Controversy Causal Analysis/Argument

WP#2: WP#2 is a Causal Analysis/Argument. You will need to examine either the most significant causes or consequences for your controversy. Your audience will of course be your teacher, but you will also want to think of audience as your group members/peers. They are invested in your topic, and this essay is a chance for you to provide further analysis discussion of the significance of your controversy. This writing project should be 4-6 full pages, not including the works cited page. And it will require you to cite and correctly document at least four appropriate sources. See below for further requirements.

Topic Selection: You will most likely want to stick with the topic you used for WP#1€”your controversy. However, if you do not want to further explore that topic, you can choose another. If you choose another topic, it needs to be another field-specific controversy. You will need to use the same criteria for choosing a new topic that you used for choosing a topic for WP#1.

Drafting your Causal Analysis/Argument:

1. Your first goal in this writing project is to present at least three causes for your controversy or to present at least three consequences for your controversy. If you are looking at causes, then your controversy is the consequence. If you are looking at consequences, then your controversy is the cause.

If your controversy is a type of problem then you may want to look at consequences that show it as a problem. Or if you need to argue that your controversy is indeed a significant controversy, you may want to look at the significant consequences of that controversy.

Know that you need to explain each cause or controversy thoroughly and clearly connect it to your controversy.

2. Your next goal is to provide an argument for the cause or consequence you find most significant. Certainly, all of the causes/consequences may be significant, but you want to highlight the one you find most compelling. This is the cause or consequence you will spend the most time discussing, showing how it relates to your controversy as well as how and why it is more significant than the other causes/consequences you identify. This will require you offer some comparison/contrast among the different causes or consequences.

3. You will need to provide a claim early in your essay. You claim will identify what you hope to achieve in your essay and which cause or consequence you want to highlight as being most significant and why. This will be your argument.

4. As you draft this writing project, know that analyzing causes and consequences is about establishing relationships between different pieces of material. You need to make sure your relationships of either cause or consequence are clear. Sometimes it can be difficult to always clearly see and present those relationships. Do watch out that your analysis does not become circular. Know that the cause/consequence relationship is like flattening out a topic on a timeline. A cause always comes before a consequence. In turn, a consequence can be a cause for a later event, etc.

5. A cause/consequence discussion often leads to solution proposals. You will not be addressing that here. That will be saved for WP#3. You may find you want to briefly set the stage for some type of solution proposal towards the end of this essay, but you do not want to turn WP#2 into a solutions proposal. .

6. While you need to discuss at least three causes or three consequences, know that you are free to discuss more. Also, make sure that you are not simply presenting three causes and three consequences. It is easy to turn this essay into an informative essay and forget the argument requirement. You must highlight the cause or consequence you want to argue for as being most significant. And part of this is of course addressing how and why it is most significant. Key terms for analysis in this writing project are how and why.

7. Know that in presenting a causal analysis/argument, it can be difficult to identify a cause or a consequence as a cut and dried absolute. Of course, sometimes we have the source support to show an absolute direct link. Other times, we have to rely more on conjecture. Know that conjecture is far more reliable if you have solid source support, if you develop your argument in a logical manner, if you are thorough in your development, etc. This is what makes a well-developed, academic essay and what makes your argument more acceptable.

8. Know that casual analysis, because it does often have to rely on conjecture, is also to logical fallacies. You want to make sure you do not draw illogical conclusions; you want to make sure you do not over generalize; etc. Also, you need to make sure you allow that there could be many more causes/consequences than what you have discussed. Qualify your points so you do not suggest that there are only a few possible causes/consequences. Read Chapter 17 Fallacies of Argument carefully for a discussion of argument fallacies you want to avoid.

9. Think of the place for creativity in presenting your definition argument. One way you can think of elements of creativity is to incorporate visuals into your essay. Keep in mind that visuals do not take the place of text, but they enhance text. They help to show your readers your ideas. Visuals are not required for this essay, but they most certainly may be appropriate. You can incorporate visuals into the body of your essay, or you may want to include them in an appendix to your essay. An appendix is a separate document that you put at the end of the essay. In the essay itself, you refer your readers to that appendix. If you choose to include visuals, it must be clear in your essay how they fit and how you would like your audience to understand them.

10. If you have material you have presented in WP#1 that is appropriate for this essay, you can use it. However, know that the focus of this essay is quite different from WP#1, thus you will not want to reproduce large chunks of that essay here. If you do take something from WP#1 and use it in WP#2, you do not need to quote or document yourself. You may also find that you use some of the same sources from WP#1 to WP#2. However, do not let this deter you from conducting additional research. If you continue to research, you may find more appropriate sources for your goals here.
Research Requirements: Your essay must use at least four field-appropriate* sources. At least two of these must be academic or professional journal articles. Certainly, you may find that you use more than this base requirement. Also, know that your sources must be current. If you use dated sources, your entire argument loses relevance and reliability. You must correctly use in-text citations and list all sources regardless of format in a correctly formatted works-cited page. Use MLA style.

*Field appropriate sources are the kinds of sources scholars/professionals in the field use. Field specific research excludes general-use dictionaries, general-use encyclopedias, Wikipedia, personal websites, and most popular magazines and popular newspaper articles.

Using Research:
You will be expected to accurately incorporate source material into your essay, using quotes, paraphrases and summaries. While there is no limit on how many of each you need to use here, do know that you do not want to overdo any one strategy, particularly quotes. Also, you do not want your essay to be all source material. You need to be able to make connections between material and you need to be able to illustrate your own understanding of source material for it to be meaningful to an audience. Review Chapter 19 of your textbook.

Make sure you provide an accurate works cited page at the end of your essay that lists your source material. You will use MLA format for all documentation and works cited. See Chapter 20 of your textbook as well as other resource sites, such as the Purdue Online Writing lab website.

Structure: Always consider the basics of essay organization.
An Introduction needs to grab your audiences€™ attention. Ask yourself how you are going to get your readers interested in your essay. This might be a good place to set up context for your own interest as well as why readers should be interested. The introduction could also be a good place to introduce the controversy. You also need to provide a claim early in your essay. Know that your introduction does not have to be just one paragraph. However, in shorter essays, such as this, you do not want to wait too long to get to the meat of your discussion.

You need a body that presents the bulk of your discussion. This is where you will discuss your controversy, your causes and or consequences, etc. You will use examples, research, etc. here.

You need a conclusion that clearly concludes your essay. You may find that you want to set the stage for your upcoming essay on solutions/proposal, but you do not want to devote too much discussion to that in this essay. You do not want to introduce new ideas, but for college-level writing, you need to go beyond the dull conclusion that simply restates what you have already said. Think of conclusions that give your reader something to think about. What would you like your audience to take away from your discussion? Remember the conclusion is the last thing your readers read. What information/understanding do you want them to leave with?