If you think about it, speculations about causes or effects often drive our day-to-day lives. We live with very few "facts." For example, billions of dollars are invested each day in the New York and American stock exchanges, and none of the investments are "sure things." Investors have faith, often justified, in the predictive skills of market analysts. And of course we’ve all become aware of the faith that almost all those investors and analysts have in one person, Alan Greenspan, Chairman of the Federal Reserve (sometimes called "the most powerful man in America"). In the human sciences, psychologists and sociologists are typically concerned with predicting the behavior of individuals or groups. And, like historians, they often try to interpret the past in order to gain a view of the future.

This writing assignment will give you the opportunity to gaze into the past or the future and contribute to our endless discussions about the factors that shape our world today as well as those that will determine the shape of our world of the future.

This essay should be in the 7 to 10 page range, and you will need to conduct formal research. In addition, I expect that some of your research will produce quantitative/statistical information that you will use in your argument. More simply, I expect you to use some numbers to support your thesis.

Choose a subject: trend, event, phenomenon:

List as many possibilities as you can on your own

Then make separate lists for

Choose a subject that’s really interesting to you, one that you can investigate with enthusiasm. After choosing the subject, decide whether you are more interested in the causes or effects of the trend, event, or phenomena. Here are some other possibilities

increase in female interest in sciences/math/team sports?

employees more docile or eager to please management?

increase in professionalism in day-care centers?

• what might cause a group to do something

why people stay in or drop out of college

become devoted to "strenuous" exercise

abuse spouses

join cults or gangs

become vegetarians

listen to talk radio

stay in one particular spiritual faith group

why people leave a particular faith or church

pregnancy rate among unmarried teens

dropout rates

costs of college

unsafe working conditions

high employee turnover at your job

poor academic advising

too many required courses

traffic problems

over-development in the local community

lack of good bookstores (they’ll fight over this one!)

limited access to local news

• recall recent controversial decisions by college or community leaders

controversial decisions about campus life (dorms, services, policy decisions)

future of your community (growth, transportation, safety)

• commitment and/or alienation

what causes us to develop a sense of commitment?

effects of having or losing a sense of commitment

• "the tyranny of"

the tyranny of leisure time

working while in college

commuting

ambition

television

living at home

poverty

workplace rules

both parents working

gun control

• sports: phenomenon, event, or trend

why a particular team has done well, or poorly, this season

why increased popularity of women’s sports

why some high schools or colleges fail to adequately support women’s teams

changes in management or playing style

how trend in higher salaries affects a particular sport

how the 94-95 baseball strike influenced fans’ perception of the sport

parents’ sacrifices for their children

neglect or abuse of their children

cheat on exams

choose a major in a particular discipline

choose particular work or career

become vegetarian (or decline to)

smoke cigarettes

become active in student government

persist in racist or sexist behavior

persist in dangerous sexual practices

fail to vote (at various levels)

be optimistic about the future (or pessimistic)

devote time or money to improve the lives of others

Write a focused freewrite that covers the following questions:

What interests me in this subject?

What is there about it that might interest readers?

What do I already know about it?

Why don’t we already have an accepted explanation for this subject?

What causes or effects have people already suggested?

How can I learn more? (Research!!)

Before research begins, make a list of possible causes or effects. Then identify those that seem the most convincing. Do you have enough to make a strong argument? How might you convince the readers of these causes or effects?

Research the causes/effects you’ve listed. Make sure to investigate the arguments made by experts in the area. You may add to your library and electronic research with interviews of experts in the area you’re investigating.

5. Analyze the Readers

Produce another focused freewrite that

Identifies your readers

Reviews what they might know about the subject and

Discusses how they can be convinced by your proposed causes or effects

A good collaborative activity

Meet with your group

Group members then relate what causes/effects come to mind when they think

about the subject

You shouldn’t get involved in the discussion--but take careful notes and ask for

clarification if you need it

Try to exhaust all the possibilities

The quality of your drafts will be determined with the following criteria:

1. The essay clearly presents the event, trend, or phenomenon.

2. The essay logically, rationally, makes an argument for the

causes or effects discussed

3. Quantitative data/statistics are used in a reasonable way to

support the argument

4. The essay anticipates objections and alternative causes/effects,

and perhaps refutes them (if judged necessary)

5. The essay is authoritative; the writer has credibility in the

readers’ eyes because of the strength of the argument

6. Credibility is strengthened through the writer’s command of the

conventions of Standard Edited English and appropriate

documentation of references