Practice the WSA Position Task
When you take the actual assessment, you will be given 90 minutes to complete two tasks - the Persuasion Task and the Position Task. It will be up to you to manage your time; no-one will tell you when to stop one task and start the other. Practice writing your answers to this Position Task and the previous Persuasion Task until you feel you can give your best possible answers to both questions in 90 minutes.
Position Task
In a recent survey, UW business professors were asked what skills they would seek in students entering the Undergraduate Program. Critical thinking and written and oral communication were high on their list.
Apply critical thinking—that is, thinking characterized by careful analysis and objective evaluation—to one of the two statements below. As soon as you have made your choice, copy the letter “A” or “B” and the first three words of the statement in the “Topic Title” blank on the front of the Position booklet. Then plan and write an essay according to the specific directions following the two statements.
A. The opinion of the majority is not the final proof of what is right.
B. There is no rule without an exception.
Directions: On the statement of your choice, write a unified essay in which you do the following: Explain what you think the statement means. Discuss why you would accept, reject, or alter it. Support your position with reasons and examples from your own experience or observations, current affairs, academic studies or other sources.
There is no “right” or “wrong” answer. Your response will be evaluated on overall quality, including how skillfully and insightfully you support your position and how clearly you organize and express your ideas, following the conventions of standard written English.
