Present a view at a chosen distance from your own, so a both-views essay is genuinely balanced.
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Six sentences, scrambled. The attribution frames tell you the order — that is what they are for.
Put these six sentences into a coherent both-views paragraph. Do not read for topic — read the attribution frames. Each one tells you where in the sequence its sentence belongs.
One position introduced three ways. Work out how much the writer has committed in each.
Some people think that longer prison sentences deter offending.
It is widely held that longer prison sentences deter offending.
The received view is that longer prison sentences deter offending.
Same claim. Same words after that.
How much has the writer committed in each? And — harder — what do you expect the next sentence to do in each case?
Eighteen openings. Decide what each one tells you about the writer's own position before the table names them.
Sort each item into the correct category
Six frames, what each one signals about your next move, and the moment in every essay when you have to stop attributing.
Every frame places a view at a chosen distance from you. Reading left to right is reading the distance increasing:
I hold it ──────────────────────────────────────▶ I am about to attack it
I believe → there is a case for → it is widely held →
the argument runs → advocates point to / critics counter → the received view
An essay that uses only the middle of that range is balanced but bloodless. An essay that uses only the left end has no both-views section. An essay that uses only the right end is a rant with citations.
Eight frames, eight promises. Match each to what a reader will expect from your next sentence.
Terms
Definitions
Three chains. Decide what you are about to do with the view before you choose how to introduce it.
Chain 1
You are about to state a position and then immediately challenge it, and you want the reader to see the challenge coming.
The position: deregulation raised productivity in the 1990s.
Candidates: there is a case for / the received view
Step 1 — What are you about to do with this view?
Step 2 — Therefore the expert writes: The is that deregulation raised productivity in the 1990s.
Chain 2
You want to use a figure that supports the other side. You are not certain the figure is representative and you do not want to be answerable for it.
The figure: a 12% fall in reported incidents in the two years after the scheme began.
Candidates: the evidence shows / advocates point to
Step 1 — What does attributing the figure protect you from?
Step 2 — Therefore the expert writes: a 12% fall in the two years after the scheme began.
Chain 3
You are writing the final sentence of an essay whose prompt says give your own opinion. Both sides have been presented fairly. The reader still does not know what you think.
Candidates: there is a case for both positions / a direct statement of your view
Step 1 — What has the essay not yet done?
Step 2 — Therefore the expert writes: On the evidence available, more directly than universal provision does.