 Please clear desks for a reading check on the chapter you read last class.  Hand in Questions on “Earth Without People”

 1) Make chart of causes and effects  Identify the specific relationships on that chart  2) 3 options:  Discuss causes  Discuss effects  Discuss both (keep scope limited)

 Essay must present and support a particular thesis  Ex: p. 328 (1 st para.)  Thesis statement should:  Identify the relationships among the specific causes or effects you discuss  Indicate the significance of the causes or effects  ARGUMENT

 Ex 1: Facebook revolutionized the way that people date.  Not a thesis ▪ Just an observation ▪ Very general (not specific)

 Ex 2: Facebook altered the way that people ask others to go on a date, and in effect made a task that was scarier in the past much easier and less socially awkward.  Thesis ▪ Specific ▪ States the significance of an effect

 Thesis tells reader 3 things:  1) issues you plan to consider  2) position you will take on those issues  3) whether your emphasis is on causes, effects, or both

 May also explicitly or implicitly indicate the main cause or effect you will focus on  May include the order you will present your points

 1) Chronological order  Be careful of post hoc reasoning!  2) Introduce main cause first, then contributory (or do the opposite—save the best for last)  3) focus on positive consequences, briefly summarize negative (vice versa)

 4) Dismiss any events that were not causes  Explain what the real causes were (helps to avoid post hoc reasoning)  5) Begin with most obvious causes or effects  Move to the more subtle causes or effects

 The first cause,  The second cause,  One result,  Another result,

 Main cause =  Most important  Contributory causes =  Least important/Another cause I.e. Hartford Roof Collapse Main cause: Roof Design Contributory cause: Weight of Snow

 Immediate cause =  Closely precedes the effect; most obvious  Remote cause =  Less obvious; possibly in the past or far away i.e. Hartford Roof Collapse: Immediate cause: Weight of Snow (straw that broke the camel’s back) Remote causes: Roof design, improper maintenance, etc.

 Let’s take a look at the student’s example in your Patterns textbook: Pg 333: The Irish Famine How is it organized?

 The Irish Famine Introduction: (Thesis statement) 1st Cause: Failure of Crop 2 nd Cause: Landlord-tenant system 3 rd Cause: Failures of government policy 4 th Cause: British prejudice Results of the famine Conclusion, more nuanced

 In this essay, all causes are seen as important and interrelated.  Evelyn starts with immediate cause of the famine: failure of potato crop.  Ends with most remote cause: British Prejudice

 This was an answer to an exam question. Hence, it could be improved: 1. More interesting opening (eyewitness account of famine’s effects. Quote from A Modest Proposal by Jonathan Swift) 2. Her conclusion could have been developed further, pointing towards the nation’s eventual recovery. Or commenting further on the enrichment of other nations alluded to at the end of the conclusion. 3. Body paragraphs could have included supporting statistics/quotes from historians/or a brief history of Ireland before the Famine.

1. Pick Topic, Cause and/or Effect Focus, and write a prelimary thesis for next Class (3/06) or next time we see each other 2. Essay Due Date Extended: Monday 3/16 or next corresponding class! 3. We will be watching a Documentary Food, Inc. for the next couple of classes… 4. Ishmael to begin after that…(Late Next Week or earlt the week after that!)