English 0900: Basic Composition II

English 0900: Basic Composition II

Instructor: Suzanne Brown

Cause and Effect Essay #1

Write a cause and effect essay on the following prompt:

Bad Decisions: Identify a time and place in your life when you made a bad decision (whether it be at home, in your family/relationships, at work, in school, with your finances, with your time, etc.), and explain the relationship between the bad decision you made and the effect or consequence that it brought. What happened? What were the consequences of your bad decision? What lessons did you learn? How has that lesson influenced the rest of your life? Analyze the relationship between cause and effect throughout your essay.

Be sure to follow these steps:

1.  Complete prewriting to generate ideas (either brainstorming, concept mapping, freewriting, journaling, or asking questions).

2.  Create an outline.

a.  Come up with a thesis statement that reveals your topic and indicates whether you’ll be discussing causes or effects.

b.  Decide on the causes or effects that you plan to include.

i.  Come up with details to develop each cause or effect.

1.  Feel free to use facts, examples, descriptions, or any other kind of support that’s appropriate for a formal expository essay.

c.  Follow a chronological order of importance.

d.  Write topic sentences for your body paragraphs.

e.  Choose a strategy for your conclusion.

3.  Write a first draft from your outline.

a.  Put your thesis statement in boldface.

b.  Underline the topic sentences in your body paragraphs.

c.  Remember to use transitional words and phrases to link your paragraphs.

d.  Put your title and your name at the top of your essay; center these items.

e.  Write from the third-person point of view.

4.  Put your draft aside, and then come back later to revise it.

5.  After you’re done revising, create a final draft.

6.  Proofread your final draft for grammar, punctuation, and spelling.

WHAT YOU’LL HAND IN: All prewriting (for example, brainstorming, outline, first draft, etc.) and final draft. The final draft should be clearly labeled with the words “FINAL DRAFT” at the top of the page.

Here is the rubric that will be used to grade your cause and effect essay:

GRADING RUBRIC—CAUSE AND EFFECT ESSAY

*Please note that all essays must meet the minimum page requirement (2 pages—not 1 ½ or 1 ¾ pages, but 2 full pages). If the papers do not, credit may not be given, and an irreversible grade deduction will be taken.

All prewriting was submitted with final draft. / 0 / 3
Thesis statement is in boldface, and topic sentences of body paragraphs are underlined. / 0 / 3
Each body paragraph contains 5-12 sentences, and many short sentences aren’t used to meet the minimum requirement. All paragraphs are indented. / 0 / 3
Essay is double spaced and typed in 12-point Times. / 0 / 1
Title and author’s name are centered and at the top of the first page. / 0 / 1
Introduction contains an appropriate and effective “hook” to capture the reader’s attention. / 0 / 1 / 2 / 3
Thesis statement is located at the end of the introduction, clearly reveals the topic, and indicates whether causes or effects will be discussed. / 0 / 1 / 2 / 3
Support is included in order of importance. / 0 / 1 / 2 / 3
Each body paragraph contains a topic sentence. / 0 / 1 / 2 / 3
Body paragraphs contain sufficient details. Credit is given whenever someone else’s ideas are used. / 0 / 1 / 2 / 3
4 / 5 / 6
7 / 8 / 9
10 / 11 / 12
Author wrote from the third-person point of view. / 0 / 1 / 2 / 3
Conclusion provides satisfactory closure. / 0 / 1 / 2 / 3
Conclusion has sufficient depth. / 0 / 1 / 2 / 3
Essay has unity; no irrelevant information is included. / 0 / 1 / 2 / 3
Transitions effectively link information in the essay. / 0 / 1 / 2 / 3
Essay contains few to no errors in grammar, punctuation, and spelling. / 0 / 1 / 2 / 3
Essay contains few to no run-ons, comma splices, or sentence fragments. / 0 / 1 / 2 / 3

GRADE: