Cause and Effect Essay

1. Cause and Effect Essay

2. 1) Make chart of causes and effects • Identify the specific relationships on that chart • 2) 3 options: • Discuss causes • Discuss effects • Discuss both (keep scope limited) Planning

3. Essay must present and support a particular thesis • Ex: p. 328 (1stpara.) • Thesis statement should: • Identify the relationships among the specific causes or effects you discuss • Indicate the significance of the causes or effects  ARGUMENT Thesis statement

4. Ex 1: Facebook revolutionized the way that people date. • Not a thesis • Just an observation • Very general (not specific) Thesis - example

5. Ex 2: Facebook altered the way that people ask others to go on a date, and in effect made a task that was scarier in the past much easier and less socially awkward. • Thesis • Specific • States the significance of an effect

6. Thesis tells reader 3 things: • 1) issues you plan to consider • 2) position you will take on those issues • 3) whether your emphasis is on causes, effects, or both Thesis statement

7. May also explicitly or implicitly indicate the main cause or effect you will focus on May include the order you will present your points Thesis Statement

8. 1) Chronological order • Be careful of post hoc reasoning! • 2) Introduce main cause first, then contributory (or do the opposite—save the best for last) • 3) focus on positive consequences, briefly summarize negative (vice versa) Arranging Causes and effects: Options

9. 4) Dismiss any events that were not causes • Explain what the real causes were (helps to avoid post hoc reasoning) • 5) Begin with most obvious causes or effects • Move to the more subtle causes or effects Arranging Causes and effects: Options

10. The first cause, The second cause, One result, Another result, Transitions – distinguish causes from effects

11. Main cause = • Most important • Contributory causes = • Least important/Another cause I.e. Hartford Roof Collapse Main cause: Roof Design Contributory cause: Weight of Snow Transitions – show causal relationships

12. Immediate cause = • Closely precedes the effect; most obvious • Remote cause = • Less obvious; possibly in the past or far away i.e. Hartford Roof Collapse: Immediate cause: Weight of Snow (straw that broke the camel’s back) Remote causes: Roof design, improper maintenance, etc. Transitions – show causal relationships

13. Let’s take a look at the student’s example in your Patterns textbook: Pg 333: The Irish Famine How is it organized? Structure

14. The Irish Famine Introduction: (Thesis statement) 1st Cause: Failure of Crop 2nd Cause: Landlord-tenant system 3rd Cause: Failures of government policy 4th Cause: British prejudice Results of the famine Conclusion, more nuanced Structure

15. In this essay, all causes are seen as important and interrelated. Evelyn starts with immediate cause of the famine: failure of potato crop. Ends with most remote cause: British Prejudice Structure

16. This was an answer to an exam question. Hence, it could be improved: More interesting opening (eyewitness account of famine’s effects. Quote from AModest Proposal by Jonathan Swift) Structure

17. 2. Her conclusion could have been developed further, pointing towards the nation’s eventual recovery. Or commenting further on the enrichment of other nations alluded to at the end of the conclusion. Structure

18. 3. Body paragraphs could have included supporting statistics/quotes from historians/or a brief history of Ireland before the Famine. Structure

19. By the end of the block, please complete the following and print: • Choose a topic and an approach (causes, effects, or both). • Find at least two secondary sources to support your argument. • Prepare a preliminary Works Cited page which lists the two sources. You may use easybib.com. By the end of the block

20. Due Tuesday, 1/14 500words (~2 typed pages); place word count at end of essay Bibliography (1-2 sources; use easybib.com; MLA format) see Purdue Online Writing Lab Typed, double-spaced Turnitin.com 100 pts Assignment