24/FAWZ*ENG*1300*W14 (COMPOSITION FOR ELL I)

U9: Introduction to Cause-Effect

In this unit, you will learn how to think and write about cause and effect. 

You will learn about immediate causes,  ultimate causes, and causal chains, and you will learn that no phenomenon can really be understood, and thus no problem can really be solved, unless  the ultimate causes are addressed (if, indeed, they can be addressed).

By Monday evening (November 11), you will submit an outline for a Cause-Effect essay.  You can choose one of these phenomena:

 

The Causes of the Climate Crisis

Read this article Links to an external site. and look at these charts Links to an external site.. 

 

The Causes of China's Population Crisis

Read this article from Scientific American Links to an external site. and look at this page from Our World In Data Links to an external site.. 

 

The Causes of China's Obesity Epidemic

Read this article from Nature Links to an external site.and look at this page from Our World In Data. Links to an external site. 

 

Your outline should, when giving the warrant, explain the effects of the phenomenon and thus why this phenomenon is worth understanding. 

In your outline for the body of the essay, you should then, beginning with immediate causes, work backwards along the causal chain until you have identified the phenomenon's ultimate causes. 

In your outline for the conclusion of the essay, you should (after restating your thesis) explain how the ultimate causes of the phenomenon can be addressed, or, if they cannot be addressed, you should explain the likely effects of failing to address them.  

 

Resources

Here is the Cause-Effect rubric Links to an external site.. 

Here is a model Cause-Effect essay Links to an external site. about the Syrian Civil War. 

Here is an outline Links to an external site. to help you organize your thoughts about the causes of climate change. 

Assignments