Valerie Gonzalez

March 13, 2018

242B

Reflection 7:
1. Using class notes, as well as your annotations from TSIS, Chapter 6, explain in your own
words what it means to:

- Plant a Naysayer in your argument

By planting a naysayer in my argument I am providing views and ideas that people may have
that differ my own views and overall argument. By providing a naysayer, I’m showing that I am
not close minded and that I am aware my view is not the only one. Also, by thinking of opposing
ideas or views, I will provide evidence that I may not have thought of before that will make my
argument stronger.

- Make a concession in your argument

By making a concession in my argument, I acknowledge the truth in an opposing argument but I
close the concession by emphasizing my own argument over the naysayer’s view. I feel like I
used a concession in my last essay as a topic sentence because I wrote a common belief amongst
Americans and public education and I closed my sentence by emphasizing my own argument.
After I provided evidence to support my argument.

2. On a scale of 1-5, 5 being very confident and 1 being not at all confident, where would you
rate your understanding about how to plant a naysayer or make a concession IN YOUR OWN
ESSAY? Explain.
On a scale of 1-5, I think I’m at a 4 with my confidence about my understanding on how
to plant a naysayer or make a concession in my essay. Before learning about concessions and
naysayers, I feel like I wrote a lot of concessions in my previous English courses but I never
thought of adding opposing views to my essay. Now that I’ve learned how to plant naysayers in
my essays, I believe my writing will not be as boring and repetitive. I also had an issue in my last
essay with not being as detailed and specific as I should of been and I think naysayers will help
me with this issue. By using a naysayer, I will be mentioning questions and differing views that
readers may have while reading my essay while also providing them with answers that are
convincing.
3. Based upon your BLOCKING CARDS from today's class, write a 1-2 paragraph SECTION
where you plant the naysayer perspective and make a concession. Draft it below.

Claim:​The extreme levels of poverty seen in the Northern Triangle, specifically in El

Salvador are detrimental to the youth population and a cry for help to the United States because
their is a lack of jobs and opportunity for the youth population to decently support themselves.
Naysayer​: Yet some readers may challenge my view by insisting that El Salvador’s economy
and youth are not the U.S’ problem. Here many conservative Republicans would mostly object
that jobs in the U.S. are strictly for Americans and that giving these jobs to foreigners would take
away from many Americans. Conservative Republicans may also believe the U.S. should only be
able to provide support and help from a distance. “That’s horrible,” some will say. “Hopefully
those people can surpass their countries issues.”​ Naysayer’s Reasoning: ​The naysayer may
support their beliefs by saying “organizations like the International Fund for Agricultural
Development (IFAD) are offering help. Between 2015 and 2021, IFAD plans to invest 41 million
US dollars into El Salvador’s agriculture community.”
Your concession and refutation (standing your ground) : ​Even though it is true that
countries and their governments should be held responsible and accountable for what fails in
their societies, this does not mean the United States should turn their backs on these
unaccompanied minors because they are simply trying to support themselves and they do not
wish to take anything from this country. These minors have lived in extreme poverty and the
issues in their countries cannot be solved by organizations coming in and helping agriculture.
The issues that take play in the poverty El Salvador experiences has to also do with its people, its
motives, and even the climate. When all these factors work against someone, the only instinct is
to flee.

4. After drafting your concession paragraph(s), look at your outline. And answer these questions:

A) Do you think you will need to rearrange your ideas in the outline? If so, why. If not, why not?
After drafting my concessions, I think I will need to reword my claims and some of the
ideas that support my claims except the paragraph that I revised above this question. The reason
is I feel the opposing views people may have will be stronger than my argument because my
evidence isn’t as convincing or as strong as it should be yet. But I have the right idea on how to
fix the ideas on my outline now.
B) Where, exactly, do you plan on integrating your concession into your essay? After
what claim? What paragraph? Explain your plan for revision.
I plan on integrating my concession when I discuss family reunification being a pull
factor for minors to migrate. This will be my last body paragraph before my conclusion and I
want to stress the importance of family and why these children should be granted asylum for
going on this dangerous journey. I will agree that undocumented migration can be difficult for a
country to keep track of but I will stress that this is the only way for children to be reunited with
a parent or close family member in the United States.

5. What is your plan for writing the first draft of the essay? * Due Thursday
I plan on slowly writing out each body paragraph in my notebook and I plan each body
paragraph out loud. I want to make sure my body paragraphs flow and transition well. I plan on
using the ​They Say/ I Say​ book and I will be referring to my last essay when it comes to writing
out my introduction because there's a lot of feedback there and my conclusion was well written. I
also plan on taking my draft for my office hour.