Reference no: EM133241454

Assignment - Causes Of Low Graduation Rates in Colleges Essay

Description - When learning how to construct your own causal analysis essay, it is helpful to break down the concept even further, isolating various parts of the essay. Once you know how to identify specific factors and understand how these factors are interrelated, you can then more easily construct your own analysis.

The first step is finding a problem/issue to study, and generally those that are most interesting are problems of some complexity. The problem of low college completion rates is an interesting topic because there are several potential causes, making it a more complicated issue to explore. If you need help with selecting a topic and writing a thesis statement, review the "Optional reading" section at the bottom of this page.

What is a causal analysis? A causal analysis asks you to examine why something has happened or what factors have led to a particular problem. To write an effective essay, the thesis and body paragraphs of your causal analysis will focus on 2-4 specific actions, events, thoughts, attitudes, conditions, or decisions that have led to the problem you have identified. Be sure to focus only on the causes of the problem in this paper; this paper task does not ask you to consider effects.

For example:

What are the causes behind the United States' dependence on fossil fuels?

What are the causes behind the low college graduation rate?

What are the causes behind citizens' disinterest in using public transportation?

What are the causes behind the poor health of the American population?

The causal analysis and a note on style: When you write your essay, you will want to avoid the personal pronoun "I." Learning to eliminate person pronouns (I/me/my/you/we/our) from your writing now will prepare you for other Composition essays and forms of academic writing.

INTRODUCTION - Make sure you write on one of these topics: Identify a social, environmental, or political problem that is of local, national, or global concern.

Your introduction to your causal analysis essay will clearly introduce the problem that you are writing about. Give general background information on the topic that the reader needs in order to understand the thesis. The introduction is a good place to explain the significance of the problem or issue that you will be discussing in your essay, before you start presenting the causes. Alternatively, you can include a paragraph, after your introductory paragraph, in which you discuss the scope and nature of the problem, rather than putting all that information in your introduction. Notice how, in the introduction to the sample causal analysis essay, the author provides some contextual information about the significance of the problem and the implications. Your thesis statement, which is the final sentence of your introduction, is where you clearly state the problem/issue and the causes of that problem.

Your thesis statement, which is the final sentence of your introduction, is where you clearly state the problem/issue and outline 2-4 causes of that problem. Be aware that you're writing a causal analysis. This means that you will have to identify why the problem occurs, not the effects of the problem.

Here is a sample thesis for a causal analysis:

______________ is a growing problem in the U.S. today caused primarily by _________________, _________________, and _________________.

For more helpful information and videos, review the "Optional reading" section at the bottom of this page.

STRUCTURING THE BODY PARAGRAPHS

Following the essay introduction are the body paragraphs. In these paragraphs, you discuss the individual causes of the problem/issue in more detail, using outside research whenever possible to support your claims.

The paragraph following the introduction should begin with a clear topic sentence that introduces the first supporting point presented in the thesis statement. Make sure each thesis point is developed into at least one body paragraph of your essay. Remember, too, that this essay asks you to incorporate at least two sources in your body paragraphs. When you introduce evidence to support your point, describe the evidence and explain how the evidence supports your point and your main claim. Cite your sources using APA in-text citations. For help with APA and/or more information on constructing the body of the essay, review the "Optional reading" section at the bottom of this page.

CONCLUSION - The final paragraph of the essay is the conclusion, where you restate the thesis and summarize the major points you made throughout the essay. Many causal analysis essays will end with a call to action, where the writer urges the reader to take an active response to the problem. Once again, the sample causal analysis essay provides a good example of an effective conclusion.

More information on organizing, outlining, and drafting review the "Optional reading" section at the bottom of this page.

REFERENCE PAGE - At least two sources should be cited on your reference page. It's important that you have 1:1 correspondence in your paper. This means that every time you use an in-text citation, the source you are citing must also appear on the reference page at the end of your paper. Similarly, if you include a source on your reference page, the source must appear at least once in your paper as an in-text citation.