A position paper may be viewed as a type of argumentative paper in that it states a claim—your position—concerning a topic, issue, or question and presents a justification for that claim. The position paper should be limited to a single, well-defined issue or point. It is often used to define the writer’s position on a question of policy. A good letter to the editor is an example of a position paper. This is the general format to follow:
- Clearly state the question or issue under dispute.
- State your claim. Ideally, this should be a single sentence that defines your position on #1. It is this position that the rest of the paper will justify.
- Develop your claim as necessary, defining key terms as you intend to use them
- State the opposition to your claim (the “counterclaim”). As in any argumentative paper, be fair in this statement. It is important to state at least two reasons that some people support the counterclaim.
- Argue your position. Restate your claim, refute the counterclaim, and present at least two strong reasons in support of your claim.
- Summarize your supporting argument.
