Essays

Position Paper Proposal

You will be writing a 6- to 8-page position paper in which you express an opinion about a topic related to Roman history, and use evidence to back up that opinion. In this paper, you’re taking a side on some question or controversy, and you’re using reasoning and research to support your side of the argument.

We’ll work through it in stages over the course of the semester. The first stages involve choosing a topic and writing a proposal.

Choose a topic

First, choose one of the 13 meeting topics for the course and decide on a controversy or debate pertaining to that topic.

Write a proposal

The assignment:  The proposal is just a brief one-page preview of your position paper. It should include:

Your proposal is structured like the introduction (see below), and may serve as the basis for it.

The proposal is not graded, but whether you submitted a proposal on time will be factored into the final grade for the position paper. I will give you feedback on things like the feasibility of researching your topic, whether the scope is too big or too narrow for a paper like this, and some possible sources you might want to look at.

Find your evidence
Make your argument

For the final stages, see the video and details on the Position Paper page .

IMPORTANT

  • Watch the video.The overview video explains what I want you to cover in the essay and what I’m expecting in terms of arguments, evidence, and structure.
  • Before you upload,make sure your essay meets the Requirements for All Papers, including formatting, structure, and citations. You will be marked down drastically if your paper is not properly cited. For how to do citations and bibliographies, see the Research and Citation Center.