Countering

            When countering an argument, Harris describes ways in which he thinks that positions should be countered so that your work remains credible. Harris discusses three ways to counter another position. First, someone could “argue the other side.” By arguing the other side, a writer can show the usefulness of an idea or term that the writer disagrees with or show the limitations of the writer’s own position. One way that the White House Blog does this is in President Obama’s weekly update speech. Obama admits that China can make things cheaper than we can, which shows the limitations of our manufacturing companies and strength of theirs. But, he continues saying that we can make items at a better quality and uses that focus point to promote his project.

            Next, Harris says that another way to counter an argument is uncovering values. This shows words and concepts that the subject matter has not directly discussed. The White House Blog again displays this through one of President Obama’s speeches, but this time the speech addresses health care. Obama says that a woman has a right to decide to use contraceptives because they affect her own health. This uncovers the value usually not touched on the opposing argument that doesn’t approach women’s rights. Thus, Obama brings to light an issue that looks more favorably on his view than the other.

            The next way to counter an argument is by sharing common ground with an opposing view in order to point out its drawbacks. Harris calls this “dissenting.” Within the most recent posts on the White House Blog, none of the authors have used dissenting as a way of countering an argument. Because they never mention both sides of an argument in this blog, they cannot acknowledge common ground. They may not mention opposing parties in an attempt to show bipartisan effort or not alienate a portion of the country, but in reality it makes the gap between two opposing thoughts wider.