PROJECTS •

1. Develop an argument exploring one of the cause-and-effect topics mentioned in this chapter. Just a few of those topics are listed below:

   Disappearance of honeybees in the United States

   Causes of long-term unemployment or declining job markets

   Using the tax code to discourage/encourage specific behaviors (i.e., smoking, eating unhealthy foods, hiring more workers)

   Increasing numbers of obese children and/or adults

   Ramifications of increasing amounts of time spent on social media sites

   Results of failing to pass immigration reform legislation

   Repercussions of U.S. ethanol policy

   What is lost/gained as paper books disappear

2. Write a causal argument about a subject you know well, even if the topic does not strike you as particularly “academic”: What accounts for the popularity of The Hunger Games trilogy? What are the likely consequences of students living more of their lives via social media? How are video games changing the way students you know learn? Why do women love shoes? In this argument, be sure to separate precipitating or proximate causes from sufficient or necessary ones. In other words, do a deep and revealing causal analysis about your subject, giving readers new insights.

3. John Tierney’s essay “Can a Playground Be Too Safe?” explores some unintended consequences of noble-minded efforts in recent decades to make children’s playgrounds safer. After reading the Tierney piece, list any comparable situations you know of where unintended consequences may have undermined the good (or maybe even bad?) intentions of those who took action or implemented some change. Choose the most intriguing situation, do the necessary research, and write a causal argument about it.

4. Raven Jiang’s “Dota 2: The Face of Professional Gaming” argues that crowdfunding and netstreaming are two major causes in the rise of big-money professional gaming, which he sees as a phenomenon that is here to stay (“Watch out NFL, America’s sport is about to change”). In a project of your own, describe the causes that have led to a particular effect on your campus or in your community or place of work. You may point out, as Jiang does, both advantages and disadvantages of the change brought about by the causes you analyze.