Exercises — Week 31: Week 31 — The Concession-Rebuttal Arc
2 hands-on tasks. Do them in order; each one feeds the Canvas item it names.
35 min · written
1. Concession-Rebuttal Paragraph
- Choose an argument you have written during this course. Identify the opposing side's strongest objection to your claim.
- Write a single paragraph using the full arc: open with genuine concession language; grant the objection's validity in one to two sentences; qualify the limits of what you have granted in one sentence; pivot to a rebuttal that reasserts your original claim using the most compelling evidence you have.
- Label the concession, qualification, and rebuttal pivot in the margin.
Turn in / bring: Complete paragraph with all three arc stages labeled.
20 min · analysis
2. Arc Identification
- Find an editorial or published argument that uses the concession-rebuttal structure.
- Locate the concession, the qualification, and the rebuttal pivot.
- Write three sentences: one quoting the concession language; one explaining what the writer qualifies; one explaining whether the rebuttal successfully outweighs the concession and why.
Turn in / bring: Three labeled sentences with analysis.