Position Paper

Summary & Evaluations of Your Sources

        Write an essay, 750 to 1000 words long, that combines summaries and evaluations of at least five representative sources and provides background for the project you've embarked on.  Your purpose will be to present this review so that members of this writing class (your audience) will have a clear sense of the field of your topic and of your authority as its interpreter. And note that part of your authority will come as a consequence of your properly using and acknowledging your sources. Be sure to check out both this link and Chapter 22 to see how it's done.  So there is no confusion, you will need to use the M.L.A. format for this assignment.

        To summarize a chosen source, read and reread the article or book carefully, annotating as you go. Then outline the selection in order to be certain that you've identified all the main ideas. The outline should then enable you to write a coherent summary, which should be in your own words (though you might quote some key terms or phrases) and should not include any examples or illustrations. (See St. Martin's, 753-6, on the principle ingredients of a summary.)

        Evaluations generally include the following basic features: a well-defined subject (in this case, your summary of the source will define the subject); a clear and well-balanced judgment of the subject; and a convincing argument for the judgment you've made, which might well include some pointed comparisons between the subject and other things of the same kind.  You might, for example, compare the source you've summarized with other sources.  Equally important, though, is HOW you intend to use the source you've found.  To answer this question, you can check the outline of your final paper – again, in St. Martin's,  page 374 – and see just where this information fits.

Also, be sure to check out the three samples Position Papers:

1. Position Paper One
   
2. Position Paper Two
   
3. Position Paper Three

Check out the discussion of the assignment as well:

• Position Paper Discussion

Outline of your Position Paper

• Definition of the problem (this could be a developed, rewritten version of what you turned in for the Prospectus, including an anecdote, references to an authority, and statistics).
  
• Your position and your solution stated clearly.
  
• First source summarized.
  
• First source evaluated

Is the source reputable or not so reputable ? Is your source the National Inquirer or a scholarly journal?
How is the author qualified to comment on the issue?
In what section(s) do you intend to use the information you found in the source?  Check the outline of your final paper in St. Martin's, page 374. 

In defining the problem?
In the causal analysis?
In the discussion of the consequences if the problem is not solved?
In the solution?
In the refutation?
In the discussion of alternative solutions?

• Second through fifth sources just as above.
  
• A Works Cited page at the end: check "Using and Acknowledging Sources" to see how to create one.

Bear in mind the following:

1. The combination of sources you review should represent major positions or elements of your topic.
2. The guiding thesis of this paper should be the position you've taken or the solution you recommend.
3. Each summary should be balanced, fair, and clear.
4. Each summary should include or be followed by your evaluation of the source and of how it relates to the topic you've chosen.
5. Each of your sources should be acknowledged according to the Modern Language Association's (MLA) format -- see Chapter 22 in St. Martin's.

Updated: 5 February 2005