In order to set yourself up to write a good causal argument, you must first identify some debate or controversy concerning causality. A thesis of limited arguability will yield a very limited and obvious essay -- not one that stands out as excellent or exceptional at all. Locating a topic with clearly debatable positions, then, is the first step in writing a successful essay.

Once you've identified a suitable topic, spend some time thoroughly investigating and jotting down possible causes. Use the various kinds of causes to stimulate your thinking (i.e., proximate vs. remote causes, necessary vs. sufficient causes, background vs. precipitating causes, restraining causes, etc). As you study the tangled web of causality, keep in mind that your task is to pursue an original argument about causality.
 

Assignment: Write a topic paragraph in which you identify a causal debate over an environmental, agricultural, or "natural" topic.  After sketching in a range of views, make your own position clear in an arguable causal thesis. Once you've decided on your thesis, write a Toulmin outline of your intended argument, due Tuesday, Nov. 3.

Work through the following steps to help you set up a significant causal thesis.

1. Identify a causal controversy. Think about your own experiences and ask yourself why things are the way they are and how they got that way. Brainstorm: jot down several ideas without judging or censoring, since the whole point of brainstorming is to come up with as many topics as you can. Brainstorming is sometimes easier with a group -- get some popcorn, meet your classmates, and let the creativity flow.

2. From your list of possible topics, pick a topic that seems to be particularly controversial or interesting to you. Make sure it's a topic that shows potential for being arguable, complex, and causal. Again, it's useful to have your classmates' feedback here.

3. Jot down a few arguments that your opposition makes. As you research your topic, reading a variety of arguments, you'll be able to very precisely summarize your opposition and you'll even be able to quote their stances.

4. Write down your thesis as a very simple X causes Y structure.

Pornography causes violence against women.

Pornography plays a role in violence against women.

In many cases, pornography plays a role in violence against women.

1. Some environmentalists define the environmental crisis as a "war" against people, industries, or countries whose actions are detrimental to the environment. In his fictitious account of The Monkey Wrench Gang (CN), Edward Abbey describes a group of characters who violently interfere with the plans of some developers. Think of other examples of extreme or violent action from militant environmentalists such as Greenpeace, among others. What effects do such actions have? Do they solve the problem? Focus international attention on the problem? You might want to consider a specific incident.

2. Could racism and classism be contributing to the environmental crisis? Why is lead poisoning so high among black Americans? Are toxic dumps or chemical factories more likely to be located near poor neighborhoods? Think about the recent case on the news and in all the newspapers about the little town in Louisiana that used law students to prevent a big chemical factory from locating in their area. A little research should yield plenty of similar topics.

3. P.J. O'Rourke, in his sarcastic essay "The Greenhouse Affect" (CN), pokes irreverent fun at the environmental movement. He makes the serious point, however, that its fuzzy focus on Big Business as the cause of all environmental degradation causes the movement to fight empty rhetorical fights rather than to seriously address the problem. Do you  agree, disagree, or hold some other opinion?

4.  One of the causes of the continuing environmental crisis, according to Paula Di Perna in "Truth Vs. 'Facts'" (CN), is that

Since most environmental impacts don't follow the traditional cause and effect pattern, there is room for "on the one hand, on the other" contention: CFCs do destroy the ozone layer, but not everyone will get cancer; it's true some climate models show increase in global temperatures over time, but these could be "flukes". . . . The flaming match can be shown to burn the finger, but disease -- especially cancer -- may appear much later than when the cause exerted its power, and often long after the causative agent can be found in the environment. The tobacco industry is the most shameless in exploiting this drawback.
Therefore, because clear-cut links between cause and effect are elusive, remedies are evaded. (374)

5. Gore argues in "Environmentalism of the Spirit" that an

underlying moral schism. . .has. . .conditioned our civilization to insulate its conscience from any responsibility for the collective endeavors that invisibly link millions of small, silent, banal acts and omissions together in a pattern of terrible cause and effect. . . . But for the separation of science and religion, we might not be pumping so much gaseous chemical waste into the atmosphere and threatening the destruction of the earth's climate balance. But for the separation of useful technological know-how and the moral judgments to guide its use, we might not be slashing and burning one football field's worth of rain forest every second. (363)

6. A species of Red Wolf used to be native to Kentucky, but wolves no longer inhabit the Bluegrass State. Some biologists argue that, as a result of the wolves' extinction here, the smaller coyotes have moved into the wolves' ecological niche as predominant predator. As most farmers know, coyotes cause a lot of damage among domestic livestock and pets. When a motion to bring the wolves back to Kentucky was introduced, however, it was soundly defeated because farmers thought the wolves would cause too much damage, although most animal experts argued that the coyotes cause the most damage. Research this issue and present your own causal assessment.

7. What has caused the current backlash against smoking and the tobacco companies? (Be careful here to mainly pursue arguable causes instead of presenting a factual, descriptive research paper.)

8. Pursue a causal argument about an environmental topic of your own. Be sure to have the instructor check it for arguability.

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