WRITING VARIOUS KINDS OF POSITION PAPER

• Position Paper: presents an arguable opinion about an issue.
• The goal of a position paper is to convince the audience that your opinion is valid and worth listening to.
• Ideas that you are considering need to be carefully examined in choosing a topic, developing your argument, and organizing your paper.
• It is very important to ensure that you are addressing all sides of the issue and presenting it in a manner that is easy for your audience to understand
• Your job is to take one side of the argument and persuade your audience that you have well-founded knowledge of the topic being presented.
• It is important to support your argument with evidence to ensure the validity of your claims, as well as to address the counterclaims to show that you are well informed about both sides.
• It is usually written over one page at length/in-detail but it could even go beyond that.
• Factual Knowledge : information that is verifiable and agreed upon by almost everyone.
• Statistical Inferences : Interpretation and examples of an accumulation of facts.
• Informed Opinion : opinion developed through research and/or expertise of the claim (authority).
• Personal Testimony : personal experience related by a knowledgeable party (ordinary citizens).