Student Writing Handbook Fifth+Edition

Any of these topics call for a cause-and-effect analysis.

After you have generated a list of topics, pick one that interests you and formulate a
question similar to those in the preceding list. The purpose of your paper will be to
answer that question.

STEP 2: Prewriting—Deciding on Cause or Effect

When you have a topic, either assigned or selected by the process above, decide
whether your analysis will examine causes or effects. If you are not sure, try restat-
ing the question so that you use the word cause or effect. For instance, the question
above, “When production slows, what happens to the economy?” can be reworded to
ask, “When production slows, what are the effects on the economy?” The rewording
clarifies that you will be writing about effects. On the other hand, the question, “How
do monopolies form?” can be reworded to ask, “What causes monopolies?” Then you
understand that you will be analyzing causes and explaining how monopolies come
into being.

STEP 3: Prewriting—Selecting the Main Ideas

With your topic stated as a question, jot down as many answers as you can. To
answer a complicated or technical question, you may need to do research, but these
steps assume that you already know the answers. The word “answers” takes a plural
form under the assumption that your chosen topic will not have a simple, single
cause or effect. If it does, it probably does not merit an analysis.

Use the following example to help you develop a list of answers. Assume that a writer
is developing a paper to explain why various groups of people have come to a remote
island, called Isle Royale, in Lake Superior. That writer’s list of answers may look
like this:

study the wolf population

study the moose population

harvest lumber

explore

sightsee

fish commercially

hike

mine copper

List answers to your own question now.

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