ENG 1100 Lecture Notes - Lecture 16: Southern Sociological Society, Civil Marriage Act, Main Source

• School: University of Ottawa
• Department: English
• Course: ENG 1100
• Professor: Ross Clarkson

Document Summary

The kind of essay you are writing follows from the kind of argument you are making, or the kind of thesis you have developed. What makes a good causal argument: identify what is at stake. Because a strong causal claim can inspire people to change policies or behaviors or take other action, some readers may reject your claim. For example, although the causal link between smoking and cancer was well accepted in scientific circles for years, the tobacco industry argued that no link existed: move beyond the obvious to identify underlying causes. Single cause/single outcome" fallacy: a well-thought out causal argument will trace the multiple causes and consider their multiple effects: correlation is not causation: a common pitfall of causal analysis is mistaking causation for correlation. Events can be correlated without one being the cause of the other. You need to find the actual causal relation in order to make a good causal argument: pay attention to the effects.