Basic Features of “Causes” essays include a clear presentation of the subject and a convincing causal argument that both provides supporting evidence for the writer’s proposed causes and anticipates possible counterarguments to the proposed causes or alternative causes.  Such counterarguments are either accommodated or refuted.  In simpler terms, “Causes” essays identify a phenomenon or trend, ask why it exists, offer possible causes that demonstrate that the writer has thought about the subject thoroughly, and recognize possible alternative causes for the phenomenon or trend.

Possible Topics
 Topics can run the gamut of political and social issues.  Generally speaking, however, you should avoid topics that have been pondered to death and over-scrutinized.  Such overly-debated topics might include capital punishment, abortion, or euthanasia.  While you might be able to find lots of information on those topics, you will be hard pressed to develop any original insight into such issues, and aside from my personal preference not to read umpteen essays on such topics, I also want to challenge you to think about issues that you can provide some original insight into.  I also want to caution you against choosing a topic that deals substantially with issues of faith, since issues of faith tend to be extralogical or metalogical, and I must evaluate your essays on logical reasoning.
 Some topics that are “topical” right now include why President Bush’s approval rating continues to remain steady and even rise in spite of the  war with Iraq, why COD's previously highly-rated football team is struggling so mightily, and why CODs enrollment is floundering .  Since we meet in a computerized classroom, you might also want to explore online phenomenon such as “flaming,” “lurking,” “spamming,” and the growing popularity of the Internet and the World Wide Web.

Typical Problems With This Essay

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