Understanding Position Papers
Understanding the Purpose 
of Your Position Paper		 Position papers in this class are exercises in argument and explication. The primary goal of your paper should be a close reading of the text. Close reading demands that writers put aside their private impulses, prejudices, beliefs, etc. and acknowledge the integrity of the text. For example, you may think that Edna Pontellier is an idiot, but unless you can find evidence in the text to support your claim, your judgment is beside the point.

A text is a world of its own; if you have problems with that world, fine–but those are your problems, not the text's. Keep your unsupported opinions out of your analysis of the text.
.
 
Choosing a Topic for Your Position Paper You should choose a topic for your position paper that 
  • discusses at least two of the works we have read this semester
  • allows you to make a claim about how your topic operates within the texts you've chosen to write about
  • provides you with a focused, debatable, divisible thesis

 
Understanding the Audience for Your Position Paper Your audience for this paper is me–that is, someone who has already read the text you are analyzing. Avoid filling your paper with plot summary. (PS=BS!) Provide me with your analysis of the issue you have chosen to write about, not a mere recapitulation of the story.    .

 .
Formatting Your Position Paper The final version of your position paper should
  • Have one-inch margins all around
  • Use 12 point Times New Roman font
  • Be double-spaced
  • Use MLA format (use parenthetical citations, etc.)

 
Turning in Your Position 
Paper		 In a 9" x 12" clasped envelope, turning the following:
  • a copy of your final draft stapled
  • all rough drafts, outlines, brainstorming, notes, bar napkins, matchbook covers, etc. that went into the making of your paper–i.e. everything written that went into your paper. (Unless you write this paper in one sitting, you should turn in multiple drafts of the paper.)