POSITION PAPER GUIDE page 1 of 2

FORMAT
Use APA style citation.
Long Bond Paper (13 inches by 8 1/2 inches).
Family Name, First Name, Middle Initial, Strand, Section Name, and the Subject name on the upper
right hand corner.
Double spaced.
Font style and size: Calibri 12, Arial 12, or Times New Roman 12.
Margin: 1 inch all sides.

Title (Your title is the Issue Statement in Question Form)

First Paragraph. (Write your Introductory paragraph. This paragraph should have your Issue
Statement, Position Statement, and at least 3 Supporting Propositions. PLEASE REVISED YOUR
POSITION STATEMENT AS A WELL-FORMED ARGUMENT)

Second Paragraph. (This paragraph should expound you FIRST Supporting Proposition. Choose any
form of Reasoning that is appropriate to your proposition.)

Third Paragraph. (This paragraph should expound you SECOND Supporting Proposition. Choose any
form of Reasoning that is appropriate to your proposition.)

Fourth Paragraph. (This paragraph should expound you THIRD Supporting Proposition. Choose any
form of Reasoning that is appropriate to your proposition.)

Fifth Paragraph. (This paragraph discusses the Opposition Statement. The Opposition Statement is
the opposite of your Position Statement. Discuss clearly with correct reasoning.)

Sixth Paragraph. (This paragraph criticizes the Opposition Statement and its discussion. Be detailed
in your criticism.)

Seventh Paragraph. (This paragraph defends all of your Supporting Propositions' discussion from all
criticisms. Be detailed.)

Eight Paragraph. (This summarizes the second to eight paragraph.)

Reread your draft of your position paper and evaluate it with following criteria:
The arguments provide for a conclusion or premise(s).
None of the premises merely restates the conclusion.
One premise does not contradict the other premises.
The argument follows the Rules of Deductive Inference.
NOTE: Rules of Deductive Inference does not apply to Inductive and Analogical Reasoning.
The true premise(s) make one likely to believe that the conclusion is true.
Given the true premise(s) of a Deductive Argument, there is no other probable and true
conclusions.
The true premise(s) is a necessary consideration to determine the truth of the conclusion.
For Inductive Arguments, the premises are relevant if they tend to confirm the truth of the
conclusion.
For Deductive Arguments, the conclusion should necessary follows from the premises if the
argument is patterned after a logically correct and valid form.
All claims are consistent with a well-established claim that is generally undisputed by the
community of competent inquirers.
All claims are confirmed by a legitimate expert or authority.
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All claims are consistent with one's own observations and/or the undisputed testimony of
another competent observer.
One can adequately defend all claims in the context of the argument.
All claims have no confusing language, employs clear and definite key terms, or is not self-
contradictory.
All claims do not rest on unstated but highly questionable assumption.
The relevant and acceptable premises are enough to drive one to the speaker's proposed
conclusion.
The evidence is valid and correctly shows cause-and-effect relationship.
All crucial or important evidence are present and included in order for one to accept the
conclusion.
There are strong criticism against your own arguments.
The defense or rebuttal effectively neutralize the best criticisms.
There are weak premises and arguments that can be exposed to criticisms.
The defense or rebuttal recognized and strengthened the weakest premises and arguments
effectively.
You likewise expose the weakest premises and arguments of the opponent and provide and effective
criticism.