Position essays make a claim about something and then prove it through arguments and evidence.
I. Introduction: Describe the problem and make it vivid for the reader. Your introduction should:
• Make the reader interested in this issue.
• Convince the reader that this is an important issue.
• Explain your point of view.
• Have information about opposing views.
Introduction Ideas: unusual fact or statistic, intriguing statement, anecdote, example, question, historical background, story, typical scenario, conversation, interesting quotation, vivid description, a list, explaining a process, an analogy, frame story
Claim Sentence: Generally, the introduction will end with your claim or thesis. You may phrase this as a question or a statement.
II. Clarification: clarifies the term that you are using in your claim e.g., charter schools, vouchers, tracking, mastery-based learning, etc.
III. Evidence: Evidence to support warrants. You need to include three sources of evidence to support your claim.
IV. Warrants/Backing Warrants are why you believe this claim to be true. The reason you would do so is to draw your reader into common ground with you. It is especially useful to do if you are appealing to a reader who holds a very different position from you on this issue.
V. Conclusion: Conclusions can use some of the same techniques that you use in your introduction. Be sure your conclusion is linked to your introduction. Do not just repeat the claim, but draw a conclusion which urges the reader to believe it or do something about it. Ways to conclude:
• Make a final appeal to the reader and tell them what you want them to think or do.
• Depending on your topic, you may want to make an appeal to logic, emotion or authority
• Return to the intro and finish the frame story, or revise the story or description or conversation to show how things would be better if your proposal/claim is adopted.
• If you haven’t done so in the body, you can sometimes use a countering of other positions in the conclusion. Explain why your position is better.
• If you started with a question, you may save your final claim thesis for the end
