Cause and Effect
Why do things happen?
Cause and Effect
• Links situations and events together in time
• Causes precede Effects
• Cause and Effect analysis explains:
• Why something happened
• Why something is happening
• Predicts what might happen
Several Causes/Effects
• Sometimes many causes lead to one effect
• Many causes contribute to a decision
• several reasons (causes) for leaving home
country and moving to US (effect)
• Single cause can also lead to several effects
• Immigration to US causes several effects
Main and Contributory Causes
• Main cause: Most important
• Contributory causes: Less important
• Important to identify to properly organize essay
around Main causes
• Example of roof collapse
• Main cause—poor roof design
• Contributory cause—weight of snow
Immediate and Remote Causes
• Immediate Cause: closely precedes an effect
• Remote Cause: less obvious; could be something
from the past
• Roof collapse example
• Immediate cause: weight of snow
• Remote causes: roof design, poor
maintenance
Understanding Causal Chains
• One thing leads to another, which leads to
another, and so on.
• Therefore, an effect can also be a cause
• Important not to leave out any links in the chain
• Links must be in proper order
• Ex: Global warming > climate change > refugee
crisis > increase in terrorism > increase risk to US
Avoid Logical Fallacy:
Post hoc ergo propter hoc
•If A occurs after B, then B must have
caused A
•Mistaking coincidence for causality
•Ex: Highway fatalities and drinking age
THE WRITING
PROCESS
How do we write effective essays?
Refer to Chapter 11 in The St. Martin’s Guide for
further information.
PROCESS VS. PRODUCT
Many courses are focused on Product, not Process
For example, a history professor wants an eight
page essay on the Great Depression by a certain
due date
The professor wants the eight page paper by the
due date, and will give it a grade based on its
quality as Product, and is not particularly
concerned with the Process followed to arrive at
the Product
For this course, the emphasis is on Process over
Product. Final drafts will be turned in and
graded, but the Process is even more important
and will also be graded via Workshops and Class
Participation quizzes
Plus, students may revise the first two essays for
potentially higher grades after they have been
evaluated
To begin:
spend some
time just
contemplating
the topics that
are most
important to
you.
STEPS TO WRITING: PRE-WRITING
Before beginning any essay, students should
begin with the several steps involved in Prewriting
Too many students launch right into drafting
without sufficient pre-writing, and it shows in
content, organization, and final grades
Drafting and Free-writing are not the same
STEP 1: BRAINSTORMING
Say
a professor gives a particular
assignment, such as “Write a four page
essay on San Diego.”
Not much direction, but often this is the
case with college assignments
A student would want to begin this
assignment by determining what he or
she knows about the topic and writing it
down
Brainstorming can be in the form of a list
or a diagram, but the goal is to write down
as many things about the topic as possible
STEP 2: CLUSTER/EXPAND:
After Brainstorming, look at the list or diagram
created to consider possibilities
Similar items might be Clustered together
Some items might be right for Expansion
For example, Sea World, Balboa Park, and Legoland might
be clustered together as Family or Tourist Destinations
For example, Education might be expanded by listing all
the colleges and universities in the area
Choose a tentative topic after working list
STEP 3: FREE-WRITE, PAGE 496
After selecting a tentative topic, it is time to try it
out and see if it will work
One good way to do this is by Free-writing
Write for a designated amount of time, say ten
minutes or so, without stopping
Don’t think too much before you write—the goal
is to think while you write
Grammar, spelling, and organization are not the
main goals of Free-writing
If you have a lot of trouble writing for a few
minutes on the topic, it might not be a strong
choice. Free-write on another topic and see if it
“works” better for you
Journaling
is one way
to get your
ideas out
on paper in
an
informal
manner.
See pg. 497
STEP 4:SELECT TENTATIVE THESIS
Next,
read your free-writing and see if a
sentence stands out that conveys the Main
Idea (thesis) for what you have written
If one stands out, use this as your
Tentative Thesis Statement
Tentative means it may, and probably will,
change as the essay progresses
Can’t locate a possible thesis? Then try to
write a sentence that conveys the main
idea and use as a Tentative Thesis
You may
need to try
out a few
thesis
statements
before you
arrive at a
successful
one!
STEP 5: OUTLINE
SEE PGS. 490-493, S T. MARTIN’S GUIDE
Once
you have a topic and a tentative
thesis, it is time to develop an Outline
Many students skip this critical step in
essay writing, and as a result have essays
that lack organization and tend to wander
off topic
Writing an essay without an outline is like
going on a road trip without a map (or
GPS system!). You might eventually find
your way there, but chances are you will
have gotten lost along the way a few times
DRAFTING
Congratulations! Once all the previous prewriting steps have been completed, you are ready
to begin composing your essay!
Workshops will be a critical part of the drafting
process for this class
You are
now
ready to
begin
writing
the draft!
REVISION
After workshopping your essay (or carefully
reading it yourself) you will first want to focus on
major areas of concern that will require the reworking of your essay
Revision may involve deleting sections, writing
new sections, moving things around, or adjusting
thesis
Good
writing
comes
about
after
many
drafts!
EDITING/PROOFREADING
After
all revisions are complete, you will
want to carefully proof-read your essay
and edit any corrections needed
Editing includes correcting spelling
errors, grammar problems, and
punctuation issues
Pay special attention to any areas of your
essay you may have revised. Sometimes
when we cut and paste, parts of sentences
are left behind and need to be fixed, or
spelling errors occur
Be sure to give it one more good read
before submitting for a grade
Revising
can be
challenging,
but it
produces
great
results in
our writing!
You will feel
very happy
when you
have
completed
this process
and you see
improvement
in your
writing!
The
End
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