Refutation. This chapter discussed different ways of refuting extended cases. First, we discussed strategies for refutation. These included the following:

■ Case-level refutation, which is aimed at the entire case

■ Specific refutation, which is aimed at individual arguments within the case Second, we talked about styles of refutation, which included:

■ Destructive refutation, which is aimed at tearing down the opponent’s arguments

■ Constructive refutation, which is aimed at offering alternatives through counterarguments

■ Bargaining refutation, which attempts to provide a negotiated or compromise argument Consider the following outlines, the first for a fact-based case argument and the second for a valuebased case argument. Develop a refutation strategy for these cases:

CASE 1 Proposition: Banning handguns saves lives CASE ARGUMENTS I. Definitions A. Handguns are personal weapons. B. A ban would prohibit private ownership. II. Threshold REFUTATION A. We are talking about private guns, not guns owned by military or police. B. Handguns include any weapon that can be reasonably concealed on a person. III. Application A. Thousands die each year from the intentional discharge of private concealed weapons. B. Countries that have banned handguns have been successful at saving lives.