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Daniel Schubert

Kelly Slivka

English 250

27 February 2017

Assignment 4

The recent influx in immigration from the Middle East has caused a massive amount of

controversy in nearly every single first world country. Peoples xenophobia combined with the

acts of terror some immigrants have committed have resulted in harsh backlash from

conservative politicians as well as regular citizens. One developed country that has only recently

started going through this experience is Germany. In early 2016, enough acts of rape, murder,

and terrorism occurred to cause an uprising of far-right individuals who heavily and vocally

opposed immigration in Germany. Anna Sauerbrey is a German who offered her perspective on

these issues in an article on the New York Times. In Germany, Caught Between Two Violent

Extremes, Sauerbrey uses graphic storytelling as well as her understanding of and personal

attachment to Germanys values to effectively argue the importance of acceptance in Germany.

Sauerbrey begins by defining the two violent extremes mentioned in the title: Middle

East immigrants and extreme conservatives. By listing off attacks committed by both sides, the

author shows that this situation is not an easy-to-solve, one-sided issue or that she is biased in

only mentioning one of the sides. And because the dateline reads Berlin, the audience learns

that the author is in the capital of Germany, a place that would of course be experiencing the

brunt of Germanys response to these events. In reality, this issue is multi-sided and messy,
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causing many Germans to ask themselves, are we safer as a globally engaged society, or should

we isolate ourselves? (Sauerbrey). This question explains exactly what the writer will attempt to

answer. But first, Sauerbrey justifies why immigration even needs to be defended: because

Germans are afraid of what they might do. She reveals an alarming statistic that terrorism has

just recently become Germanys largest fear. Then, she vividly details the amount of chaos and

tension that occurred during one of the recent attacks, showing that it will have a lasting,

traumatizing effect on the German people. These two reasons combined make it easy to see that

Germans are uneasy about the idea of immigration. They also explain the recent anti-

immigration uprising that is Sauerbreys largest opponent to what she is trying to defend.

Now that Sauerbrey has introduced why immigrants and their opponents are an issue

worthy of talking about, she transitions into explaining her solution to the issue. By describing

Germanys values as honorable, treasured, and hard-earned, she gives these values a sense of

necessity, as if they are now an integral part to what makes Germany the incredible country it is.

Now, the extreme conservatives committing violent acts against immigrants are going against the

very values they worked so hard for. Similarly, denying refugees access into Germany is going

against the value of freedom. Therefore, an emotional attachment is noted to show that both these

issues must be stopped to maintain Germanys most prized principles.

And Sauerbrey has quite a lot of credibility to help convince her audience of this claim.

Her use of the pronoun we throughout the article shows that she is a German citizen genuinely

concerned with the issues affecting Germany. It is unlikely she has any motives other than caring

about her own country. This article being on the New York Times also benefits her greatly, as the

Times has a time-tested reputation for providing well-written content. As a result, the idea of
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Sauerbreys article being substantial enough to gain the attention of a newspaper as prestigious as

the New York Times adds a lot to readers trust towards her.

Sauerbrey makes the convincing claim that openness to immigration is a necessary part

of Germany. First, she explains exactly how this is an issue in order to justify the impact she says

it could have on Germany as a whole. Then, she shows how important Germanys values are and

specifically how attacking immigrants and denying refugees both harm those values. And

because of her attachment to Germany and ability to appear on the New York Times, her claims

appear credible and trustworthy. Considering how important and prevalent the topic of

immigration is, Sauerbreys article could cause a significant change in the actions and thoughts

of the German people.


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Work Cited

Sauerbrey, Anna. "Germany, Caught Between Two Violent Extremes." The New York Times, 28

July 2016, nytimes.com/2016/07/28/opinion/germany-caught-between-two-violent-

extremes.html.

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