To refute appropriately, the writer has to consider thoughtfully both sides. Then, he should specify one of the opponents’ ideas he wants to refute in one paragraph. After that, he needs to consider all the weaknesses he can bring about the opponents’ argument and to prove them by using his own counterargument(s). By doing so, he would make his side sound better/stronger than the other side.
Refutation example
Despite the admission that professional note-taking encourages class-cutting, the services still promote themselves by claiming that students using their notes learn more. They support this claim by arguing that their notes offer students clearly organized information and, according to one advertising brochure, “good models” for students to follow in other classes. But such arguments miss the most important point: students should be learning how to develop their own note-taking, organizing, and thinking skills rather than swallowing the material whole as neatly packaged and delivered. Memorizing class material as outlined can be important, but it’s not really as valuable in the long run as learning how to think about the material and use it to solve problems or come up with new ideas later. Taking your own notes teaches you how to listen and how to spot the important concepts; organizing your own notes teaches you how to pull ideas together in a logical way, all skills students will need in other classes, on jobs, and in life in general. Having memorized the outlines but not really mastered the thinking skills won’t help the medical student whose patient’s symptoms vary from the textbook description or the engineer whose airplane wings suddenly fail the stress test for no apparent reason.