Summary

• Expository writing is often used to explain the causes and effects of particular events.

• Expository writing may begin with a cause and analyze its effects, or begin with an effect and trace back to its causes.

• In order to analyze a cause-and-effect process convincingly, the writer must present accurate and relevant details.

Drafting

1). Choose three historic events. For each event you choose, list three things that helped to cause the event, or three effects that event had.

2). Read your lists of causes and effects. Decide which one would make the most interesting cause-and-effect essay. Write a one-sentence cause-and-effect statement that gives your main idea. For example:

The invention of the steamship brought travel for pleasure and a greater variety of goods within the reach of many people.

Increased taxes and rising unemployment caused discontent throughout the country.

3). List at least ten details to support your main idea.

4). Read your list carefully. As you read, ask yourself the following questions:

• What other details, if any, should be added to the list?

• Which details, if any, do not directly support the cause-and-effect statement?

Then revise your list. Reword, add, or take out items to make your list as clear and as complete as possible.

5). Write a concluding statement for your essay.

6). Organize your cause-and-effect statement, list, and conclud­ing statement into an outline.

Composing

Use your cause-and-effect statement and your outline to write a cause-and-effect essay. You may want to use your cause-and-effect statement exactly as it is in your essay, or you may wish to reword it or divide it into two or more sentences.

Revising

Read your essay carefully. As you read, ask yourself the following questions:

• What cause-and-effect relationship is traced in the essay? Is the re­lationship traced from cause to effect or from effect to cause?

• How was the cause-and-effect statement used in the essay? How might it be made clearer and more precise?

• Which accurate and relevant details support each statement of cause? Which details, if any, might be added? Which details, if any, should be eliminated because they are either not accurate or not relevant?

• Which details support each statement of effect? Which details, if any, might be added? Which details, if any, should be eliminated because they are either not accurate or not relevant?

• What is the concluding statement? How might it be made clearer and more precise?

Proofreading

Proofread your essay. Follow the steps presented in the Proofread­ing Checklist on page 142. Correct any mistakes you have made in sentence structure, capitalization, punctuation, or spelling.

5. Planning a Persuasive Essay

The purpose of a persuasive essay is to convince the reader to think or act in a certain way. A successful persuasive essay is carefully planned and developed to achieve that purpose.

The first step in planning a successful persuasive essay is to limit the topic of the essay. Like other kinds of essays, the persuasive essay must deal with a specific topic that can be reasonably covered within a limited space.

After the selection of a topic, the next step in planning a persuasive essay is to choose and define a specific issue related to that topic. The definition of the issue should be a single sentence - either a statement or a question - that poses the central concern of the persuasive essay. The issue selected for a successful persuasive essay must be one that can be argued rationally. It cannot depend entirely on personal opinion or on facts, A clear definition of the issue, though it will not necessarily be directly included in the final composition, can serve as a guide throughout the drafting and composing of a persuasive essay.

The third step in planning a successful essay is to select and state a specific position on the issue to be argued. The statement of that posi­tion is called a major proposition. The major proposition is especially important. It serves as the thesis statement of a persuasive essay. The major proposition of a successful persuasive essay must be based on an issue that can be argued rationally. It must be specific. It must be ex­pressed in clear language, free from loaded words.