side” is one of your main audiences: do people who already agree with your claims and evidence really need to read your argument?

The Defense Rests … or not So, it’s generally not enough to throw out only claims and evidence and then decide your case is “proved.” Instead, you need to show your audience that you’ve considered other possibilities. You also have to anticipate their potential objections.

Take the wind out of their sails

Acknowledgment & Response One rhetorical tool to accomplish this is called “Acknowledgment and Response.”

An Unqualified Claim Without A&R: “UVA students don’t participate in the honor system.” None? Several honor cases each year. What about students on the Honor Committee? All students sign the pledge? Students do initiate some cases?

Basic A&R An example: Most UVA students believe in a student-run honor system, but few participate in a meaningful way, especially when it comes to initiating an actual case.

Acknowledgment Most UVA students believe in a student-run honor system, but few participate in a meaningful way, especially when it comes to initiating an actual case.

A Pivot Most UVA students believe in a student-run honor system, but few participate in a meaningful way, especially when it comes to initiating an actual case.

Response Most UVA students believe in a student-run honor system, but few participate in a meaningful way, especially when it comes to initiating an actual case.

A&R Techniques: Frequent use of coordinating conjunctions— but, yet, however—in the middle to signal a change or pivot in argument: “Many people argue the recent Congressional elections were a referendum on the Iraq war, but I would argue that other significant factors also played a role.”

More A&R Techniques: Occasional use of subordinate conjunctions—although, while—at start of an acknowledgment: “Although some people argue the recent Congressional election was simply a referendum on the Iraq war, I would argue that other domestic issues played a more important role.”

More A&R Techniques: Acknowledgments often use qualifiers or other words to indicate doubt or that a shift in argument is about to occur: “Some people think …” (but most people see it differently) “Although it is possible …” (something else is probable) “One factor is …” (but there are more factors) “While it is true that …” (yet, I’m about to tell you why something else is more true) “While a reasonable argument can be made that …” (other arguments might be even better)

More A&R Techniques: “Them” vs. “Me” (or someone who’s like me) Acknowledgments are often attributed to someone else, while responses often use “I” or some group like the writer. So, as a writer, make it clear that others believe one thing, but that you believe something else. “Many people argue the recent Congressional elections were a referendum on the Iraq war, but I would argue that other domestic issues actually played a more important role.”

A&R Exceptions: Frequent use of “pivot” words—but, yet, however… but writers do not always use them. Sometimes the shift or pivot occurs without any conjunctions or overt signals by the writer. “UVA students say they believe in the honor system and want to keep it student-run. Statistics show the reverse: less than 4% of students who have witnessed an honor offense actually did anything about it.”

R&A&R Sometimes the acknowledgment is not first: The honor system needs revision. While it is true that many students support the system in general, low student initiation rates demonstrate a need for new sanctions.

But Where? Yeah, yeah, but where does A&R go? Mostly, you use A&R to increase the complexity of your claims (or subclaims/reasons). A&R also comes in several sizes …

“Small” A&R Topic sentence contains all the acknowledgment and also the true claim, which is the response: Most UVA students believe in a student-run honor system, but few participate in a meaningful way, especially when it comes to initiating an actual case. (Followed by evidence that shows low initiation rates).

“Medium” A&R Topic sentence is all acknowledgment. Actual claim comes in next sentence: Most UVA students believe in the honor system, want to keep it student run, and consistently reject modifications to it. Yet relatively few students participate in a meaningful way, especially when it comes to initiating an actual case. (Followed by evidence that shows low initiation rates).

“Large” A&R Extensive acknowledgment of several lines, followed by a response and evidence. See example:

The “Big Gulp” A whole paragraph of acknowledgment, which can also contain evidence that would appear to contradict your argument… … followed by a (usually) even larger paragraph with extensive evidence that bolsters your claim and counters the prior paragraph.

Compare and Contrast? Q: But isn’t this just high school all over again—a form a compare and contrast? A: No. First, you generally spend less time on acknowledgment than response. The goal is not to be “fair and balanced.” The goal is to show there’s another side. Second, you must still make a strong claim and support it. You cannot present both sides and conclude “there are interesting points both pro and con.” (Now that would be high school!)

Exercise 1: This document has six examples of A&R from the Cavalier Daily. Circle the acknowledgment and put an “A” in the margin. Underline the pivot (if it exists). Put an “R” next to the response. What “size” are these examples?

Exercise 2: Try to find two examples of A&R in this essay. Circle the acknowledgments. Why does the author bother making the two acknowledgments she does? This is a letter to the editor. Why are the acknowledgments so brief and why are they located where they are?

Exercise 3 - Homework This essay by Goodwin Liu uses extensive A&R. Same drill. Circle the acknowledgment and write “A” in the margin. Underline the pivots. Write “R” next to the response. Questions: Where do the longest acknowledgments occur? What’s Liu’s writing strategy?

Homework answers What to talk about: Lots of A&R because Liu knows his primary audience (white, middle class) is going to resist many of his arguments. Longest acknowledgments appear early in the essay. Throw doubters the big bones early on. Acknowledgments get shorter as essay moves along. Small bones when they start to believe. Clearly NOT just compare and contrast. Uses extensive responses to argue his real beliefs. Acknowledgment highlighted in yellow, response in green.

What Acknowledgment could this use? UVA should not try to stop music piracy by using technology to catch students in the act. Students will always find ways around Web filters or other measures.

CD prices have become so expensive that many students cannot afford to buy them regularly.

Students know that almost all of their friends also download music illegally, so it is easy to think of the act as only a “minor” thing, or not illegal at all.