Formulate and articulate a stance through and in your writing

Stance is probably the rhetorical element that is most neglected. The stance is usually only meaningful when there is an argumentative element in the document. Composing a document such as a lab report or technical description is based on audience and purpose, and a preconceived idea of what it is you want the audience to do. Stance is a spectrum of an idea, taking a position on one end of the spectrum or the other.

Whenever I had to analyze my stance in most of the documents that I wrote, I found it to be redundant, since the stance was evident in most cases. In a school environment, where you have assignments that are mandated, it is difficult to fully understand your position on the topic, since you chose the topic to write. For example, “I want to write a memo to the director of the school about adding bicycle racks”, my stance is obviously the fact that I want to have bicycle racks and that I think they are beneficial. Here is my reflection paper for my memo, which has me analyze my stance:

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