In high school and college you will write
several essays that use the expository technique of Cause and Effect. A Cause and Effect technique may control an
entire essay or it may be part of an essay. For example, in an essay that discusses how heat
lightening works, part of the essay might explain the effects of heat
lightening. Similarly, if you were
writing a narrative about how you had to suddenly move back to the mainland,
your narrative might include why you had to move as well as some of the effects
this sudden move had upon you. Cause and
Effect analysis can stand alone or can be combined with other writing
patterns. It just depends upon the
purpose you are trying to achieve and your audience.
Sometimes Cause and Effect analyses include an explanation
of causal chains. In a causal chain, a
cause leads to an effect; that effect becomes a cause that leads to another
effect; then that effect becomes a cause, and so on. For example, if being tall made a person feel
awkward (effect); feeling awkward (cause) may have reduced their
self-confidence (effect); their reduced self-confidence (cause) may make it
hard for them to later make friends (effect).
After you choose your topic, be mindful of a couple
Fallacies (errors in logic).
1.) Oversimplification.
Most cause-and-effect relationships are complex, involving multiple
causes and effects. Failure to consider
important causes or effects is oversimplification.
Example: Violence against children is solely the result of
poverty and lack of education. While
this may be true, it does not take into account several other causal
relationships that lead to child abuse.
2.) Post hoc, ergo propter hoc, which means “after this,
therefore because of this” assumes that a later event was caused by an earlier
non-related event. Taken to extremes,
this error in logic can lead to superstitious thinking, like when a person sprains
their ankle after breaking a mirror. Certainly the act of breaking a mirror
could not contribute to spraining ones ankle.
That’s just silly thinking!
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| Cavemen Logic |
New Resources are posted for you on the webpage under Third Essay Assignment. There you will find a sample Cause and Effect essay. There are questions that follow this sample essay. Part of your response needs to comment on one of the questions and then post your essay. There is also a list of possible topics that includes a brief discussion on Cause and Effect essays. As noted before, you may choose your own topic, but please keep it PG-13. And this time I posted a couple graphic organizers that may help you.
Please read these resources. They are the fastest way for me to communicate content and for you to improve your writing.
WARNING: Sometimes postings can be lost while trying to post; therefore, create your essay in a word doc then copy/paste it into the posting section of this blog.
Assignment:
1.) Read the sample Cause and Effect essay. Think about possible answers to the four questions that follow the essay.
2.) Review the list of possible Cause and Effect essay. This file also has a brief discussion on Cause and Effect essays.
3.) Post your response which should include:
- A discussion on one of the four questions that follows the essay "Learning to Hate Mathematics" by Anne Miller. Then post . . .
- Your Cause and Effect essay that shows you thought about some of the rhetorical techniques that Anne Miller uses. Remember, rhetorical techniques have to do with the art of persuasion by using language in an aesthetically pleasing manner. This means I would like to see you include figurative language such as a metaphor, perhaps the use of a framing device where the introduction and conclusion has a common thread, the use of description and dialogue and so on. . .
- Finally, post your response to two classmates' essays. Please bump-up the quality of your responses to your peers. While these essays and your responses to your peers are credit/no credit, this is your opportunity to practice what you will be doing once the school year begins. So do not state a broad vague response such as, "I really liked your topic. That was really creative. I blah, blah, blah, blah." You need to get specific. Whenever you make a statement, you need to follow it up with a specific example and then explain why whatever you are noting is important. Or, you may have a discussion with the author. You could relate a similar incident that the author discusses or you could ask the author a question and explain to them why you would like to have an answer to this question. I will try to comment on some of the Classification essays in order to model this again for everyone. Please remember that while I do not respond or comment on everyone's essays, I do read them all. The essays are great but the commentary is weak.
DUE DATES:
Your Cause and Effect Essay with a discussion on one of the questions that follows the sample essay, "Learning to Hate Mathematics": Post By Friday, June 30th.
Your Comments on Two of your Peer's Essays: Post By Monday, July 1st.
Please be advised of the following:
- This is a Graded Assignment of Pass/Fail. No Rubric included; but nonsense writing will not receive credit--and this includes pointless comments to your peers such as: "I really liked your essay" or "I never knew how to change a tire before and now I know." You need to practice noticing details or the lack thereof. But make your comments supportive and meaningful; otherwise, don't comment and just lose part of the credit.
- Use Net Etiquette when responding to your peers, i.e., "Dear Kanoe" and "Sincerely Michael."
- Do not adhere to MLA format for your essay, meaning heading, spacing, font, and such; otherwise, your essay will take up too much room on the blog site. But give your essay a title.
- Include your name and the name of your Academy at the end of the essay.
- Most importantly: Have Fun! Writing should be fun and not painful. So find something that makes you want to share it with others. This way you will be able to do your best work and practice what makes a good writer: Someone who cares deeply and passionately about their subject. Once you care about your topic/subject, the rest of the essay becomes easy.
