Free online English writing class - concessions in argumentative essays
These free online English writing classes are designed to help you study concessions and replies in English argumentative essays.
What is a concession?
Perhaps you know the verb to concede which means to acknowledge as true. Concession is the noun form of to concede. A concession in an argumentative essay is a kind of admission that the other side has a valid argument as well. The whole point of making a concession is to reply.
What is a reply?
After you make a concession by acknowledging the other side's argument, you must show the reader that your argument is stronger.
An example of a concession and a reply
Although riding in a car is easy and comfortable, riding a motrcycle is more exciting. That concrete whizzing by five inches below your foot is the real thing, the same stuff you walk on. It's right there, so blurred you can't focus on it, yet you can put your foot down and touch it anytime, and the whole thing, the whole experience, is never removed from immediate consciousness.
So we're arguing that motorcylces are better but we're admitting that riding in a car can be comfortable. Here are some more examples on how to write concessions and replies: Traveling alone vs. traveling with a friend
The example above was inspired by this pasage from Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance by Robert Persig:
You see things vacationing on a motorcycle in a way that is completely different from any other. In a car you're always in a compartment, and because you're used to it, you don't realize that through that car window everything you see is just more TV. You're a passive observer, and it is all moving by you boringly in a frame.
On a cycle the frame is gone. You're completely in contact with it all. You're in the scene, not just watching it anymore, and the sense of presence is overwhelming. That concrete whizzing by five inches below your foot is the real thing, the same stuff you walk on. It's right there, so blurred you can't focus on it, yet you can put your foot down and touch it anytime, and the whole thing, the whole experience, is never removed from immediate consciousness.
Try looking at more concessions: Traveling alone vs. traveling with a friend
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