This document provides information about writing a position paper, including its purpose, parts, and key points to consider.
It outlines the basic parts of a position paper: an introduction defining the issue and thesis, a body with main arguments and evidence, and a conclusion presenting a course of action and restating the thesis.
The key points emphasize conducting research on the issue, studying various positions, establishing credibility with sources, basing arguments on evidence, and making persuasive statements to convince readers. Common logical fallacies that weaken arguments are also defined.
This document provides information about writing a position paper, including its purpose, parts, and key points to consider.
It outlines the basic parts of a position paper: an introduction defining the issue and thesis, a body with main arguments and evidence, and a conclusion presenting a course of action and restating the thesis.
The key points emphasize conducting research on the issue, studying various positions, establishing credibility with sources, basing arguments on evidence, and making persuasive statements to convince readers. Common logical fallacies that weaken arguments are also defined.
This document provides information about writing a position paper, including its purpose, parts, and key points to consider.
It outlines the basic parts of a position paper: an introduction defining the issue and thesis, a body with main arguments and evidence, and a conclusion presenting a course of action and restating the thesis.
The key points emphasize conducting research on the issue, studying various positions, establishing credibility with sources, basing arguments on evidence, and making persuasive statements to convince readers. Common logical fallacies that weaken arguments are also defined.
This document provides information about writing a position paper, including its purpose, parts, and key points to consider.
It outlines the basic parts of a position paper: an introduction defining the issue and thesis, a body with main arguments and evidence, and a conclusion presenting a course of action and restating the thesis.
The key points emphasize conducting research on the issue, studying various positions, establishing credibility with sources, basing arguments on evidence, and making persuasive statements to convince readers. Common logical fallacies that weaken arguments are also defined.
A position paper is a form of academic writing that expresses a stand/viewpoint/position on an issue. Writing a position paper entails outlining arguments based on facts gathered and proposing a course of action. It also aims to determine how your stance is related to the arguments of others. An argument in academic writing is essentially a conclusion or claim, with assumptions or reasons to support that claim. Your knowledge in this lesson will help you understand the problems and issues in our society nowadays. This will allow you to share/assert your opinions, thoughts, and arguments and to reason with factual evidence.
Parts of a Position Paper
The essential elements of a position paper are debatable issue, argumentative thesis, claims, and evidences. The basic parts of academic writing are followed in writing the position paper,
I. Introduction – Define the issue and discuss its background with your general thesis statement. II. Body – State your main arguments with sufficient factual evidences such as statistical data/reports, interviews with experts. Provide opposing arguments against possible weaknesses of your own arguments. III. Conclusion – Present the suggested course of action and justify why your position is superior/better than other arguments. Restate thesis statement powerfully and effectively.
Key Points To be able to defend your stand on an issue, you have to take note of the following:
Begin by conducting an in-depth research about the issue. Clearly identify the issue that you believe is affecting you and your community. Identify other concepts or ideas that you can associate with the issue. Study the various positions or perspectives about the issue and analyze them objectively. Reflect on your own stand/position and identify or acknowledge its weaknesses. Establish your credibility and competence by citing reliable sources. Define unfamiliar terms on first mention. Formulate statements that will express your stand towards the issues. These statements may convey the message that the issues are having negative effects on people and the community. Base your stand on what you can prove on your evidence/s. Gather factual evidences to support your arguments regarding the issue. Present evidences logically. Make sure that your statements are strong enough to convince or persuade your readers into action to address the issue.
Logical Fallacies A fallacy is an illogical/faulty reasoning in the formulation of an argument. providing strong and logical arguments is highly essential in academic writing. Presenting arguments based on faulty reasoning undermines the logic of your argument and thus, weakens the accuracy and credibility of your work. Below are some examples of commonly committed fallacies.
Appeal to Authority – argument relies on someone’s credibility or popularity. Example:
According to John Maxwell, climate change is not real. So it must be true. False Analogy – argument is based on misleading, faulty comparisons. Example: Students should be allowed to open their books during exams. After all, Doctors open their medical books for guide. Appeal to Popularity – making claims based on popular opinion or common belief among specific group of people. Example: I will not vote for this candidate because everyone in our family says that he is corrupt. Hasty Generalization – a fallacy of insufficient sample. Example: COVID-19 vaccine is deadly. Our neighbor died after getting the vaccine. Stacking the Deck – rejecting or ignoring evidences that does not support your position. Example: The 2022 elections is not credible because there are various groups who protested questioning the results. Sweeping Generalization – an argument based on unqualified generalization. Example: Canadians are kind. Therefore, Selena who is a Canadian, must be kind. Post Hoc – a sequential relationship is mistaken for causal relationship. Example: Cramming for exams is effective. I crammed for my Psychology exam and I got a high score. Ad Hominem – irrelevantly attacks the person instead of the claim. Example: Do not believe the claims of this witness. Allegedly, he has been using drugs. Ad Misericordiam – provoking irrelevant feelings of pity, sympathy. Example: We should not fire him and pardon his act of stealing. He is from a poor family and he is the bread winner. Non Sequitur – drawing conclusion not supported by premises. Example: I’m confident that I’ll get a high score in my essay because I put so much effort into it. The Effects of Technology Orton Taylor
Imagine what it was like in 1973, when the first cell phone was invented. Back then it was a novelty and a luxury to have a futuristic technological device that could keep you connected to the rest of the world 24 hours a day. In that time, one would never believe that in just a few decades, the world would be overrun by technological devices such as cell phones. Today, technology is an integral, commonplace part of everyone’s lives, however technology doesn’t just include cell phones, it encompasses computers, the internet, videogames, television, movies, and practically anything with a screen. Many people can’t live without these forms of technology, and many people praise their ability to make our lives easier. However, they are doing more harm than good, especially on youth. Technology is negatively affecting America’s youth because it is destroying social skills and causing a dependency on constant stimulation. The first reason technology negatively impacts youth is because it is destroying social skills. Many people believe that it has the reverse effect, and that it enables people to always keep in contact with their friends and family through texting or social media sites such as Facebook and Twitter. However, this interaction is very impersonal and the result of this is that children are not developing crucial social skills. Hilary Stout of The New York Times reported that “Americans between the ages of 8 and 18 spend on average 7 1/2 hours a day using some sort of electronic device” (Stout, 2010, p. 1). It is shocking to think that that is nearly one third of an entire day. In these hours and hours young people spend on various modes of technology, they are sacrificing face to face contact and verbal conversations in the real world. Dr. Ortega, a child psychologist at New York’s Child Mind Institute, sums up why this is such a problem. Ortega reports that the overuse of technology is causing children to lose their ability to read body language and facial cues, resulting in an inability to keep up casual conversations or engage in the art of small talk (Bindley, 2011, p. 2). Because kids can check their phone for new texts or play a mindless game as a strategy to avoid making eye contact with or talking to the people around them, they are literally losing the ability to converse with people in the real world. No amount of good that comes from technology can make the fact that our children are losing their social skills acceptable. The second reason technology negatively impacts youth is because it causes a dependency on constant stimulation. This is especially alarming when it comes to young children. At this young age, these children’s minds are still developing. They are learning how to entertain themselves, how to problem solve, and how to be patient and wait for things. How can children develop these skills when their parents are constantly stimulating them with TV shows, movies and cell phone games? Many people believe that these forms of technology are a valuable teaching tool; however, they are teaching young people more bad habits than good. The worst habit of all is a dependency on constant stimulation. This dependency is caused by an actual physiological process that happens when children use electronics, and Dr. Sigman, a leading child psychologist, explains why. He explains that dopamine, a chemical in the brain that makes us feel reward, is released when children view electronic devices, and then goes on to say that “this dopamine being produced every single day for many years, through for example playing computer games, may change the reward circuitry in a child's brain and make them more dependent on-screen media” (Kelly, 2012, p. 2). What does this dependency mean for the future of these children? It means that they are desensitized to dopamine from the constant supply of it through screens and technology, which causes an inability to focus on something like a book or a math problem that doesn’t give them that super-stimulating effect. It is frightening to see how future generations will be affected by this over-stimulation problem.
People will always argue that technology offers so many benefits in their day to day lives. However, it is clear that it is more detrimental than most people realize. Technology is destroying children’s social skills and causing a dependency on constant stimulation. Think about the future of America’s children. What good is having a smart phone with endless knowledge at their fingertips when they can’t get a job due to an inability to keep up casual conversation in an interview? What favors are parents doing for their children by shoving a television in front of them the second they get a little bored instead of interacting with them and helping them develop valuable skills? The answer to both questions is nothing. It does no good and no favors to overuse technology in the way that Americans are currently overusing it. Just as the times are very different 40 years ago when the first cell phone came out to now, imagine what the next 40 years will bring when it comes to technology’s role in young people and society in general. In order to avoid the frightening ramifications as discussed throughout this paper, changes must be made in our youth and in the way this country raises their children.
Activity a. Read and analyze the text above and answer the questions that follow. What is the position of the writer about the effects of technology? What are the writer’s viewpoints in which you strongly agree and those in which you disagree? Explain. Write your position about the effects of technology in one paragraph. ACTIVITY Identify at least 5 issues which you can observe in the society today and write possible positions for each issue. An example is provided below.
Issues Claims/Stand/Position a. Smoking - Smoking should be banned in public places as it protects the health of general population. The first study by Montana (2004, in Lee et al., 2014) found that a ban on smoking in public places resulted in a 40% reduction in hospital admissions for heart-related illnesses during the six months in which a public smoking ban was in place. - Smoking is a choice and everyone has the right and freedom to do what makes them happy. - Forcing people to quit smoking may evoke feelings of anxiety and stress which can affect mental health. ACTIVITY Identify 5 different statements from well-known personalities (e.g. politicians, news reporters, celebrities) and spot the fallacies in their statements/claims. Make sure to cite the legit sources. Explain briefly the logical errors in their statements. An example is provided below.
Persons Statements/Claims (With Logical Fallacy
source/reference) Richard Far from making our nation “great again” Heydarian …
(https://opinion.inquirer.net/152794/marcos- 2-0-first-as-tragedy-then-as-farce) PERFORMANCE TASK Choose one current issue in the community or country and write your position paper (2-3 pages). The issue should be timely, relevant, and debatable. Refer to the rubrics below for your guide.
