Write an essay of three to four typewritten, double-spaced pages (at least three full pages) on a topic of your devising that employs a pattern of cause and/or effect. You may write more than four pages if you choose, but see me if your draft runs to more than five full pages; probably you will need to reduce the scope of your essay. If you wish, you may concentrate on causes or on effects or on both. Review the material in the textbook on developing a thesis and organizing an essay (Chapters 1-3).

Before you begin: Read carefully Chapter 10 on Cause and Effect (from our Patterns textbook). Also
review Chapters 1 – 5 on the Writing Process.
Write an essay of three to four typewritten, double-spaced pages (at least three full pages) on a topic of
your devising that employs a pattern of cause and/or effect. You may write more than four pages if you
choose, but see me if your draft runs to more than five full pages; probably you will need to reduce the
scope of your essay. If you wish, you may concentrate on causes or on effects or on both. Review the
material in the textbook on developing a thesis and organizing an essay (Chapters 1-3).
Note: This is NOT an Argumentative essay. It is expository. You will be examining how or why
something happened and/or what the result of that something was or is. See again p. 50 and p. 55. You
will not be writing an argumentative essay about what should have been done to avoid the cause or
effect. You will be writing an Argumentative essay as your fourth essay. You may use some material
from Essay 1 in your future argumentative essay. Or you can pursue a new subject. Either is OK.
There are many possible topics. If you can’t think of one at first, review all of the questions after each of
the readings in Chapter 10 for ideas. Also, check the list of topics at the end of the chapter (pp. 367-
68). Look again at the instructions for the Diagnostic Essay you wrote in the first week; there are
suggestions other than COVID-19. Use free writing, brainstorming, or clustering as methods to explore
your ideas. If you still can’t think of a topic or if you dislike the suggestions in the textbook, see me.
You do not need to choose a topic that demands outside research; you will have plenty of time to do that
in your research paper and argumentative essay. You can probably rely on your own knowledge and
experience to write an essay about, say, the effect of requiring public high school students to wear
uniforms or the causes of student apathy. However, if you choose to write about a topic that requires
research or previous knowledge (i.e. a topic that cannot come from only your own experiences), you must
document your sources fully. If you use any kinds of outside information, including material from other
courses or from anything you look at online, you must document them fully using MLA format, including
both In-text citations and a Works Cited page. See Chapters 16 through 18 (especially pages 730-49) for
the proper format, or see me if you have questions. Review the statements about plagiarism on the
syllabus. When in doubt, cite your source. Check the syllabus for instructions on proper paper format.