Question

Birmingham is probably the most thoroughly segregated city in the United States. Its ugly record of brutality is widely known. Negroes have experienced grossly unjust treatment in the courts. There have been more unsolved bombings of Negro homes and churches in Birmingham than in any other city in the nation. These are the hard, brutal facts of the case. On the basis of these conditions, Negro leaders sought to negotiate with the city fathers. But the latter consistently refused to engage in good faith negotiation….
You may well ask: “Why direct action? Why sit ins, marches and so forth? Isn’t negotiation a better path?" You are quite right in calling for negotiation. Indeed, this is the very purpose of direct action. Nonviolent direct action seeks to create such a crisis and foster such a tension that a community which has constantly refused to negotiate is forced to confront the issue. It seeks so to dramatize the issue that it can no longer be ignored.

—“Letter from Birmingham Jail,”
Martin Luther King Jr.



Which of the following is a counterclaim?

A- “I have earnestly opposed violent tension.”
B-“Isn’t negotiation a better path?”
C-“Nonviolent direct action”
B is the correct answer.

Answer 1

Answer:

B- “Isn’t negotiation a better path?”

Explanation:

Counterclaim, basically, is a statement made to oppose previous statement. The best counterclaim is the one that offers a supporting evidence. It always brings a change in the tone of the text.

The first passage of this excerpt introduces us to the situation in Birmingham, constant attacks and brutality to an African-American community and their unjust treatment. The conclusion is that city fathers avoid any negotiations regarding this issue.

The second paragraph changes the note of the excerpt. It now focuses on the advantages of direct nonviolent action and negotiations, offering reasons and evidences to why these actions bring solutions.

So, the sentence "Isn’t negotiation a better path?" counterclaims the city fathers' refusal to engage in solving the problem.