Class notes for June 24 (week 11 of 14)

Today I picked up student homework for Chapter 3 (see below). We reviewed the main points of the chapter (SUPPORTING DETAILS: Facts, Quotations, and Statistics).

Then we began to discuss Chapter 6 (CAUSE AND EFFECT). We talked about causes, effects, chain-reaction style papers, most of the main ideas of the chapter and some of the exercises. In the next few weeks, we will write (or build) our own cause-and-effect papers.

Today we began with topic selection. I gave some example cause-and-effect topics from business, science, music, art, and so on. Then I walked around and found that most of you were coming up with your own interesting topics. I was impressed. You should make a Mindmap (or diagram) of the cause(s) and/or effect(s) that you are writing about. Most of your topics will require real research to find out more about the causes or effects. Be sure to write a citation in the text and list a reference at the end of the paper for these supporting details.

For next week: Make a formal outline (based on your mind-map/diagram). It will act as a plan--but it is possible to change the plan later as you write. You should have a rough draft: some or all of your paper in a rough form. If you can write at least an introduction and part of the body, that may be sufficient. If possible, write the whole paper. You will need a week or two to edit it and catch all of the mistakes, to add citations and references, and so on.