Examining Sample Assignment 2: Position Paper
Let’s examine another, more advanced assignment, still from a first-year writing class. As with the previous example, I have left out some of the irrelevant particulars, but otherwise, the assignment is complete. For a little context, this assignment is given late in the term after students have explored writing conventions in the natural and social sciences.
| Assignment | Make an argument (take a position) on a controversial issue in U.S. prisons related to education. |
| Audience | Other researchers in the humanities are interested in the issue you are addressing |
| Sources | OpenCampus College Inside AND at least one additional reputable and relevant source |
| Length | 1200-1500 words (4-5 pages) |
Unlike the natural sciences and the social sciences where objectivity is a goal, the humanities look specifically at the ways in which people make meaning. Research in the humanities thus involves looking at values, investments, and reasoning, among other things. Meanings are not objective, but that does not mean that all positions are equally valuable. Researchers in the humanities not only work to understand how people make meaning, but they also evaluate those meanings according to a range of criteria depending on the particular discipline. In this assignment, you’ll be analyzing the logic and support that people use to make a claim and support a position, and you’ll use your analysis to take a position of your own.
Choosing and Researching a Topic
Think about issues in our society where reasonable, rational people disagree. The possibilities are myriad, but for this assignment, choose one of the articles from College Inside, a publication of OpenCampus. Choose one in which you are interested.
Read the information carefully, paying particular attention to the kinds of logic and evidence that are used to support each side in a controversial topic. While you likely already have a position on the topic you have chosen, pay particular attention to the arguments that you find most convincing and the ones you find least convincing on both sides. Why does one point make more sense than another? You’ll be doing this kind of analysis in your paper.
You will supplement the information on this site with information from another source, one of your choosing. Given that your issue is a current subject of debate in our society, the web can be an excellent resource for information—if you know how to search effectively and evaluate what you find. In class, we’ll talk about how to do this. Your source can either support your position or oppose it; that choice is yours.
Once you have selected at least one relevant and reputable source, you’ll want to read that piece carefully, too, again paying particular attention to the logic and evidence the source uses. This source will supplement what you find in College Inside.
Making an Argument
When you write a position paper, you are making an argument, also called making a