4.3 - Paper 2 Q5: Organising argument and counterargument

Give the reader a route

Each move should change what the reader understands: establish the issue, deepen or widen the case, deal with a difficulty, and move towards the desired conclusion. Those moves may take different numbers of paragraphs in different responses.

This brings together three earlier decisions:

• develop claims with reasons, examples and consequences;
• choose rhetoric because it suits this audience and purpose;
• organise for coherence, connect ideas for cohesion and place ideas for emphasis.

A paragraph count cannot make those decisions for you. Nor can a row of connectives. Furthermore does not create progression if the next paragraph merely repeats the last one.

Consider this situation: a school magazine article supports opening the library for one trial evening each month.

Route A: students sometimes need a quiet place after school → one monthly trial is manageable → concern about low attendance → advance booking would test demand → invite students to support the trial

Route B: invite students to support the trial → the library contains books → concern about low attendance → students need a quiet place → repeat the invitation

Watch an expert shape the whole argument

Here is a bounded practice situation, not a request for a full exam response:

A town plans to leave an unused pavilion locked because reopening it would require staff time. Prepare part of a speech to a youth forum arguing whether the pavilion should open one Saturday afternoon a month for free clubs.

An expert begins with the reader, not a template. The forum may welcome more activities but still wonder whether the proposal is workable. That likely objection should influence the route.

The route is:

shared purpose → workable opportunity → serious concern → proportionate answer → achievable action

This is one route for this audience. A plausible alternative would list three benefits, add “some people disagree, but they are wrong” near the end, and finish with a general slogan. It is weaker because the practical objection is dismissed rather than answered, so the final confidence has not been earned.

The expert drafts only the moments that control the route:

A locked pavilion serves nobody. Opening it for one planned Saturday each month would give local groups a place to meet without promising more than the town can manage.

Staff time and safe supervision matter; enthusiasm cannot replace them. That is why a short, bookable pilot is sensible: the town could test interest and review the workload before making any longer commitment.

Do not promise everything. Give one careful trial a chance.

The counterargument does real work: it narrows the proposal and makes it more credible. The close then emphasises the exact action justified by the preceding reasoning.

Place and answer a real counterargument

It earns its place only if dealing with it helps the reader trust or understand the main case.

Its position depends on the situation:

• place a blocking concern early if the reader cannot accept anything else until it is addressed;
• establish the strongest positive reason first if the reader needs to see the proposal's value before considering a difficulty;
• use a late qualification when it makes the conclusion more measured rather than weakening it.

Sometimes the answer is a rebuttal; sometimes the more convincing move is to refine the original claim.

For guided practice, use this school-newsletter situation: support replacing one assembly each half-term with student-led practical workshops. You know that students could share genuine skills, the change would affect only one assembly each half-term, and some readers may worry about losing academic or pastoral time.

Use this temporary map, choosing where the concern best belongs:

shared gain → student skills have value → [time concern here, or after the next move?] → one workshop each half-term keeps the change limited → practical learning deserves a careful trial

The bracket is a decision point, not a compulsory slot. If the time concern would block this audience immediately, move it earlier; if readers first need to see the proposal's value, keep it after the benefit. The next task removes the map altogether.