Writing a Position Essay



Tom (2008) defines a position essay is “[b]eing very similar to a persuasive essay, a position essay allows you to address both sides of an issue and then defend one of the positions. Often times a position essay is written in response to an article or a real life event”.

Meanwhile, a discussion essay, according to Refnaldi “…is a type of the argumentative genres (analytical exposition, hortatory exposition, and discussion) whose purpose is to state an issue and then that issue should be supported by some kinds or arguments from different perspective” (2012).

So, in terms of similarity between a position essay and a discussion essay are that both of them is a kind of essay blends well researched facts. When it comes to the difference between them is that a position essay is not only blending well researched facts, but also defending your position. Moreover, the main goal of a position essay is to convince the reader that your argument is more valid and well supported, while the discussion essay is broader rather than a position because a discussion essay involves more than one person meaning the writers discuss and argue their opinions and position to reach a better conclusion.

An outline of a position essay

Introduction
Provide background on the topic
Present strong thesis that supports one side of the issue
Body
Argue points that support position and thesis
Fairly present opposing viewpoints
Conclusion
Recap thesis
Focus on key points

An example of position essay


The street stalls should be banned in Indonesia

These days, the economic needs and wants for Indonesians are considered as a main issue because knowing that the Indonesian citizens are approximately 261,115,456 citizens who live in this country. Simply, the large amounts of people who live in Indonesia impacts the rate of economic needs and wants as well.

In fulfilling people’s needs and wants, some indonesians rely on being vendors and building several stalls on the street. Based on a case study conducted by Ginting (2004) in Medan Town Park shows that “Taman ini sekarang terlihat kurang diperhatikan, karena itu pedagang bebas memilih lokasi berjualan di dalam atau di luar taman tanpa pengawasan dari pemilik taman”. Given that, it is a must to pay closer attention and to be more careful of building stalls ilegally without permission from the government.

Another issue caused by building street stalls is the street stalls themselves take up space and it impacts to the traffic and pedestrians street. The traffic jam occurs when there is not enough space for cars to pass by. Seeing that, diminishing street stalls around the street and moving them to the appropriate place is the only good way to overcome this kind of issue.

In spite of it, there is also a benefit for some sellers themselves by building street stalls, they have a high chance to get more buyers because they sell it in a good and strategical area. Thus, while there are some problem building street stalls, but there is a strong benefit as well.

In a nutshell, building street stalls impacts to some issues that should be avoided like traffic jam and making the place becomes dirty. On the one hand, there is also a benefit as well that is increasing sellers economy. Although there is a benefit for some sellers themselves, the sellers should consider that the impact will be worst to people and environment than their individual benefit. Simply, they have to get rid of their selfishness of selling things around the street for the sake of their own benefit.


References

Ginting, S. W. (2004). Studi Kasus : Pengaruh Keberadaan Pedagang Kaki Lima Terhadap Jumlah Pengunjung Taman Kota Di Medan. Retrieved from http://www.academia.edu/26417738/Studi_Kasus_Pengaruh_Keberadaan_Pedagang_Kaki_Lima_Terhadap_Jumlah_Pengunjung_Taman_Kota_Di_Medan

Tom, T. (2008). Position Essay Writing: Defend Your Position | Personal Writer – Academic Writing Help. Retrieved November 21, 2018, from http://www.personal-writer.com/blog/position-essay-writing-defend-your-position

Refnaldi, R. (2012). Appraisals in Students’ Hortatory Exposition Essays. In International Conference on Languages and Arts (pp. 272–280).

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