Skeptics May Object

Planting a Naysayer in Your Text

Anticipate Objects

Templates for Entertaining Objections
· As this point I would like to raise some objections that have been inspired by the skeptic in me. She feels that I have been ignoring ______. “______,” she says to me, “______.”
· Yet some readers may challenge my view that ______. After all, many believe that ______. Indeed, my own argument that ______ seems to ignore ______ and ______.
· Of course, many will probably disagree with this assertion that ______.

Templates for Naming Your Naysayers
· Here many feminists would probably object that ______.
· But social Darwinists would certainly take issue with the argument that ______.
· Biologists, of course, may want to dispute my claim that ______.
· Nevertheless, both followers and critics of Malcolm X will probably suggests otherwise and argue that ______.

The way to minimize the problem of stereotyping, then, is not to categorically reject labels but to refine and qualify their use.

· Although not all Christians think alike, some of them will probably dispute my claim that ______.
· Non-native English speakers are so diverse in their views that it’s hard to generalize about them, but some are likely to object on the grounds that ______.

Templates for Introducing Objects Informally
· But is my proposal realistic? What are the chances of its actually being adopted?
· Yet is it always true that _____? Is it always the case, as I have been suggesting that _____?
· However, does the evidence I’ve cited prove conclusively that ______?

· “Impossible,” you say. “Your evidence must be skewed.”

Represent Objection fairly
Answer Objections

Templates for Making Concession While Still Standing Your Ground
· Although I grant that ______, I still maintain that ______.
· Proponents of X are right to argue that ______. But they exaggerate when they claim that ______.
· While it is true that ______, it does not necessarily follow that ______.
· On the one hand, I agree with X that ______. But on the other hand, I still insist that ______.