The document outlines six ways to respond to opinions or interpretations: agree, disagree, agree and disagree simultaneously, disagree and explain why, agree but with a difference, and agree and disagree simultaneously. It recommends clearly stating your position before supporting your ideas and providing persuasive reasons when disagreeing. Agreeing and disagreeing simultaneously allows for a complex argument that readers can easily understand.

2. Three Ways to Respond
The three most common and recognizable ways
to respond are to:
Agree
Disagree
Agree and disagree simultaneously
Doing so will allow your reader to place your
response on a mental map of familiar choices.

3. Why Tell Your Response?
Before giving support for your ideas, it is
important to clearly state your position.
A response or interpretation is always
responding to other opinions or interpretations.

4. Disagree–and explain why
It is not enough to simply claim that you
disagree; you need to provide persuasive
reasons as to why you disagree.
Providing a “why” allows you to prove you have
something to contribute to the conversation.

5. Ways to Disagree
The “duh” response: disagreeing with the
assumption that the information provided is a
new or stunning revelation.
The “twist it” response: agreeing with the
evidence provided, but showing how it actually
supports your own opinion.

6. Agree-but with a difference
It is not enough to simply agree with others; you
need to also add something new to the
conversation.
It is important to open up some difference
between your position and the one your
agreeing with (don’t parrot the ideas of others).

7. Agree and Disagree
Simultaneously
Agreeing and disagreeing simultaneously allows
you to provide a complex argument.
It allows your reader to easily place your opinion
on the mental map of positions, while still
allowing a thoughtful response.

8. Ways to Agree and Disagree
The “stress” response: including agreement and
disagreement, but stressing the importance of
one over the other.
The “mixed feelings” response: showing the
“pros” and “cons” of a position without
decisively being for or against.