Writing a Causal Argument

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Write a 3- to 4-page essay for the opinion pages of your local newspaper. In your essay, you will do one of two things:

Examine the causes or consequences of an interesting or puzzling event, action, trend or phenomenon (for example: "Why does America still love beauty pageants?").
or
Speculate on the consequences of an event, action, or trend (for example: "What would happen if professors stopped giving grades at your university?")

Before you begin, consider the following questions:

What topic have you chosen to write about? Why?
What is your claim? Summarize the reasons you will use to support this causal relationship.
What evidence will you use in your essay?
How will you deal with opposing views?

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