My approach to a writer writing in direct conflict with something with which I identify strongly, minimally should be disinterested and hopefully would be engaged to force the refinement of the argument. Let’s say for example that someone comes in to tutoring with a paper that advocates for the reduction of gay rights. I have several friends who are gay and see it as a social rights issue similar to any other. I like this example because it is reasonable enough to imagine this actually happening. However we could take a more extreme example, where someone comes in writing a persuasive essay declaring Hitler to have had the right idea in killing all of the Jews. The first level of this is that we are there to make better writing and a better writer. Our role as a moral guide is both unsolicited and unwarranted. However, if offering counterarguments will force the student to clarify and refine their approach, this could both improve the writing, and draw into question some of the claims.
Tutor Musings 2.0 