Order Description
Position Paper

Length: approx. 1000-1500 words (or more; Works Cited does not count toward length)
Times New Roman font (size 12)

Choose a controversial topic you feel strongly about and write an argumentative essay that presents and defends your position upon that subject. This topic can be of local, national, or international import; it can be of political, economic, moral, or ethical context; but must be something you know about, feel strongly about and can write intelligently about (do not fall into needless emotional appeals).
The object of this assignment is to take and to state a position, and to then defend and to support that position with well-reasoned evidence. Therefore, carefully compose your thesis-claim in such a way that it both defines and limits the range of your interest. Think clearly about your audience before you sit down to write and while you construct your position paper. Try to anticipate your opponents’ positions within your own argument, audience to whom you are aiming your paper.
Ultimately, I am interested in your opinion and your defense of it. Therefore, do not think of this as a research paper or a report. However, I do want you to draw upon at least 4 credible sources from external types in order to help you better defend your position. (Off limits as sources are encyclopedias, dictionaries, Reader’s Digest, Wikipedia, tabloids, WebMD and all Dummies/Idiots books.) Therefore, think carefully about what it is you are going to write about.
You will be required to use MLA parenthetical documentation and to have a Works Cited page. Topics not allowed: abortion and capital punishment.
Position Paper Outline