For your position paper, you will stake a claim about the “rightness” or “wrongness” of defaulting on student loans. Your argument should clearly take a side on the issue debated in the articles by Siegel and Weissmann and should show through the use of the four types of argument—analogy, authority, cause, and example—why it is, or is not, acceptable to default on one’s student loans. Your position paper will be four to five pages long (1000-1250 words), and it will need to engage with the following readings:
Lee Siegel’s “Why I Defaulted on My Student Loans” pp. 37-39 (Hard Copy) pp. (Digital Copy)
Jordan Weissmann’s “The New York Times Should Apologize for the Awful Op-Ed It Just Ran on Student Loans”
And at least three other credible sources, one of which must be located in the Allan Hancock Library’s databases: https://www.hancockcollege.edu/library/other-online-sources.php
HOW TO WRITE IT:
I. Introduction
Introduce the issue in an interesting way
Provide background on the issue to explain why it is important
State your main claim (your thesis).
Your introduction has a dual purpose: a) to indicate the issue and your position and b) to arouse your reader’s interest in what you have to say. One effective way of introducing an issue is to place it in context: create a backdrop that will then put your position on the issue, your main claim, in perspective.
Your main claim is basically your thesis; it is the main point that you are trying to make about the issue at hand. In argument, there are four main types of claims, those of definition or fact, those of cause and effect, those of value, and those that put forth a solution or make a statement about policy. It may be helpful to think about these four types when crafting your own position. Here are explanations of each with examples:
Claims of fact or definition:These claims argue about what the definition of something is or whether something is a settled fact.
Example: While some pundits have framed a four-year college education as something necessary for adult success, this notion should not be treated as a given.
Claims of cause and effect:These claims argue that one person, thing, or event caused another thing or event to occur.
Example: Federal student loan policies have contributed to widespread growth in college tuition.
Claims about value:These are claims made of what something is worth, whether we value it or not, how we would rate or categorize something.
Example: The student debt crisis is one of the most serious problems facing the country today.
Claims about solutions or policies:These are claims that argue for or against a certain solution or policy approach to a problem.
Example: Rather than encouraging all students to attend four-year colleges, we should instead emphasize the validity of two-year colleges, technical schools, and trade schools as well.
Which type of claim is right for your argument? Which type of thesis or claim you use for your argument will depend on your position and knowledge of the topic, your audience, and the context of your paper. Even if you start with one type of claim you probably will be using several within the paper.
II. Counter Argument
Summarize the counterclaims
Provide supporting information for counterclaims
Introduce your refutation of the counterclaims that will be developed in subsequent body paragraphs.
You will take your counter arguments from the sources you are assigned and/or those that you may find in the databases. Weissmann and Siegel have very different opinions on the matter, for example, so that is a great start. Who do you agree with more? If you agree with Siegal more, then chances are you will find a counter argument in Weissmann. If you agree with Weissmann more, then Siegal will be the position against which you argue.
After you have identified your counter arguments, consider how you will respond to them. Will you concede that your opponent has a point but explain why your audience should nonetheless accept your argument? Will you reject the counter argument and explain why it is mistaken? Either way, you will want to leave your reader with a sense that your argument is stronger than opposing arguments. Note: when you are summarizing opposing arguments, be charitable. Present each argument fairly and objectively to show that you have seriously considered the many sides of the issue, and that you are not simply attacking or mocking your opponents.
III. Your Argument
Assert smaller claim (premise #1 of your position)
Give your educated and informed opinion
Provide support/proof using more than one source
Assert smaller claim (premise #2 of your position)
Give your educated and informed opinion
Provide support/proof using more than one source
Assert smaller claim (premise #3 of your position)
Give your educated and informed opinion
Provide support/proof using more than one source
When you start thinking about all the reasons for why your position is most accurate, list them out. You can take these ideas from your own thoughts or from those of others, as in, from your sources. If your reasons are taken from elsewhere, make sure you are finding key quotes that can be paraphrased or directly quoted to use as evidence, as support, for why your reason is correct. Once you have all your reasons listed, start thinking about which should come first: for example, does one idea need to be established before the others make sense? Or, does the counter argument naturally segue into one specific rebuttal? There are any number of reasons why one reason might need to come before another, so please spend some time thinking about how your argument will “move” in the most logical and compelling way. When you have your reasons listed in what seems to be the most logical order, then you can begin to order your evidence, making sure, of course, that you are giving credit where credit is due by citing authors and even page numbers when possible. Note: You will probably have more than three overall points to your argument, but you should not have fewer.
IV. Conclusion
Discuss the implications of your position
Provide a plan of action but do not introduce new information
In order to discuss the implications of your position—your main claim—you will need to briefly reestablish what it is. But do so quickly as spending a lot of time rehashing what you have already said better somewhere else is a waste of space. Pivot to why your position matters in the big picture. That is what implication means: a “conclusion that can be drawn from something although it is not explicitly stated.” For example, now you have proven why defaulting on student loans is “right” or “wrong.” Ok, so what? Why does any of this matter? When you think about the implications of something, you need to think about those bigger conclusions that are not explicitly stated but that are often the real issues that matters most. So, what are they? To crib from Dean Ryan, “What truly matters?”
V. Works Cited Page
You will need to include an MLA formatted Works Cited page, which you can learn how to do here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-8_fCagZwNw. Articles and reference materials in the databases come with already generated works cited entries you can simply copy/paste into your works cited page. Make sure, though, that you are using MLA 8 or 9 and not MLA 7.
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