Position Paper Guide PDF

ASSH2005 The Position Paper I. Definition  According to Valdez (2016), the position paper is devoted to discussing one side of an issue. While other essays are devoted to presenting information, the position paper tackles one s...

ASSH2005 The Position Paper I. Definition  According to Valdez (2016), the position paper is devoted to discussing one side of an issue. While other essays are devoted to presenting information, the position paper tackles one significant issue of a community on which the author takes a stand.  It is a critical examination of a position using facts and inductive reasoning, which addresses both strengths and weaknesses of the author’s opinion (Bowie State University, 2019). II. Parts of Position Paper (Bowie State University, 2019) 1. Introduction - identifies the issue that will be discussed and states the author's position on that issue. 2. Body - contains the central argument and can be further broken up into three (3) sections: background information, evidence supporting the author's position, and a discussion of both sides of the issue which addresses and refute arguments that contradict the author's position. 3. Conclusion - restates the key points and suggests resolutions to the issue. III. Writing a Position Paper (Martin, 2017)  The position paper aims to convince the audience that the opinion is valid and worth listening to by presenting credible evidence and addressing the existing counterclaims. Before composing a position paper, one should first know if the topic is relevant and that both its negative and positive sides are plausible. These are some of the guide questions crafted by Martin (2017) in choosing for an issue or a topic:  Is it a real issue, with genuine controversy and uncertainty?  Can you distinctly identify two positions?  Are you personally interested in advocating one of these positions?  Is the issue narrow enough to be manageable?  After choosing the topic, do some research on both sides of the argument, even if you already have an opinion or position on your topic. Looking at both the pros and cons will help create a list of supporting evidence and establish stronger counterclaims. The supporting evidence should include all or a combination of factual knowledge, statistical inferences, informed opinion, and personal testimony.  Next, consider the audience by asking the following questions:  Who is your audience?  What do they believe?  Where do they stand on the issue?  How are their interests involved?  What evidence is likely to be effective with them? References: Bowie State University (2019). Position Paper. https://www.xavier.edu/library/students/documents/position_paper.pdf Martin, R. (2017). Writing a position paper. In Rutgers School of Arts and Sciences. https://www.cs.rutgers.edu/~rmartin/teaching/fall17/Writing_a_Position_Paper.pdf Valdez, P. (2016). English for the globalized classroom series: English for academic and professional purposes. Phoenix Publishing House. 05 Handout 1 *Property of STI  [email protected] Page 1 of 1