DOCUMENTED POSITION PAPER

Definition of position paper

: presents an author's critical opinion, claim, or viewpoint about an issue. It also
aims to persuade the readers to believe in and take a side, by way of providing
arguments and reasons that support the position. It presents counterarguments, and
at the end, refutes these opposing viewpoints or counterarguments with the purpose
of strengthening the paper's claim. With this nature of a position paper, it is closely
related to argumentative essays, manifestoes, and persuasive essays.

First known use of position paper

: 1949, in the meaning defined above

Uses of a position paper

: the skill of argumentation enables an individual to express his/her idea or cause.
Given any context such as in the academe, at work, or even in your personal life,
there will be situations when you will be asked to present your opinion on or
arguments toward an issue.

Why write a position paper?

: to publicized your opinion
: to summarize your research
: to improve your writing skills
: as a very helpful guide for your speech at the conference

Examples of a position paper in a sentence

In a position paper published online on Friday, the group proposed abandoning the
existing names for monkeypox virus clades — West Africa and Congo Basin —
and replacing them with numbers, saying the current names are discriminatory.
LESSON 1: THE IMPORTANCE OF BEING PERSUASIVE

What is persuasion?
: Persuasion is the act of convincing someone to change their mind on a certain
topic to agree with your thoughts and ideas. To be an effective persuader you have
to be confident in yourself and your ideas, and to clearly state all the clear benefits.

The purpose of persuasion in writing is to convince, motivate, or move readers

toward a certain point of view, or opinion. The act of trying to persuade
automatically implies more than one opinion on the subject can be argued.
Persuasive writing helps students formulate specific reasons for their opinions, and
provides an opportunity to research facts related to their opinions.

Persuasion is the ultimate skill for creating change. If you can communicate what
you have to offer, you can create great change. Tony Robbins writes: “Power today
is the ability to communicate and the ability to persuade. If you’re a persuader with
no legs, you’ll persuade someone to carry you.

It is important to be able to fully articulate the problems and concerns one may
have when it comes to grappling with several positions to discover their societal
and political significance and to be able to use this skill in every instance of our
lives. According to “Walter Lipmann”, we need to hear the opinion of others since
“freedom of discussion improves our own opinions”
LESSON 2: HOW TO BUILD A POSITION

EXPLORE
Read widely about the topic. Read what other people have written first.

BRAINSTORM
Two heads are better than one.

CREATE ASSERTION
Assertion are opinions that people may or may not agree, they are not general
truth, they are position on an issue.
Ex. All uniforms do not look the same
In writing building arguments, one should write down several assertions.
Ex: TS- Uniforms should be required in the school because it benefits the greater
good in forwarding a common sense of purpose, unity, and equality among
students.
a. Uniforms promote the ideals of equality
b. Uniforms lessen distractions between the opposite sex.
c. Uniforms unite the student populace in having a common purpose and identity.
d. Uniforms make people feel that they are part of a larger institution than
themselves.

GATHER THE EVIDENCE

Evidence can be anything of the following.
- Facts, statistics, interviews with the expert, and perceived philosophical, socio
political, or psychological truths. (Experiences, religious truths)

HAVE CREDIBLE RESOURCES

Best resources are:
- Bills, Laws, Declaration from government and international gov’t organizations
such as United nations.
- Journals, books, newspaper, magazine, television stations, news media sources,
encyclopedias and dictionaries. (internet, wikipedia,) Not: twitter, facebook, chat
“the best sources are in the library"
REFINE THE ARGUMENT
3 elements of argument.
1.Assertion
2. Evidence
3. Explanation- clarification, further examples and situations, explanations and
contextualization of the evidence and its importance. “the best argument is filled
with nuance & sophistication”

PREPARE THE OPPOSITION

Opposition is the negation of the position. List the strongest negative points and
refute them. “In refutation one should ‘crossed the house’ or argue the position of
the enemy”

WRITE THE POSITION PAPER

Writing position paper entails using persuasive skills. Once you know your
theme and arguments you are about to forward, it will be much easier to choose
what kind of introduction you can use.
Begin with a startling fact, a personal experience or anecdote.
- Catch readers attention
- Capture the reader from the first paragraph
- Stand should be clear & concise
- Theme should be clear as well
Next you should enumerate each of your arguments.
- Should forward at least three arguments, composed of assertions, evidences and
explanations.
- Persuade using clear & rational thinking, by being humorous, ironic, &
incongruities, & by being emotional & passionate.
Write your refutation of the opposition.
- Refutation should be airtight, refute the strongest argument.
- Refutation should be shorter than your own position. ‘it is better to build strong
argument instead of smashing opponents' argument to smithereens.
Write a conclusion.
“Conclusion is the last chance to persuade your reader” It is best to end with strong
insights, a recommendation or call to action, or even an emotional appeal. Many
positions sway readers by the strength of their conclusion.
LESSON 3: READING AND WRITING AN INFORMAL POSITION
PAPER
- used to get the readers full interest in the entire essay.
- used to create blog entry or an abbreviated essay
- may use colloquial and contracted words
- may address audience using second person

What is an informal position paper?

The informal essay is an essay written for pleasure. Its purpose is to help you
organize your thoughts on a specific topic, to reflect on readings, and to express
different points of view. It can still be informative and convincing, but you’re
allowed to write it with less formal expressions.

Informal writing is usually told in the first-person point of view. This means that
unlike formal writing, informal writing can use words such as “I, me, and my” in
the paper.

The informal essay is written mainly for enjoyment. The writer is speaking directly
to the reader in a conversational style. If you are writing informally, try to maintain
a sense of your own personality. It may include slang, figures of speech, broken
syntax, asides and so on.
People also ask, how do you write an informal position paper?
Steps for Writing an Informal Position Paper:
1. Select the topic.
2. Write an informal outline for essay.
3. Write the main body of your essay using cliches, colloquialisms, and even
jargon, as the format of this paper allows you to write in this way.
4. Write a conclusion.
5. Remember relative brevity of writing.
Example:
You know the book I wrote? Well, the publishing company rejected it. They
thought it was awful. But hey I did my best that I could and I actually thought it
was great enough to be accepted. I’m not gonna redo it the way they said I should
LESSON 4: READING AND WRITING AN FORMAL POSITION PAPER

Formal writing is used to make a position or a point in an academic manner. It was

used to write an academic research paper.

Also, question is, what is a formal position paper?

noun. a formal, usually detailed written statement, especially regarding a single
issue, that articulates a position, viewpoint, or policy, as of a government,
organization, or political candidate.

Example:
This is to inform you that your book has been rejected by our company as it was
not up to our required standard. In case you would like us to reconsider, our
humble office would like to suggest to you to make necessary changes.

SIMILARITIES OF INFORMAL AND FORMAL POSITION PAPER

: can be used to prove the same point

: both should have a reference page at the end
: both reliable and useful for the audience