EAPP HOW TO BUILD A POSITION

EXPLORE
The first thing that you must do when you
build a position is to read widely about
the topic. It is not enough to rely on your
common sense or personal experience. In
order to succeed in building a position,
you must read what other people have
written about it first.

EAPP HOW TO BUILD A POSITION

You may be surprised about how varied
these positions are. These positions have
been reached because of different
experiences and worldviews, and each
position must be accorded due respect.
Just because you disagree with a position
does not mean that you should ridicule,
ignore, or demonize the position. For the
educated, an open mind is imperative in
order to give way to critical thinking.
EAPP HOW TO BUILD A POSITION
BRAINSTORM
After gathering all the positions and
evidences you need, brainstorm with a
friend about the ideas you have found.
The old adage “Two heads are better
than one” is specially true when it comes
to the construction of arguments.

EAPP HOW TO BUILD A POSITION

CREATE ASSERTIONS
Assertions are opinions that people may
or may not agree with. They are not
general truths; instead, they are positions
on an issue.

EAPP HOW TO BUILD A POSITION

For example, when it comes to the issue of
whether uniforms should be required in the
school, the assertion is that
- The use of uniforms promotes the ideals
of equality.
An example of statement that is not an
assertion is that
- All uniforms look the same.

EAPP HOW TO BUILD A POSITION

Nobody can contest that all uniforms look
the same, but others may disagree that
this promotes the ideals of equality.

For example, uniforms may be made from

different materials, of either inferior or
superior quality, and this is already and
indicator of social inequality.

EAPP HOW TO BUILD A POSITION

Upon building arguments, one should write
down several assertions. After reading
one’s assertions, one should evaluate
whether all of these assertions fit a
particular theme or main idea. This theme,
main idea, or your thesis statement should
be the controlling idea of your position
paper.

EAPP HOW TO BUILD A POSITION

For example, in the position regarding the
requirement of school uniforms in the
school, one may write the following
assertions:
a. Uniforms promote the ideals of
equality.
b. Uniforms lessen distractions between the
opposite sex.

EAPP HOW TO BUILD A POSITION

c. Uniforms unite the student populace in
having a common purpose and identity.
d. Uniforms make people feel that they
are part of a larger institution than
themselves.
Given these assertions, one can come out
with the theme, “Uniforms should be
required in the school because it benefits
the greater good in forwarding a common
sense of purpose, unity, and equality
among students.”
GATHER THE EVIDENCE
Assertions are only as good as the quality
of one’s evidence. After writing one’s
assertions, one must gather the evidence
to prove each point.
Evidence can be any of the following:
facts, statistics, interviews with experts,
and perceived philosophical, socio-
political, or psychological truths.
EAPP HOW TO BUILD A POSITION
It is not appropriate to use moral or
religious truths as these differ from person
to person, and one cannot assume that the
person reading has the same religious
background.

EAPP HOW TO BUILD A POSITION

HAVE CREDIBLE RESOURCES
The best sources are bills, laws, and
declarations from government and
international non-government
organizations, such as the United Nations.

EAPP HOW TO BUILD A POSITION

One may also use scholarly articles from
academic journals, books, articles from
reputable newspapers, magazines,
television stations, and other news media
sources; and entries from encyclopedia or
dictionaries

EAPP HOW TO BUILD A POSITION

Furthermore, the following are not
credible at all: Twitter feeds, Facebook
statuses, and threads in chat rooms, and
the like.

EAPP HOW TO BUILD A POSITION

 REFINE THE ARGUMENT
An argument is made of three elements:
assertion, evidence, and explanation.
Further clarification is often needed such
as the clarification between the link of the
assertion and the evidence, the use of
further examples and situations, and the
explanation and the contextualization of
the evidence and its importance.
EAPP HOW TO BUILD A POSITION
PREPARE FOR THE OPPOSITION
As said earlier, a position will always have
a negation of the same position. This is
usually called the opposition. When doing
your research, it is imperative to read
what the opposition has to say in order to
refute them in your position paper.

EAPP HOW TO BUILD A POSITION

List down some of their strongest points.
Refute each point. This can be done by
finding flaws in their arguments; checking
the quality of their sources (seeing if they
are biased or not credible).

EAPP HOW TO BUILD A POSITION

 WRITE THE POSITION PAPER
For the introduction, you may begin with a
startling fact, a personal experience, or
an anecdote. The most important thing is
to catch your reader’s attention.
By the end of your introductory
paragraph, your stand on the position
must be clear and concise, and if possible,
your theme should be clear as well.
EAPP HOW TO BUILD A POSITION
Next, you should enumerate each of your
arguments. A good position paper should
forward at least three arguments,
composed of assertions, evidence, and
explanations.
Make sure to write these arguments in the
most persuasive way possible.

EAPP HOW TO BUILD A POSITION

After enumerating your arguments, write
your refutation of the opposition; however,
if this is your decision, you should make
sure that your refutation is airtight, and
the argument you choose to refute is the
opposition’s strongest argument.

EAPP HOW TO BUILD A POSITION

Lastly, write a conclusion. Unfortunately,
many students believe that it is enough to
simply reiterate one’s points in the
conclusion to the point that it becomes a
tepid summary of one’s points.
This is lazy, and is geared toward lazy
readers as well, who may not have been
paying attention to the rest of your paper.

EAPP HOW TO BUILD A POSITION

Given this mindset, it is best to end your
paper with strong insights, a
recommendation or a call to action, or
even an emotional appeal.

EAPP HOW TO BUILD A POSITION