The main contents of the chapter consist of the following: What is evaluation essay? evaluation or review; similar yet different, steps for writing evaluation essay, topic selection, what are you evaluating , how to write an evaluation essay, dos and don''ts, common mistakes, pre-writing exercise for evaluation essay.
Trang 1Recap
‘ What is Evaluation Essay?
- Evaluation or Review; Similar yet Different - Steps for writing Evaluation Essay
* Topic Selection
* What are you Evaluating
* How to Write an Evaluation Essay ‘ Dos and Don'ts
Trang 2Lecture 15
Cause and Effect
Trang 3“Every action has an opposite and equal
reaction”
Trang 4So what Is all this cause and
You may have effect Stutt.? ment that shows
connections between events or concepts
- For example, some colleges do not have enough classes to meet the student demand As a result (effect) students are spending more time and money toward college than needed in the past
- This example shows how you can argue that one event directly leads to another
and so on
You may also dig deeper into the causes of this example by finding that colleges do not have adequate budget or funding
for the classes needed
Trang 5Cause/Effect Essay
The cause/effect essay explains why or how some event happened, and what resulted from the event
A cause essay usually discusses the reasons why something happened
An effect essay discusses what happens after a specific event or circumstance
Examples: A causeleffect essay may explain ki
Trang 7So where do! start?
THE “WHY” GAME
Perhaps you can remember when you were little and you
loved to play the “why” game
No matter what people said, you asked “why?” You
might have asked until your parents and siblings ran out
of answers or until they said “because | said so.” Well
here’s your chance to play the why game again
Start with an idea and then ask yourself why that
particular idea or event occurs As you go along, write
Trang 8The Why Game Example
Original idea: Students and their families have to pay unnecessary amounts of money that is financially damaging Why? Students must remain in college longer than necessary Why? There are not enough classes offered to meet the demand Why? There is not enough money in the budget and/or the money is spent unwisely Why?
Trang 9Steps for Writing Evaluation
Essa
Step # 1: To start with, choose an event ora phenomenon’ to- analyze Ask yourself, what happened, and then try to
answer the question “Why did It happen?” Stated succinctly, trace the cause-and- effect relationships — for yourself
Step # 2: Sketch out main points of your essay In the introduction Let readers
Trang 10Steps for Writing Evaluation
Essay
Step # 3: List the causes and give their description, so that your reader can grasp the whole situation
Step # 4: Choose the effects and show
the connection between reasons
Trang 11Steps for Writing Evaluation
Essay
Step # 5: Explain why your analysis IS important and what Its practical
meaning Is
Trang 12Topic Selection
Trang 13Topic Selection These may be:
—- Negative effects of smoking
- Factors that lead to depression
Trang 14The Danger in Cause and Effect
Although there are many cause and effect relationships out there, you must make sure they are supported by facts and with a dominant idea Sometimes advertisements and superstitions can be misleading when it comes to cause and effect relationships
Some commercials attempt to convince their audience that in order to be a good and worthy person, you must have their product
Trang 15Key Points to Consider
‘ Mind that the same event may be a cause and an effect simultaneously
Trang 16Key Points to Consider
- Concentrate on those effects that relate to
the causes directly, and are close in time to them
— This will prevent you from having to delve into unneeded analysis of far-reaching
Trang 17Key Points to Consider
* You might find it useful to sort effects by categories, so that you do not confuse anything
- For instance, if you describe the consequences of the Second World War, you
can divide them into social, economic and
Trang 18So how do | organize my idea?
There are several ways to pre-write a cause and effect essay but here is just one type of guideline to get you started
You can use the pre-write shown on the right for any type of cause and effect essay
Notice that the thesis is in the middle in order to remind you that even though you are connecting causes and effects, they must all tie into the dominant idea or thesis
Causes Topic Effects
List out List
your out
causes Write the here and your effect coincide thesis s from them here in the with the the cause effects in | middle S
Trang 19Cause and effect pre-write sample
Causes Topic Effects
1 They think they’re Thesis= 1 They learn the hard
unbeatable Although way that life is fragile
2 They think it won't communities are | 2: ' San Coes
happen to them trying liminat d to | Cventually nappen to k them or someone they 3 They think they are driving e more love
okay to drive funding should | 2 [hey are helpless and
4 They are afraid of their | be allocated | '@ce severe
parents finding out or toward Consequences
breaking their curfew educating teens | 4 Their parents find out
ni anyway except with a
5 They do it for attention | @bout driving yey P
from peers under any drug
influence citation or at a funeral
Trang 20So what do I argue?
You can argue three different ways when you’re setting up your thesis
1 You can argue that it’s important to understand both the causes
and effects in order to make an informed choice on a stance or concept
Example: It is important to analyze both the causes and effects of abortion before voting for pro-choice or pro-life
2 You can argue that one event or reason is the main cause fora series of events
Example: September 11, 2001 created a series of changes in America that will alter the way Americans live their day to day lives forever
3 You can argue that one event or concept is the direct effect of a
Trang 21Dos
- Do write down all causes and all effects
that you can think of
- You don't have to use all of them in your essay, but this will give you something to
Trang 22Dos
‘ Do try to place the causes In your essay chronologically
Trang 23Dos
* Do keep in mind, what exactly you are trying to explain
Trang 24Dos
- Do use transition words that will make
your essay easier to comprehend
- Such words as:
—- “due to”
“th US”
Trang 25Don'ts
‘ Don’t try to cover all possible effects of
the event, neither its short-term effects, nor those which relate to the distant future
Trang 27Don ts
Don't forget to follow the writing requirements
—- Keep your essay scientific, avoid using slang — Also check your paper for mistakes and for Its
compliance with established formatting
Trang 28Common Mistakes
‘ Forgetting to show connections
between causes and effects
Trang 29Common Mistakes
‘ Losing links In a causal chain
-— If you have a sequence of causes that flow logically one from another, then missing one or several of them will make your paper
harder to understand
- Forgetting to use supporting details
Trang 30What does a cause and effect
paper look like?
- Attached Is an example essay on the following topic:
Trang 31Introduction Paragraph
Getting a new job is almost always stressful, and rejection of a job candidate is a rather common thing It is strange, but many hirers prefer to explain the reasons for their rejection in vague terms, So a person almost never knows where they have made a
Trang 321 Supporting Details
Trang 33self-2 Supporting Details
The second reason why the candidate can be rejected is unreliable information in a resume For example, if a person specifies their proficiency in foreign languages as “fluent” but demonstrates much weaker knowledge during the interview, it is obvious that they’ll have little chance of being hired As they say, there is no secret that will not
be revealed
Lack of motivation is also among the main reasons of refusal Candidates, who have no idea about their own career plans and ambitions probably won’t be of a great interest for any company So, one should better formulate their motivation for working in this particular company, as well as in general, to give an impression of a self- confident and purposeful person Lack of motivation is also among the main reasons of refusal Candidates, who have no idea about their own career plans and ambitions probably won't be of a great interest for any company So, one should better formulate their motivation for working in this particular company, as well as in general, to give an
Trang 343 Supporting Details
lt may seem funny or strange, but sometimes high qualification may be the cause of rejection too Hirers fear that employees, whose qualification is excessive for the position that he is applying to, will lose interest in the job quickly, and
Start to search for another one Sometimes a high-qualified
person just cannot find a position for a long period of time, thus agreeing to work in a position that they had outgrown a
Trang 354 Supporting Details
Trang 36Conclusion
Of course, there are lots of reasons for a rejection — Still, inadequate salary expectations, the
Trang 37Any advise?
* Remember, it is not enough to state the obvious or make connections between events and concepts
- In order to create an intriguing argument that is both informative and _ interesting, you must show the significance between the causes and effects
Trang 38Recap
‘ What is Cause & Effect Essay? - The “Why” Game
- What is Cause & Effect
‘ Steps for writing Cause & Effect Essay - Topic Selection
‘ How to Write a Cause & Effect Essay ‘ Dos and Don'ts
Trang 39References