POSITION

PAPER
 In this topic, you will find out
how to build on different concepts
and create arguments that will
forward positions. Contrary to
expectation, arguments are not
the clich’ed notion of throwing
plates across the room and
screaming at each other-
arguments, in the classical sense,
are grounded in logic.
HOW TO
BUILD A
POSITION
PAPER
EXPLORE
 THE FIRST THING YOU
MUST DO IN BUILDING A
POSITION IS TO READ
WIDELY ABOUT THE TOPIC.
IT IS NOT ENOUGH TO RELY
ON YOUR COMMON SENSE
OR PERSONAL
EXPERIENCE.
IN ORDER TO SUCCEED IN
BUILDING A POSITION, YOU
MUST READ WHAT OTHER
PEOPLE HAVE WRITTEN ABOUT
IT FIRST.
YOU MAY BE SURPRISED ABOUT
HOW VARIED THESE POSITIONS
ARE. THESE POSITIONS HAVE
BEEN REACHED BECAUSE OF
DIFFERENT EXPERIENCE
AND WORLDVIEWS, AND
EACH POSITION MUST BE
ACCORDED DUE RESPECT.
THEY CAN COME FROM
DIFFERENT TAKES ON
MORALITY, CONCERNS
ABOUT SOCIETY, SOCIAL
BACKGROUNDS, AND
POLITICAL IDEOLOGIES.
JUST BECAUSE YOU
DISAGREEWITH A POSITION
DOES NOT MEAN THAT YOU
SHOULD RIDICULE, IGNORE,
OR DEMONIZE THE POSITION.
THIS IS THE STACE OF THE
IGNORANT. FOR THE
EDUCATED, AN OPEN MIND IS
IMPERATIVE IN ORDER TO GIVE
WAY TO CRITICAL THINKING.
BRAINSTORM
 AFTER GATHERING ALL
POSITIONS AND EVIDENCES YOU
NEED, BRAINSTORM WITH A
FRIEND ABOUT THE IDEAS YOU
HAVE FOUND. THE OLD ADAGE
“TWO HEADS ARE BETTER THAN
ONE” IS SPECIALLY TRUE WHEN
IT COMES TO THE
CONSTRUCTION OF
ARGUMENTS.
OFTENTIMES, WE CAN BE
BLIND TO OUR FLAWS IN
REASONING, SO IT IS
ALWAYS BETTER TO
CONSULT SOMEONE
ABOUT YOUR RGUMENTS
IN ORDER TO SEE THEIR
STRENGTH AND
WEAKNESSES CLEARER.
CREATE ASSERTIONS
 ASSERTIONS ARE OPINIONS
THAT PEOPLE MAY OR MAY NOT
AGREE WITH. THEY ARE NOT
GENERAL TRUTHS; INSTEAD,
THEY ARE POSITIONS ON AN
ISSUE. FOR EXAMPLE, WHEN IT
COMES TO THE ISSUE OF
WHETHER UNIFORMS SHOULD
BE REQUIRED IN THE SCHOOL,
THE ASSERTION IS THAT THE
USE OF UNIFORMS PROMOTES
THE IDEAL EQUALITY IN
SCHOOL. THIS IS A
PHILOSOPHICAL POSITION
THAT ONE MAY OR MAY NOT
AGREE WITH.
AN EXAMPLE OF A
STATEMENTTHAT IS NOT AN
ASSERTIONIS THAT ALL
UNIFORMS LOOK THE SAME.
ONE CANNOT POSSIBLY
DISAGREE WITH THIS,
BECAUSE THIS IS A GENERAL
TRUTH, A STATEMENT OF FACT,
WHEREAS AN ASSERTION IS A
STATEMENT OF OPINION.
NOBODY CAN CONTEST
THAT ALL UNIFORMS
LOOK THE SAME, BUT
OTHERS MAY DISAGREE
THAT THIS PROMOTES
THE IDEALS OF
EQUALITY.
UPON BUILDING ARGUMENTS,
ONE SHOULD WRITE DOWN
DIFFERENT ASSERTIONS.
AFTER READING ONE’S
ASSERTIONS, ONE SHOULD
EVALUATE WHETHER ALL OF
THESE ASSERTIONS FIT TO A
PARTICULAR THEME OR MAIN
IDEA.
THIS THEME, MAIN IDEA, OR
YOUR THESIS STATEMENT
SHOULD BE THE CONTROLLING
IDEA OF YOUR POSITION PAPER.
EXAMPLE: IN THE POSITION
REGARDING THE
REQUIREMENT OF UNIFORMS
IN THE SCHOOL, ONE MAY
WRITE THE FOLLOWING
ASSERTIONS:
A. UNIFORMS PROMOTE THE
IDEALS OF EQUALITY.
B. UNIFORMS LESSEN
DISTRACTIONS BETWEEN THE
OPPOSITE SEX.
C. UNIFORMS UNITE THE
STUDENTS POPULACE IN HAVING A
COMMON PURPOSE AND IDENTITY.
D. UNIFORMS MAKE PEOPLE FEEL
THAT THEY ARE PART OF A LARGER
INSTRUCTIONS THAN THEMSELVES.
GIVEN THESE ASSERTIONS,
ONE CAN COME OUT WITH A
THEME “ UNIFORMS SHOULD
REQUIRED IN THE
SCHOOLBECAUSE IT BENEFITS
THE GREATER GOOD IN
FORWARDING A COMMON
SENSE OF PURPOSE, UNITY,
AND EQUALITY AMONG
STUDENTS.”
HOWEVER AS I HAVE STATED
BEFORE, IT IS EQUALLY
POSSIBLE TO HAVE
ASSERTIONS THAT ARE JUST
STRONG, OR STRONGER,
THAN THOSE WRITTEN ABOVE.
GATHER THE EVIDENCE
ASSERTIONS ARE ONLY AS
GOOD AS THE QUALITY OF ONE’S
EVIDENCE. AFTER WRITING
ONE’S ASSERTIONS, ONE MUST
GATHER THE EVIDENCETO
PROVE EACH POINT. ALTHOUGH
ONE ALREADY WENT THROUGH
PRELIMINARY DATA GATHERING
IN THE BEGINNING,
IT IS IMPERATIVE TO MAKE
SURE THAT EACH ASSERTION
HAS STRONG AND COMPELLING
EVIDENCE. EVIDENCE CAN BE
ANY OF THE FOLLOWING:
FACTS, STATISTICS,
INTERVIEWS, WITH EXPERT, AND
PERCEIVED PHILOSOPHICAL,
SOCIO-POLITICAL, OR
PSYCHOLOGICAL TRUTHS.
Have a Credible Resources
 one must make sure that one’s
sources are credible. The best
sources are bills, laws, and
declarations from government and
international, non-government
organizations, such as the United
Nations. One may also use
scholarly articles from
Academic journals; books; articles
from reputable newspapers,
magazines, television stations; and
other news media sources; and
entries from encyclopedias or
dictionaries.
Refine the Argument
 An argument is made of three
elements: assertion, evidence, and
explanation. Although the logic of
the assertion and the evidence
may be clear to you, this logic may
not be clear to your reader. Further
explanation is often needed such
as the clarification between the link
of the assertion and the evidence,
The use of further examples and
situations, and the explanation and
contextualization of the evidence
and its importance. The best
arguments are filled with nuance
and sophistication, arguments that
cannot be quickly discounted or
set aside.
Prepare for the Opposition
 as said earlier, a position will
always have a negation of that
same position. This is usually
called opposition. When doing your
research, it is imperative to read
what the opposition has to say in
order to refute them in your
position paper.
List down some of their
strongest points. Refute each
point. This can be doe by
finding flaws in their arguments;
checking the quality of their
sources; and analyzing whether
the logical link between
assertion and evidence holds
up under closer inspection.
Write the Position Paper
 everything that has been said
prior to this section was all about
the planning of position paper.
Writing the position paper entails
using all of your persuasive skills.
Once you know your theme, and
the arguments you are about to
forward, it will be much easier to
choose what kind of introduction
you can use for your position paper.
You may begin with a startling
fact, a personal experience, or
an anecdote. The most
important thing is to catch your
readers attention, one must
capture the readers from first
paragraph, or the reader will
move on to more interesting
and entertaining texts.
By the end of your introductory
paragraph, your stand on the
position must be clear and concise
and if possible, your theme should
be clear as well.
Next you should enumerate each
of your arguments. A good position
paper should forward at least three
arguments, composed of assertion,
evidence and explanations.
Make sure to write this argument
in the most persuasive way
possible. After enumerating the
arguments write your refutation of
the opposition. Sometimes, it is
enough to refute just one argument
from the opposition; however this
is your decision, you have to make
sure that your refutation is airtight
Lastly, write a conclusion.
Unfortunately, many students
believe that it is not enough to
simply reiterate one’s points in the
conclusion to the point that it
becomes a tepid summary of one’s
points. This is lazy, and is geared
toward lazy readers as well, who
my not have been paying attention
to the rest of your paper.
Instead one must think that the
conclusion is your last chance to
persuade someone. Given this
mindset, it is best to end your paper
with strong insights, a
recommendation or a call to action,
or even an emotional appeal. Many
positions sway their readers by the
strength of their conclusion and in an
specially well-written position paper.