OVERVIEW

WritingAssignment#3–the PositionPaper

Thepurposeofthe PositionPaperis togiveyouthe opportunitytodevelopYOURargument.IntheExploratoryPaper, thefocuswason themainperspectives;inthispaper,thefocus isonyourperspective,whichmaybeoneofthe perspectivesyoupreliminarilyresearchedintheExploratoryPaper.

InthePositionPaperyouwillfurtherdevelopandfullysupportyourperspective,perhapsbyusing someofthesamesourcesfromyourExploratoryPaper,butyoumayalso need togofurtherinyourresearch.RememberthatyoumustnotrelycompletelyonWebsites.Youareexpectedandrequiredtousethe onlinedatabasesavailablethroughtheCypressCollegeLibrary.

ThePositionPaperwillserveasthe body ofthefinalResearchProject.

WRITINGASSIGNMENT#3(SINGLE-PERSPECTIVE)POSITIONPAPER

Objectives:

• To providethestudentwiththeopportunityto demonstratetheabilitytotakea positiononanissue
• To enhancethestudent’s abilitytopresentaconvincingsingle-perspectiveargument
• To enhancethestudent’s abilityto construct argumentationin writingthroughtheuseoftheToulminmodel
• To usetheargumenttheorylearnedinChapters 5-7
• To providethebodyforthelongerResearchProject

Requirements:

1. Developtheissuepresented in
2. Presentasingle-perspectiveargumenton that Thismeans thatyouwillchooseaposition/perspectiveonyourissue.Yourpositionmaychangeasyoucontinuewithyourresearch.This isOK.However,youneedto takeonepositionforthis paper.Beinginthemiddle,i.e., being“for”withsomequalifications orbeing“against”withsomequalifications, qualifies asaposition.
3. Writearesearchedpaperofapproximately1,000words(4-5 pages).
   1. Includeatleastfoursourcesforsupportof
      1. Thesefoursources shouldbeacombinationoflibraryresearch(includingtheonlinedatabases) andPapers thatprovideONLYWeb sources willnotreceiveapassinggrade.
   2. Listthesources used onaWorks Cited
4. Presentyourideas objectively.This meansyouwillpresent theinformationinasfairandunbiasedawayas possible,without theuseof1stperson(I,me,my).
5. UsetheToulminmodelto identifythepartsof yourargument:
   1. StateaclearTherestofyourpaperwillsupport this claim.
   2. Developtheclaimwith twoorthree
   3. Decidewhetherto spelloutthewarrants inthepaperorto leavethemimplicit.
   4. Decidewhetherornotbackingis
   5. Planarebuttal; in otherwords,think aboutthepositionsheldbyothers onthis issueanddevelopa
   6. Decidewhetherto qualifyyourclaim.

NOTE:Seepages238-240 inPerspectives onArgumentforasamplePositionPaperwrittenbyKelly Dickerson.Thequestionis “Whatshouldbedonewith youngoffenders?”Thetypeofclaim,theelements oftheToulminmodel,andtheproofsareidentifiedinthemargin.Also notehowDickerson workedquotedmaterialintoherpaper.Thequotations flowwiththerestofthetext, and theyareclear. Noticehowtheintroductions forthequotations,along withthein-textcitations,showthereaderwhereto findtheoriginalsource.Usethispaperas amodelto helpyou

integrateyourquotations into yourpaper.

Whenwritingresearchedpapers,it’s veryimportantto documentsources clearlybecauseithelps thereaderlocatetheoriginalsourceifs/hewants toread further.Inthis classweareusingMLAstyle, sobesureto followMLAdocumentationstyle.Failingto doso willresultinaminimumofonegradelowerontheassignment.

Pleasenote:thesampleinourtextuses 1stperson; however,1stpersonshouldnotbeused inyourpaperunless providingabriefpersonalexampleassupport.AsampleA-scoringPositionPaperisalso availablein Canvas foryourreference.

Don’t forget!TheExploratoryPaperwillserveas theIntroductionto yourfinalResearchProject.ThePositionPaper(this assignment) willserveas theBodyofyourfinalResearchProject.TheConclusionto yourResearchProject willprovideasolutionto theissuebeingdiscussed.Youwillhavetheopportunityto revisethefirsttwoassignments foryourfinalResearch Project.

GradingCriteria:

• Strengthofargumentü Developmentofclaimü  Writingability
• Completeness ofwritingprocess
• Meetingtherequirements oftheassignment

Drafting,Revising,andFinalEditing: You’vealready completedtheprewritingandoutliningactivities forthis writingassignment.Nowit’s timetowriteit.

Using theprewriting andoutliningactivities you’vealready completed,followtheinstructions in Chapter3forwritingthefirstdraft(seepages 86-88).Thegoalinwritingthis draftis to getyourideas downonpaper.Don’t worryabouttechnicalissues likegrammarorspellingoreven organization.Justgetyourideas down.Thinkofitasafocusedfreewrite.

Onceyou’vecompletedthefirstdraft,then youwillworkyoursourcesinto yourwritingassignment.Followexplanationsandexamples forintegratingquotedmaterialinto yourpaper(pages371-376).UseMLAdocumentationtocitein-textreferences andto createaWorks Citedpage(pages377-385).Note: Ourtext usesanoutdatedform ofMLA.Fortheupdatedversion,referto theMLADocumentationStylehandout.

INSTRUCTOR’SSCORINGGUIDEWRITINGASSIGNMENT#3:POSITIONPAPER

Qualitiesofan“A”paper

• Exceeds therequirements fortheassignment
• Presents anexcellentorganizationofideas
• Takes aclearpositionontheissuewith in-depth analysis
• Exhibits excellentcriticalthinking
• WritingabovetheEnglish 100 level(sentencevarietyandlength; freeofgrammar,punctuation,and spellingerrors)
• ExcellentMLADocumentation

Qualitiesofa“B”paper

• Goes beyondminimumrequirements forthe assignment
• Presents agoodorganizationofideas
• Explores onesideoftheissuewithsomeanalysis
• Exhibits somecriticalthinking
• WritingabovetheEnglish 100 level,yet does notexpress ideas onthesamelevelasan“A” paper
• GoodMLADocumentation

Qualitiesofa“C”paper

• Meets theminimum criteriafortheassignment
• Presents asatisfactoryorganizationofideas
• Provides minimalexpressionofposition
• Exhibitsminimalcriticalthinking
• Writinghassomegrammaticalflaws(poorproofreading; spelling,punctuation,andgrammaticalerrors)
• Attempts to adhereto MLADocumentationstyle

Qualitiesofa“D”paper

• Does notmeetallthecriteriafortheassignment
• Presents apoororganizationofideas
• Positionis notclear
• Exhibitslittle orno criticalthinking
• Writinghas serious flaws thatdisruptthereading
• Exhibits numerous MLADocumentation errors

Studentsscoringa“D”orlowerarestronglyencouragedtocontact me with any questions and to work with one of the FREE tutors in the LRC and/or SmarThinkingimmediately!