Distinguishing Opinion and Position Writing: A Comparative Analysis

This report provides a detailed analysis of an opinion piece by Catharine Lumby, focusing on the language, structure, and claims made within the article. The author's informal and personal language, use of colloquial expressions, and inconsistent paragraph lengths are examined to highlight the characteristics of opinion writing. The report contrasts this with the formal language, coherent structure, and evidence-based claims expected in position writing. The analysis identifies areas where the article could be modified to transition from an opinion piece to a position piece, emphasizing the need for formal language, a coherent structure, informative content, and strong academic evidence to support the author's claims. The report references supporting literature and research to strengthen the analysis.

Running head: OPINION AND POSITION WRITING
OPINION AND POSITION WRITING
Name of Student
Name of the University
Author Note

1OPINION AND POSITION WRITING
Title of the Article: Enough with the moral panic over smartphones. The kids are all right.
Author of the Article: Catharine Lumby
Language
The above stated article by Catherine Lumby is an opinion piece that opposes the
common global concern that smart-phones are one of the major causes of depression among
teenagers. The article provides a view into the personal considerations of the author in the
article’s context. The author of the article uses words like ‘I’, ‘you’, ‘we’, ‘us’ that makes the
article essentially an opinion piece. The language used by the author is informal and personal
providing a view of her own thoughts on the concern of smart-phones being a cause of
depression among teenagers. Moreover, the author has made use of colloquial expressions and
phrases that render the piece strictly as an opinion piece. The expressions of the author in the
article can be said to be qualitative to some extent if not completely, based on her occasional use
of words like ‘may’, ‘more’, ‘many’, ‘large’ and likewise. The language of the article is more
assertive and instructive rather than being informative.
Structure
The structure of the article is moderately coherent. The paragraph lengths are
inconsistent. In fact, there are paragraphs that are not more than two sentences long. Hence, it
can be argued that the structure of the article is informal as well. However, though there are
certain areas within the article where the author tries to argue a position, most of the article is
based on her views clustered in an informal structure. The author provides very little evidence
for her claims. She begins the article by mentioning the article of Jean M. Twenge that presents

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smart-phones to be a cause of teenage depression and then goes on to demonstrating her own
views trying to refute Twenge’s views. Finally, she concludes trying to invoke an ironically
humorous tone in the end. The author mostly draws on examples and hypothetical situations
even though she bases some of her views on the research she claims to have done on the
relationship of teenagers with the online and social media and its effects on them in formation of
their social relationships and identities.
Claims
The claims of the author of the article are mostly directed towards opposing the views of
Twenge, a research scholar in psychology whose findings correlate teenage depression, suicidal
tendencies and low self-esteem with the rise in digital evolution through smart-phones. The
author claims to have done some research on the relationship of teenagers with the online and
social media and the effect it has on the formation of their social relationships and identities
(Lumby 2018). Moreover, the author claims that it is the universal and global custom for the
adults and parents to panic every time a technological discovery emerges. Supporting her claim
she states an example of the eighteenth century when people used to be concerned with young
girls being corrupted for their indulgence into romantic fantasies (Lumby 2018). However, today
parents practically boast of their teenage girls reading books. The author says that the teenagers
are well aware of the risks that come with the social media such as cyber bullying and other
cyber-crimes (Das and Nayak 2013). However, she mentions that social media has made it easier
for teenagers to communicate. Supporting her claim she provides the statement of a young
teenage boy who finds it easier to talk to people especially girls over Facebook rather in person
(Lumby 2018). Moreover, depression and anxiety may be one of the effects of social and online
media but there are factors that should be considered as well (Becker, Alzahabi and Hopwood

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2013). Over the years, people have grown to be more aware of the mental illnesses and have
been more prompt to address such problems especially in children while previously, the children
and young teenagers suffered more from mental illnesses for suppressing their feelings (Whitley,
Smith and Vaillancourt 2013). Social media has exposed the true nature of the society that is
biased towards classes, cultures and gender (Tynes, Rose and Markoe 2013). Social media acts
as a clear mirror that brings in front of us the real and discriminating nature of the society. The
author also goes on to claim that social media has merged the public and private lives of people
and that this is a result of the teenagers following on the footsteps of their parents who drink too
much and later spills too many of the beans. However, the author acknowledges the ugly side of
the social media as well. It is a fact that massive amounts of racism, sexism and cyber abuse
functions within the social media (Dubrofsky and Wood 2014). It is a fact that teenagers must be
rationally taught to find a balance and manage efficiently the smart-phones and social media.
However, the change should be brought into the parents at first who equally tend to be inefficient
in managing smart-phones that poses them to be hypocritical in front of their teenage children.
Changes Required to Turn the Article into a Position Piece
The language, structure and the nature of the article, as has been stated above, essentially
make the present article and opinion piece. However, there can be made certain changes that can
establish a position of the authors view within the article. The first change required is in the
language. A position piece is characterized by formal language (Brick 2009). Hence, the article
has to be written in third person removing the usage of words like ‘I’, ‘you’, ‘we’, ‘me’ and
likewise. The tone of the writing should also be more formal that requires not using colloquial
expressions and phrases (Hay et al. 2012). Second, the article needs to have a more coherent
structure for it to be a position piece. Third, the article must be more informative rather than

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instructive and assertive. Fourth and most importantly, the claims of the author require to be
supported by clear and relevant premises along with strong academic evidence (Allen 2004).
That is to say, for the present article to be a position piece, the claims cannot be based on any
hypothetical situation and the claims require to be supported by strong academic evidence that
the author of the article under discussion has not provided.

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References
Allen, M., 2004. Smart thinking: Skills for critical understanding and writing.
Becker, M.W., Alzahabi, R. and Hopwood, C.J., 2013. Media multitasking is associated with
symptoms of depression and social anxiety. Cyberpsychology, Behavior, and Social Networking,
16(2), pp.132-135.
Brick, J., 2009. Academic culture: A student's guide to studying at university. Macmillan
Education AU.
Das, S. and Nayak, T., 2013. Impact of cyber crime: issues and challenges. International Journal
of Engineering Sciences & Emerging Technologies, 6(2), pp.142-153.
Dubrofsky, R.E. and Wood, M.M., 2014. Posting racism and sexism: Authenticity, agency and
self-reflexivity in social media. Communication and Critical/Cultural Studies, 11(3), pp.282-
287.
Hay, I., Bochner, D., Blacket, G. and Dungey, C., 2012. Making the grade: A guide to successful
communication and study. Oxford University Press.
Lumby, C., 2018. Enough with the moral panic over smartphones. The kids are all right |
Catharine Lumby. [online] the Guardian. Available at:
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/aug/10/enough-with-the-moral-panic-over-
smartphones-the-kids-are-alright [Accessed 1 Mar. 2018].

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Tynes, B.M., Rose, C.A. and Markoe, S.L., 2013. Extending campus life to the Internet: Social
media, discrimination, and perceptions of racial climate. Journal of Diversity in Higher
Education, 6(2), p.102.
Whitley, J., Smith, J.D. and Vaillancourt, T., 2013. Promoting mental health literacy among
educators: Critical in school-based prevention and intervention. Canadian Journal of School
Psychology, 28(1), pp.56-70.