You will write three (3) Position Statements at intervals throughout the semester. Each individual Position Statement assignment will have a potential scoring value of 100 points, which is approximately 9% of the total semester score. Together, all three Position Statement assignments represent approximately 27% of the total course score.
Position Statement Assignment Description
Our Position Statements are research-based papers where you take an informed stand or position on a topic related to photography and then argue your position using your research as support. A key element is the concept of taking an “informed position.” That means that you should be able to back up your position with evidence based on research from credible sources. In other words, you need to know what you are talking about and be able to prove it.
A Position Statement is an opinion, however unlike the opinions posted to most blog websites, your work in PHOTO 101 must be critical and scholarly. You need to base your Position Statements’ supporting arguments on facts and evidence.
Required Minimum Length
The minimum length encourages thoroughness. Position Statements must thoroughly explain your position; therefore, they have a minimum requirement of 500 words. Be aware, 500 words is the minimum text length (not including the title, headings, and references); it is not the target length. Statements that are more thorough will get higher scores. If you write only 500 words (basically fulfilling only the minimum requirement), do not expect to receive scores in the “A,” “A-,” or “B+” range unless you write the statement exceptionally well.
We consider any assignment where a student has not completed the minimum requirement to be incomplete. If you write 499 words or less, then the assignment is incomplete and the highest score for the assignment you can expect to earn will be 64% of the assignment’s potential maximum score, which corresponds to a maximum grade of “D”. In combination with other problems, the score may be less.
If you are struggling to write enough, the temptation might be to add padding phrases like “in my opinion” or long block quotations until you hit the minimum word count. But this will simply detract from the clarity of your writing. Instead, go back over your work and look for things that could be improved with a little additional attention. This might involve adding illustrative examples to support a point or considering different sources and views on the issue.
Length limit
Position Statements should not be longer than 750 words. Write clear, concise sentences. Eliminate wordiness and bloated sentences. Edit out repetition and redundant words or phrases. Above all, think about your argument. What is the thesis of your paper? What components of your paper are necessary to prove your thesis? Every part of your paper should be geared toward proving your thesis.
Every paragraph in your essay must have a purpose. When revising, critically examine each paragraph and ask yourself whether it is necessary to your overall thesis. You may decide to cut some paragraphs. This process could be painful, especially if you have done a lot of research you’d like to include or need more words to meet a page limit, but it will strengthen your paper.
If you write more than 750 words, the highest score you can expect to earn will be 74% of the assignment’s potential maximum score, which corresponds to a maximum grade of “C”.
Required Compositional Formatting
Your paper should be double spaced and saved as a pdf. Students will read and respond to six (6) Position Statements as part of the peer review portion of the assignment. In order to improve overall readability, it is important that our Position Statements follow a required common format.
The required format for the Position Statements in this class is:
Introduction: First paragraph. Set the context by outlining the topic. Provide background information necessary to understand your argument. Capture the reader’s interest.
Succinctly and clearly state your position. This is your thesis statement. It is the summary of your main point, your main claim. If you do not master this portion of the essay, it will be quite difficult to compose an effective or persuasive essay.
Body: Three to five paragraphs that explain and support your thesis. Develop your arguments in detail. Each body paragraph should cover a different idea or piece of evidence. Each should be introduced with a clear and concise topic sentence.
Body paragraphs are where you back up your claims with supporting evidence: examples, research, statistics, and citations. Address opposing points of view and disprove them or explain why you disagree with them.
Important aspects of all body paragraphs are: a clear topic sentence, specific evidence or supporting detail, and a concluding sentence that ties the evidence or details back to the main point and brings the paragraph to a close.
All body paragraphs need to be fully developed. All body paragraphs should also provide transitions from one paragraph to the next.
Conclusion: One final paragraph. Restate your thesis in a fresh way, synthesize the arguments you made in the body paragraphs. You do not need to recap your entire essay point by point. Instead, show your reader how the points and arguments you made fit together.
This is your opportunity to suggest possible courses of action for the issue or possible solutions, or point to broader implications. You want to leave your reader thinking. Do not introduce new facts, evidence or arguments here.
To make these distinctions clear to yourself and the reader, feel free to label each of these respective areas in your Position Statements with the words “Introduction”, “Body”, and “Conclusion.”
If you do not to follow this required format, then you will have completed the assignment incorrectly and the highest score you can expect to earn will be 74% of the assignment’s potential maximum score, which corresponds to a maximum grade of “C”.
Required Use of Citations
Since Position Statements are research-based papers, numbered citations are required in the text along with a corresponding reference list at the end of the statement. Citations should appear in your essay wherever you quote or paraphrase information from a source. Include at least three (3) authoritative references to validate your position.
Be careful when evaluating Internet sources. Do not use websites where an author cannot be determined. Beware of using sites like Wikipedia, which are collaboratively developed by users. Because anyone can add or change content, the validity of information on such sites may not meet the standards for academic research.
It is not necessary to strictly follow citation formats such as APA or MLA. A simple approach where you insert numbers in the appropriate places within the text that corresponds to a final list of references will be sufficient.
Your reference list should provide the information necessary for a reader to locate and retrieve any source you cite in the paper. Include the author, title, publication date, and source. When citing a page on a website, provide the author’s name, the article’s title, the name of the site or publisher, publication date, and URL (date of access is not necessary). It is helpful (but not necessary) to add a permalink in your pdf file so that your peers can directly access the source themselves.
Each source you cite in the paper must appear in your reference list; likewise, each entry in the reference list must be cited in your paper.
Your references should begin on a new page separate from the text of the essay; label this page “References.” It should be double spaced just like the rest of your paper.
If you do not include or cite your references, then the assignment is incomplete and the highest score you can expect to earn will be 74% of the assignment’s potential maximum score, which corresponds to a maximum grade of “C”.
Using Quotations
It is generally better to paraphrase than to quote. Quotations tend to stick out. They draw attention to themselves and away from your ideas, so keep them to a minimum, and keep them short. If you can quote a few words or a phrase instead of an entire sentence, do it.
Most material can and should be paraphrased, but there are instances in which the original carries a weight that paraphrasing cannot capture. Those are the times when you should quote. There are three main reasons why you might prefer quotation over paraphrase for a piece of source material:
- authority: Some statements are more convincing coming right from the source.
- precision: When an important phrase could be lost in paraphrasing, quotation is preferable.
- vividness: A source may phrase something in a particularly descriptive way that would be lost in paraphrase.
Reading Your Own Writing Aloud
After you have finished writing your statement, the best, most efficient editing process is to read your work aloud to yourself.
Reading your own writing aloud is the best barometer to tell if your writing is active, flows and is working. If you stumble over your own words, you can trust that something needs to be edited or changed. When you read your writing aloud, you can hear and/or pick up mistakes in grammar, punctuation and meaning.
Reading aloud helps you discern proper punctuation. For instance, if you pause in your oral reading, you may need to insert a comma at that point, or you may need to end the sentence. Pauses keep separate thoughts from running into each other. Hearing your pauses, helps prevent run-on sentences.
When you read your work aloud, if you start to get bored, you probably need to cut what you have written. If a section of your writing is slowing down the momentum and reducing clarity, you need to rewrite.
Proofreading
Carefully proofread your statement before you submit it, to make sure it is complete and formatted properly. All students, including non-native English speakers and native English speakers, have to meet the same college-level writing expectations which include spelling, grammar, and style.
Make the proofreading process systematic and focused so that you catch as many errors as possible in the least amount of time. Don’t rely entirely on spelling checkers. They will not catch misspellings that form another valid word. For example, if you type “your” instead of “you’re,” “to” instead of “too,” or “there” instead of “their,” the spell checker won’t catch the error. Grammar checkers can be even more problematic. These programs work with a limited number of rules, so they can’t identify every error and often make mistakes. You may want to use a grammar checker to help you identify potential run-on sentences or too-frequent use of the passive voice, but you need to be able to evaluate the feedback it provides.
Suggestions:
- Proofread for only one kind of error at a time. If you try to identify and revise too many things at once, you risk losing focus, and your proofreading will be less effective. It’s easier to catch grammar errors if you aren’t checking punctuation and spelling at the same time.
- Read slow, and read every word. Try reading out loud, which forces you to say each word and also lets you hear how the words sound together. When you read silently or too quickly, you may skip over errors or make unconscious corrections.
- Get some distance from the text. It is hard to edit or proofread a paper that you’ve just finished writing—it is still too familiar, and you tend to skip over a lot of errors. Put the paper aside for a few hours or days. Clear your head of what you have written so you can take a fresh look at the paper and see what is really on the page.
- Better yet, give the paper to a friend. Someone who is reading the paper for the first time, comes to it with completely fresh eyes.
- Decide which medium lets you proofread most carefully. Some people like to work right at the computer, while others like to sit back with a printed copy that they can mark up as they read.
- Find a quiet place where you can concentrate and avoid distractions.
- If possible, do your editing and proofreading in several short blocks of time. Your concentration may start to wane if you try to proofread the entire statement at one time.
We suggest that all students take full advantage of tutoring for writing at Penn State Learning. World Campus students can find help at the World Campus Academic Support Center.
Late Work Submission
Late work is not accepted unless it meets the University guidelines for submission of late work. If you intend to turn in work late, contact your instructor in advance of the due date and make the appropriate arrangements. Late work will receive a score of zero.
Plagiarism
Plagiarism is copying someone else’s work. Do not do this. On the first occasion, you will receive a zero for the entire assignment and if it happens again, you will fail the class. It is just not worth the risk.
Peer Response Portion of the Assignment
Peer Review Comments are critical reactions that you write regarding your classmates’ Position Statements. You are required to comment on six (6) of your classmates’ statements for each Position Statement assignment. Do not hesitate to disagree with a position. Explain why you disagree. Unlike typical social media, our discussions are based on scholarly reasoning and evidence.
In order to ensure thoroughness, each of these comments requires a 200-word minimum.
If you write fewer than 6 Peer Reviews, your review is shorter than 200 words, or it is less thorough than required, then the assignment is incomplete and the highest score you can expect to earn will be 64% of the assignment’s potential maximum score, which corresponds to a maximum grade of “D”.
Our Position Statement Assignments have two parts that you will participate in over three weeks.
Part 1. Research, Write, Submit (1st and 2nd week) –
Research the topic associated with the assignment. Write a Position Statement that meets the assignment criteria. Upload the Position Statement to Canvas.
Part 2. Peer Review – (3rd week) –
IMPORTANT: All Peer Reviews are due one week from the due date of the Position Statement.
At noon on the day after each assignment is due, Canvas will automatically assign to you six (6) classmates’ work, which you will review. You will have seven days to complete the Peer Reviews. Consult the Modules section of Canvas to see the due dates for the Peer Reviews. Based on the assignment criteria, assignment learning objectives, and information you learned in your research, write peer reviews that explain how well you think your classmates accomplished the assignment, whether you agree with them, and why.
Minimum word amounts ensure thoroughness and thoughtfulness of your review. If you are not sure what to write, read each Position Statement and use the following criteria…
- Introduction: To what extent did the student present his or her position clearly and succinctly early in the statement?
- Research and evidence: What evidence did the student present to show he or she considered alternative sides of the issue when developing the position? To what extent was the presented information accurate and relevant? How effectively did the presented research and evidence support the position? How well did the student argue their position?
- Conclusion: Did the conclusion effectively sum up the arguments and suggest possible future courses of action for the issue and/or possible solutions?
- Writing: To what extent was the statement coherently organized, clear, free of grammatical and spelling errors, and concise?
- Your opinion: Do you agree or disagree with the position? Explain why. Did the student persuade you in any way?
Your peer reviews must be thorough, thoughtful, unique, and clearly address specific points of the Position Statement to which you are reacting. Generic comments, which do not clearly demonstrate that you have read and understand the position, will not be counted.
Canvas tips
Please note that Canvas will require you to complete the attached rubric for the peer review to be considered finished. Click on Show Rubric, score each criterion, then hit Save Comment in the bottom. If you do not feel comfortable with scoring your peers’ work, please enter a “1” for each criterion in the rubric.
Your instructor will not take the scores students give one another into account. However, your instructor will carefully read each 200-word peer review.
Please work on your 200-word peer reviews in a separate document, then copy and paste them into the Add a comment field rather than attaching a separate file. Then hit Save.
How do I know if I have a peer review assignment to complete?
How do I view annotated comments from my instructor?
Your instructor will include annotations and comments in your position statement assignments.
How do I view rubric results for my assignment?
Where can I find my peers’ feedback for peer reviewed assignments?