> If, on the other hand, we are defending, we must begin by refutation. ([[Quintilian]], [[Institutio Oratoria (95 AD)|bk. V, ch. 14]])[^1] If you have a very bold claim—one that your [[audience]] will be resistant to—then you should move your [[refutatio]] up earlier in your speech's [[rhetorical structure|structure]]. Normally, the counterarguments come up after your main arguments, just before the conclusion or [[peroratio]]. This makes sense: you address whatever counter-points might have arisen in the minds of your audience from listening to your actual main arguments. However, if your audience will already be resistant to what you have to say—before you even begin—then you need to address that ASAP. If you don't, it'll hurt your [[ethos]]. Your audience will think, "WTF, does this person not understand how absurd this is?" In other words, you need to offer a kind of, "I know, I know. I thought this was absurd too. But go with me here..." ### Example: Thomas the Tank Engine is actually a "premodern corporate-totalitarian dystopia" A good example of this is [[Jia Tolentino|Jia Tolentino's]] article, "[[Tolentino 2017 - Repressive Authoritarian Soul of Thomas the Tank Engine and Friends|The Repressive Authoritarian Soul of Thomas the Tank Engine and Friends]]." The article begins with an [[exordium]] and [[narratio]] that uses an [[''I'' anecdote]] in order to establish [[I was once like you...]]. Then, it drops a bomb of a [[propositio]]. Tolentino basically says, *hey, that lovely children's show we all remember? The one with the friendly talking trains? Yeah, I remember it too. I loved that show...* ...and then we get this: > "How could I possibly have imagined that, decades later, I would get lost in obscure corners of the Internet where people interpret the show—at length—as a depiction of a premodern corporate-totalitarian dystopia?."[^2] That's the end of the first paragraph (almost like a parody of where you put the [[thesis statement]] in a [[5-paragraph essay]]!). But notice how, in the next paragraph, she acknowledges that her statement might strike the reader as absurd: >If you have watched the series and not encountered such readings of it, **you may assume that these interpretations are ridiculous**. In that case, you should spend four minutes with “[The Sad Story of Henry](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iO6qIM2WO6k),” a segment from “Thomas & Friends” that aired on the second episode of the first season at PBS. [_bold my own_] Tolentino is carefully handling her audience's expectations and doubts. She knows that her propositio will sound absurd to most people. She intended that. It's part of the joke. But nonetheless, she still addresses these doubts. (This is also why the opening exordium and narratio was so important: it established that she remembers the same, silly children's show you remember. She's not totally out to lunch. She's like you. It's just that, well, she got lost in those obscure corners of the internet...) [^1]: Note that [[Quintilian]] is literally talking court cases, where you're either prosecution or defense. [^2]: This [[propositio]] is also clearly a [[paragraph transition|transition]] and [[subtle signals and metalanguage|subtle signal]] about what the main section will be (i.e., the story of her "get[ting] lost in obscure corners of the internet").