  A counterclaim is a claim that argues or disagrees with the thesis/main idea of the paper.  EXAMPLE: Thesis: Hybrid cars are an effective strategy to fight pollution.  Counterclaim: Mass transit (buses/subways) is a more effective strategy to fight pollution What is a Counterclaim?

  When you introduce a counter claim (mass transit is a better way to fight pollution) you also have to introduce evidence to support that counterclaim  Evidence: Focusing on cars, even electric ones, still encourages the culture of driving so people will still drive which will still cause pollution. Counterclaim (con’t)

  Once you have introduced the counterclaim and the evidence then you get to introduce your rebuttal or argument.  COUNTERCLAIM : Mass transit is better than electric cars for saving the environment  EVIDENCE: People will still be driving even if we focus on electric cars  REBUTTAL: Mass transit will help save the environment but a mass transit system is only good in large cities and will not work in small, rural towns. Counterclaim (con’t)

  Thesis Statement: Violence portrayed in the media leads to acts of violence among children later in life. Example

  COUNTERCLAIM: While the majority of experts believe that television does directly influence violence among teenagers and young adults, they do not believe that violent television makes for a violent society, but the other way around. Experts believe that society is already violent and it is that violence that is seen on television; society is a cause for media violence and media violence is not a cause for societal violence. Stephanie Arno, a New York City probation officer, claims that “the idea that television violence plus youth equals youth violence, that’s something made up by social scientists. These kids live with violence day in and day out” (Sherrow 90). Arno and others who follow this line of thinking believe that violence is a natural, instinctive part of life, that there would be violence without television and one is not a cause for the other. Example (con’t)

  REBUTTAL: Though it is certainly true that violence is a natural part of society, the invention of television and other forms of media have certainly increased acts of violence, as well as humanity’s capacity for committing acts of violence. Since the invention of television decades ago, the crime rate has risen so significantly that experts are claiming that “if television had never been developed there would today be 10,000 fewer homicides each year in the United States, and 700,000 fewer injurious assaults” (Grossman 51). Example (con’t)