Western Composition TODAY Week 13 Cause and Effect

Western Composition

TODAY! Week 13 • Cause and Effect Essays! pg. 245 • Argumentation Essay body due! (I will collect those now) • Today we will have MORE writing practice! YAY!!!

Here's a quote for you! “Shallow men believe in luck or in circumstance. Strong men believe in cause and effect. ” ― Ralph Waldo Emerson

REVIEW What are the 4 steps in the writing process? Prewriting, Drafting, Revising, Editing What are the 4 bases of writing an essay? Unity, Support, Coherence, Sentence Skills What are the 4 steps in essay writing? Begin with a Point or Thesis, Support the Thesis with Specific Evidence, Organize and Connect the Specific Evidence, Revising Sentences What are the 6 strategies for revising sentences effectively? Parallelism, Consistent Point of View, Specific Words, Active Verbs, Concise words, Varying Sentences

REVIEW What are the 4 main patterns of essay development? Description Narration Exposition Argumentation What are the 6 different types of exposition essays? Examples (Ch. 10) Process (Ch. 11) Cause and Effect (Ch. 12) Comparison and Contrast (Ch. 13) Definition (Ch. 14) Division and Classification (Ch. 15)

REVIEW Example: Providing examples for things that happen in everyday life. To explain statements. Process: Describes the method by which an event, task, or goal is completed Comparison and Contrast: analyze the differences and/or the similarities of two distinct subjects. Argumentation: the writer attempts to support a controversial point or to defend a position on which there is a difference of opinion. Description: a verbal picture of a person, place or thing. Narration: writer tells the story of something that happened. Exposition: the writer provides information about and explain a specific subject

Thesis REMINDER: An argumentative paper makes a claim about a topic and justifies this claim with specific evidence. The claim could be an opinion, a policy proposal, an evaluation, a cause-and-effect statement, or an interpretation. The goal of the argumentative paper is to convince the audience that the claim is true based on the evidence provided. Your claim is in your thesis, that is why it is so important!

Thesis Your thesis statement should be specificit should cover only what you will discuss in your paper and should be supported with specific evidence. The thesis statement usually appears at the end of the first paragraph of a paper. (End of your introduction!)

Thesis Example of an argumentative thesis statement: “High school graduates should be required to take a year off to pursue community service projects before entering college in order to increase their maturity, receive experience and global awareness. ” This paper should: Present an argument and give evidence to support the claim that students should pursue community projects before entering college

Thesis Take a look at your introduction. Do you have a good workable thesis statement? You need to state your point first and then tell the reader how you will prove your main point with three supporting ideas that you will use to argue your main point. Take a few minutes and talk with your classmate about how strong or weak your thesis is. Work on making it better. “I believe ______ because _______, and _____. ”

Cause and Effect • What is Cause and Effect? • Ever heard the saying 'with every action there is a reaction'? – This is a well known saying in physics • Today we are going to talk about cause and effect. Asking ourselves 'why' something happened. • Why did Gail decide to move out of her parents' house? What made you quit a well-paying job? Why are horror movies so popular? Why has Ben acted so depressed lately? Why did our team fail to make the league play-offs? • Why, Why? ? ?

Cause and Effect • Take a few minutes and read the student essays 'The Joys of an Old Car' and 'Stresses of Being a Celebrity' on pages. 245 -247 in your textbook.

Cause and Effect • The main purpose of a cause and effect essay is to explain to your audience: – Causes of a particular event or situation – Effects of an event or situation – A combination of both

Cause and Effect • Using the 2 student essay examples that you just read, think about a situation in your life where there was some obvious cause and effect. • This could be many things: – Why are you a Sias student? Why are you an English major? Why do you enjoy the things you enjoy? Why do you do what you do? Why do you like to eat certain foods? Why do you like the people you like? Why do you have a certain job? Why do you want a certain job. . . Why, why. .

Cause and Effect • On page 249 -251, read the section titled 'Development through Prewriting' • Now it is your turn. Think about something that has a cause and effect. Begin your prewriting process now. – If you need more examples, read the essays on pages 253 -257 • Try to finish your prewriting before the break.

Cause and Effect • Begin your 'Cause and Effect' Draft. • You have until the end of class to finish this essay. If you have any questions, please let me know. • I will collect this essay at the end of class. If you are not finished, do not worry, it will not hurt your grade. As always, try your best. (You are graded not on how much you write, but on how much effort you put forth. )

Cause and Effect • Begin your 'Cause and Effect' Draft. • You have until the end of class to finish this essay. If you have any questions, please let me know. • I will collect this essay at the end of class. If you are not finished, do not worry, it will not hurt your grade. As always, try your best. (You are graded not on how much you write, but on how much effort you put forth. )

Homework! • Argumentation Essay conclusion due. – Type your conclusion and bring it to class next week • Read 'Developing a Strong Thesis Statement' on our website.