Cause/Effect Essay Assignment
You will compose a Cause/Effect essay regarding a social, cultural or news trend. Ensure that your topic is as narrow as possible. The essay will be a minimum of 3-4 pages and use a minimum of 3 database sources (no more than one Credo Reference source.) If necessary, additional scholarly, peer-reviewed sources are welcome, however 3 sources MUST be from the databases. Additional sources may come from gallup.com, procon or other scholarly sources.
1. Introduction and Conclusion
A strong introduction will contain a clear thesis statement and hook and should preview the structure of the paper. The thesis should indicate a cause/effect structure. Remember, you may focus ONLY on causes or ONLY on effects. Communicate your approach in the thesis statement and use the opinion + 3 point structure.
A strong conclusion will somehow restate the thesis, wrap up without depending on simple summary and have some tie to the introduction.
2. Background information
Provide a brief, but informative history/background of the trend. You might devote a separate section or filter this information into the body of the essay. Ask yourself what the reader needs to know to understand this topic.
3. Cause/Effect
Focus on causes OR effects. Be sure to avoid process analysis and post hoc fallacies. Analyze the relationships between the different parts and sequences of your topic and how they interact with each other over timeto produce a specific outcome.
4. Integration of Sources
Depend on your sources when appropriate, but be sure to avoid patch writing. Ensure that all writing appears in your own words. Work to "space out" your sources. This means that you should not rely very heavily on one or two sources. All sources should be used in your in-text citations. Cite as evenly as possible to avoid bias. If you are unable to use a source in your paper, this is an indication that it is not an appropriate source. Omit it and find something else. All sources should be current (from the last 5 years) unless there is a good reason for using an older source.
5. Grammar/Usage and Flow
Avoid grammar and MLA errors. Avoid awkward transitions between or within sentences and paragraphs