0:04 hi and welcome to high value writing I'm
0:07 Ain leac thank you for being here and
0:11 many thanks to user fan 1000002 who made
0:14 a request for a video on how to write a
0:16 position paper for school and you know
0:18 you can always make a request at this
0:20 Channel and we'll bring out some videos
0:23 to help you with whatever you're writing
0:25 so use your f0002 is writing a position
0:29 paper for school this video will mostly
0:32 concern academic position papers however
0:34 I will be bringing in tips throughout
0:37 and another slide at the end to show how
0:39 you could use this information for a
0:42 professional position paper as well all
0:43 right so we're going to look at the
0:45 outlines the steps examples of each and
0:47 then we are going to talk about style
0:49 briefly at the end for this type of
0:52 writing in addition to sounding clear
0:55 and concise we also need to sound
0:57 confident so stay tuned for those tips
1:00 coming up let's get started by figuring
1:03 out the goals of this kind of writing
1:05 let's get started by talking about the
1:08 goals of this kind of paper again
1:09 usually written academically but I'll
1:11 bring in some ideas in the business
1:14 world as well we have two sets of goals
1:16 here okay we have our content goals of
1:19 what we need to say and then we also
1:21 have a goal of sort of how we want to
1:24 come off in this paper we want to sound
1:26 very confident about our position we
1:29 also do not want to sound dismissive of
1:31 other positions because that can
1:33 actually eat away at the confidence that
1:35 we are projecting believe it or not so
1:37 we're going to be fair and objective
1:39 about all views but really provide the
1:42 evidence for why our position is the
1:45 most feasible the most beneficial so at
1:47 the top here we have an outline of sorts
1:49 the next slide we'll put this into more
1:52 outline format but we are going to of
1:53 course say what our point of view is in
1:56 the beginning and support it why is it
1:58 desirable why is it feasible why is this
2:00 a possible idea
2:03 then though we need to be responsible
2:05 right we need to show that we are fair
2:08 and ethical by considering who will be
2:11 impacted by our position and who else
2:14 might have a different point of view and
2:17 again we don't really it sounds almost
2:19 counterintuitive but if we act sort of
2:22 dismissive or reductive about these
2:25 other views it can actually make us look
2:27 less self-confident so we want to be
2:30 clear concise confident all the way
2:32 even when we're talking about other
2:34 views in the end of course with number
2:36 five we're going to wrap up and show
2:39 well our view is the way forward to meet
2:42 the goals that we're after now below
2:44 that on the screen if you're in a
2:46 business setting but also kind of
2:49 thinking about at school what is your
2:51 teacher really wanting you to be able to
2:54 do it's not just the content but the way
2:57 we do it right we want to be able to
2:58 show that we can take a stance that we
3:00 can be persuasive
3:02 but that we can be fair when we do that
3:04 and you can imagine in school this is a
3:07 critical thought requirement right I am
3:09 able to think about different sides and
3:11 be fair you know your teacher is looking
3:13 for that critical thought if you're at
3:16 work this is showing that we can be good
3:18 with others and collaborative right we
3:20 can show our view and respect others so
3:24 we always need that sort of meta goals
3:26 where we're not only saying what we're
3:28 saying but it's about how we say it too
3:30 right and then making sure that we are
3:33 ethical provide evidence and I'll link a
3:36 few times in this video to other videos
3:37 where I've talked about maybe how to do
3:40 a thesis how to site a source Etc so
3:43 here's the content you as you start your
3:45 paper you want to be thinking about your
3:47 point of view what's good about it
3:50 what's feasible possible about it and
3:51 then how are you going to address these
3:55 other points of view graciously as well
3:57 in outline form here's something you can
4:01 follow especially in a school setting in
4:03 the introduction I'll point to another
4:05 video where we cover those steps but I'm
4:07 going to have an example in here too if
4:09 it's an intro for a position paper
4:11 specifically your body paragraph of
4:13 course you'll do that multiple times
4:15 often you'll see people dividing up
4:18 their body paragraphs based on different
4:20 benefits different reasons that your
4:23 idea is beneficial that's usually the
4:25 way we want to approach this or we can
4:28 divide it up different groups of people
4:31 or groups across the planet whatever it
4:33 might be that'll be benefited um
4:35 environmental benefits Financial
4:37 benefits societal benefits things like
4:40 that as well and then our conclusion
4:42 will again point to our solution as the
4:46 best one but in a way that acknowledges
4:49 others and then kind of brings everyone
4:51 together for our next steps moving
4:53 forward okay so the next three slides
4:56 we'll provide an example of each as well
4:58 as an extra slide with examples on
5:00 thesis statements so let's look at how
5:02 all those parts kind of want to look in
5:05 this type of paper for your introduction
5:07 and I'm going to put a link up here so
5:10 that if you'd like you can go watch the
5:12 video on writing an academic
5:15 introduction so you can use that here
5:17 similar steps what I do want to spend
5:20 more time on in this case though is that
5:22 idea of addressing multiple perspectives
5:25 is more important in a position paper
5:27 because you know going forward that you
5:29 are presenting a position and there may
5:31 people with other positions so we want
5:34 to be ready to debate ready to respect
5:37 but also ready to persuade so here we'll
5:40 see me using these three steps leading
5:42 up with an intro bringing in those
5:44 perspectives and then offering a thesis
5:46 that in this case needs to be quite
5:48 persuasive we are not writing an
5:51 informative thesis we are not writing a
5:53 thesis that sounds like a question we
5:55 are writing for a position paper a
5:57 thesis that sounds like a claim or an
6:00 argument that is debatable
6:03 here's an intro leading up to that as AI
6:05 becomes a more and more popular writing
6:07 tool students around the world will
6:09 start turning to AI with help for their
6:12 essays in some cases AI will help them
6:15 adding detail and helping the writer
6:18 explain examples however students using
6:20 Ai and essays also run the risk of
6:22 sounding inauthentic or too wordy in
6:25 their writing some people may not like
6:27 the idea students can succeed by using
6:30 AI to help generate ideas
6:33 but writing or revising on their own to
6:35 ensure their writing tone matches their
6:38 writing goals so we see those steps in
6:41 action let's look now what would a body
6:44 paragraph look like all right let's dive
6:47 in a little bit deeper on this one part
6:49 of our outline and introduction which is
6:51 that thesis statement few things to keep
6:54 in mind with a position paper our thesis
6:56 statement needs to sound confident and
6:58 it needs to be something that could be
7:01 debated we we cannot make a thesis that
7:04 says you know eating oatmeal every day
7:06 and lots of spinach is healthy that's
7:09 kind of just a fact right we need
7:11 something here that is a position
7:12 meaning someone else could have a
7:14 different position keep these three
7:17 things in mind in your thesis the most
7:19 important or the most often overlooked
7:22 anyhow that idea of relevance why does
7:24 this matter why is this crucial how does
7:27 this impact somebody and so you'll see
7:30 in the examples here in the pink
7:31 there is some relevance brought in and
7:33 so I'll just read these four aloud and
7:36 you can kind of listen for how they do
7:38 sound like they're taking some kind of a
7:41 stance that we could defend and that
7:43 someone could disagree on to help
7:45 students compete in today's economy
7:47 universities should provide training in
7:49 the fair use of AI could someone
7:52 disagree certainly Based on data from
7:54 the last decade further floods May
7:56 threaten this area making the need for
7:58 safety training
8:00 indispensable maybe somebody could not
8:03 argue or debate the data but they could
8:05 debate what we should do now that we
8:08 have this data that makes it a position
8:10 paper our organization here's a little
8:13 more of a business orientation our
8:16 organization supports open access to
8:18 information therefore we list all salaries
8:19 salaries
8:22 publicly and lastly to support our
8:24 clients better during the pandemic our
8:27 department suggests we open a hybrid
8:30 Lobby again more of a business example
8:32 again something I could bring to a
8:34 committee if I'm in that professional
8:37 setting to explain support what I'm
8:39 advocating and then someone could agree
8:41 or disagree and I could pursue this
8:44 further with my position paper so let's
8:46 look at what most of the paper is going
8:47 to look like the paragraphs in the
8:49 middle right the body paragraphs and
8:52 this is where in a position paper we are
8:54 consistently thinking about evidence and
8:57 examples we cannot claim something
8:59 without showing it and We are continuing
9:02 to think about tone how we want to be
9:04 confident and yet concise and we'll look
9:06 at some tips on that in a moment as well
9:08 but here's what I advise you include in
9:11 each paragraph your view the benefit
9:13 some benefit or factor that you're
9:15 looking at in this paragraph with your
9:18 evidence and examples and then see what
9:20 you can address in terms of other points
9:23 of view for that specific feature
9:25 component benefit that you're talking
9:27 about so here I go getting a little more
9:29 in depth with a paragraph
9:32 on AI use with students while some
9:34 students will use AI in their writing
9:36 regardless of requirements we can help
9:38 them do this responsibly by teaching how
9:42 to write with AI platforms like chat GPT
9:44 have found to help students have been
9:46 found to help students generate ideas on
9:48 first drafts this is where I would have
9:52 a citation here's a link to a video that
9:54 includes a packet and other information
9:57 on writing
9:59 citations by providing teach teaching on
10:01 these skills we can encourage
10:03 responsible AI use now I'm going to
10:05 address another point of view even
10:07 though it's not the one I'm advocating
10:09 here although some instructors have
10:11 urged the Banning of AI from student
10:14 writing teaching students to use AI
10:16 responsibly in their writing is both
10:18 more realistic and more effective coming
10:20 back to the central view that I'm
10:23 putting forward especially considering
10:25 that some will use AI writing once on
10:28 the job market so each paragraph is
10:30 doing that job of moving your point a
10:32 little bit forward because you've gotten
10:35 into one specific reason or detail and
10:38 you've brought in specific examples that
10:41 also help you counter these other
10:43 arguments that are coming in while still
10:46 treating them respectfully but showing
10:48 why they are not the optimal optimal way
10:51 to go forward now we'll conclude and
10:53 then we'll have a couple more slides to
10:55 look at number one on style and then
10:57 secondly if you are in more of a
10:59 business setting how can you tweak some
11:01 of this information so for the
11:03 conclusion we're looking again not just
11:05 restating our thesis but you know what
11:08 implementation is necessary we really
11:10 need this to move forward because of
11:12 these positive impacts which I will
11:15 restate and when relevant it's now my
11:18 job to suggest what might we do first we
11:21 don't want to leave our conclusion um
11:23 where the reader feels like so what
11:24 right okay you repeated what you're said
11:27 what you said what now so that so what
11:29 is often answered by what is one step
11:31 forward that we could feasibly make okay
11:33 I'm wrapping up my thoughts on AI in the
11:35 classroom although encouraging students
11:38 to use AI in their writing poses the
11:39 risk of increasing
11:42 plagiarism I'm addressing another point
11:44 of view here students must have the
11:47 skills to you use AI responsibly and
11:50 ethically in their future careers by
11:52 facing the issue and discussing it with
11:54 students we will get better results than
11:56 by simply attempting to ban AI use in
11:59 student writing and now I do feel like
12:01 like it's my job to suggest a Next Step
12:04 since I'm putting this forth to this end
12:07 we propose a new unit on writing with AI
12:10 in all semester level writing courses I
12:12 have not only stated my position but in
12:14 a way thought about how to get us
12:17 started moving to it and now some style
12:19 tips which are so important in this kind
12:21 of writing because we need to at the
12:24 same time sound respectful of All Views
12:27 and sound not at all wishy-washy about
12:29 our view being the one that's really the
12:33 best right so now we need to make sure
12:34 that in addition to being clear and
12:36 concise we are not using what I call
12:38 maybe language that's the kind of
12:41 language that's like well it's just an
12:44 idea I'm not sure but I thought maybe
12:47 right we want to just avoid that and
12:48 that is the type of language that can
12:51 make us sound less confident anyway so
12:52 we don't really want that language in
12:54 there so following these four
12:56 suggestions will actually make our
12:58 writing sound more confident and ensure
13:00 that we we don't sound insecure and that
13:02 our ideas don't sound insecure either
13:05 we're going to avoid that maybe language
13:07 use active voice where you say who's
13:10 doing something before they're doing it
13:12 avoiding slow leadin that actually eat
13:15 away at the confidence the writer um
13:19 puts forward right as I'm waiting as the
13:21 reader for the point I'm kind of like
13:22 well does this writer know what they
13:24 want to say or what right we do not want
13:26 to do a slow lead in when we're trying
13:28 to sound confident and then of course I
13:30 always Advocate writing with a who what
13:32 sentence structure this is the same as
13:35 active voice for people who aren't in
13:38 love with grammatical jargon putting who
13:39 and what in the beginning of your
13:42 sentence will make your sentence more
13:44 brief more concise and more bold and
13:46 confident here are some before and
13:48 afters you can see with the color coding
13:51 what I've changed in those areas it has
13:54 come to our attention that one idea is
13:56 to possibly consider looking at this
13:57 from the interview candidates
14:00 perspective which has been found to
14:01 often be
14:04 unaddressed found by whom I wonder
14:05 that's the problem with passive voice
14:07 here with the after I've adjusted those
14:10 four things we've historically
14:12 overlooked the interview candidate's
14:15 perspective let's look at that now I
14:17 sound confident and like I'm moving
14:20 forward however I'm not bashing or being
14:22 disrespectful either but I have not
14:25 reduced my own Respect by using maybe
14:26 language all right let's look at how to
14:28 put this into practice in a professional
14:31 setting and then we'll wrap up for those
14:33 of you writing in a professional or
14:35 business setting you can use everything
14:38 this video offers but I will suggest a
14:41 few areas of emphasis or what you want
14:43 to prioritize might be slightly
14:45 different than with an academic position
14:47 paper if you are stating the business of
14:51 your department your unit yourself your entire
14:52 entire
14:53 organization make sure you're
14:56 emphasizing internal data a little bit
14:58 more with the academic paper we're
15:00 looking for examples that support our
15:02 point but when we're advocating a
15:05 position in a team we have to be very
15:07 attuned to what impacts it might have in
15:09 the team so we want more internally
15:12 based data more internal stakeholders
15:15 what is going to happen to them when we
15:18 make this change who will be impacted
15:19 and considering units that will be
15:22 impacted negatively and then having a
15:25 plan for that right also use more
15:28 formatting headings bullets keep things
15:31 Ultra brief even more in a business
15:33 setting we want brief paragraphs it's
15:35 okay to use bullets in the middle of a
15:38 position paper and lastly you also want
15:40 to consider other resources here that
15:42 we're not considering in the academic
15:45 paper namely use of time use of
15:48 personnel potentially money and other
15:49 resources need to take a little bit more
15:52 of a front seat so when we talk about
15:54 examples and evidence you want more of
15:57 those to come from internally in a
15:58 position paper that's written for
16:00 business all right try out these tips
16:02 folks please let me know what questions
16:03 you have whether you're writing for
16:05 school or work I'll get back to you as
16:07 soon as I can and I wish you the best
