Position paper on combating HIV/ AID, malaria, and other disease

Position Essay.  Position writing presents an arguable opinion about an issue. The goal of a position paper is to convince the audience that your opinion is valid and worth listening to. You should refer to supporting material and examples from class readings, discussions, and research, with proper citations. The essay will be 1000-1500 words, have a clear thesis, introduction, body and conclusion. Support your explanations with examples and quotes, using MLA style for format and citations..

 

 

The purpose of this essay is to take a position in regards to what is the most powerful force in civilization, reason or belief? It’s an awfully big question, so why don’t we work on some global issues to sketch out the various positions that might be taken by an individual or a group using either belief or reason to inform their arguments. For example, use the Millenial Development Goals http://www.unmillenniumproject.org/goals/

I choose Goal #6 combat HIV/AIDS, malaria, and other diseases

Step One-Select a topic. Describe the goal in a short summary citing the sources.

 

Step Two-Try and discover/inquire as to the core beliefs that seem to be assumed in the goal itself. For example, under Gender Inequality there seems to be an assumption that every society/culture should promote the education of girls/women for the same reasons as men are assumed to be educated. In most patriarchal societies, the roles of men and women have been historically unequal for reasons that mainly have to do with religious beliefs that reflect different expectations for gender roles. Another issue is Infant Mortality, which seems to rely upon a notion of the dignity/sanctity of preserving human life. This notion is in dispute in many societies and cultures and frames the debate with both ideas mainly concerned with belief or reason.

 

Step Three-Once you have established the real issue at stake, then briefly sketch out the opposing views using several sources of credible commentaries (academic sources). Here’s a link to a quick google search I did… https://www.google.com/search?client=safari&rls=en&q=critics+of+millenial+development+goals&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8

 

Step Four-Take your position. What arguments do you find more credible, more relevant, more accurate, more legitimate? Why? Cite readings from our iBook on the role of reason or belief that support your position.

 

Step Five-Return to the goal of the Millenial Development. How likely will such a goal be successful given your position? How do you feel about that?

 

Step Six- making sure that your writing reflects a formal MLA style with citations and references at the bottom of your essay.