Position Paper

Communication is used to inform, to persuadeand to analyze. In this assignment, you will persuadethe reader of your point of view by supporting a thesis with objective facts and credible evidence.

In the week 2 forum, you selected your topic for this paper. You will take a stance on this issue and support your stance with credible evidence in your body paragraphs. In the week 4 forum you created an outline for this paper. Be sure to make use of the feedback you received there.  

In order to persuade the audience to accept the position you are advocating in this paper, you will use different kinds of appeals:

• ethos (which involves the credibility of the speaker, writer, or authority being cited);
• logos (which involves facts, statistics, and logic); and
• pathos (which involves emotions).

A good persuasive argument uses credible sources, objective evidence, and emotional “hooks” to make use of logos, ethos, and pathos respectively.

Be sure your thesis statement is very clear.  It should be a single complete sentence, including both a subject and a predicate, that combine to make claim. Example: “The USA should be more competitive in establishing a presence on Mars.”  

Your introduction paragraph should include a “hook” to grab the reader's attention.  The thesis statement is typically seen in the first paragraph. Your body paragraphs will support the thesis. You should use credible sources and cite them according to the style of your discipline. Your conclusion should reiterate the strongest points from your paper and give the audience something to consider, moving forward.

• PURPOSE:   To persuade
• AUDIENCE:   A general audience, peers in the classroom
• LENGTH:   500 - 750 words (Times New Roman font)
• SOURCES:   A minimum of 3 with at least 1 from the library, and at least 1 from a professional journal or organization
• FORMAT:   The citation style that is appropriate for your discipline
• DUE:   SUNDAY 11:55 pm EST of Week 5
• SUBMIT:   In ASSIGNMENTS submit your essay by uploading your Word file

Use only third person (he/she/they) for a more professional tone. Avoid first person (I, my, us, we) and second person (you and your) in your essay.

**Remember that all work submitted is to be your own original work except where properly acknowledged and cited. Do not reuse work, papers, or speeches from previous (or concurrent) classes as this violates APUS academic integrity policies. (Make sure to note the section on self-plagiarism.) **

Supporting Materials

• Essay Rubric.pdf (70 KB)
• Citation Styles are Different.pdf (491 KB)