Reflecting on the Genre

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Printed Page 456

Causal analysis is always shaped by the writer’s expertise and special interests. For example, Stephen King—a horror writer—has a personal investment in establishing the horror movie as a legitimate literary and cinematic form; not surprisingly, then, he emphasizes the psychological benefits of horror movies. Erica Goode, whose educational background is in social psychology, is clearly sympathetic to the work of the various psychologists and social scientists she quotes to support her claim that a variety of environmental factors contribute to how much people eat. For reasons of their own, spokespersons for the fast-food industry point to very different factors—such as lack of exercise, poor eating habits, and genetic makeup—for the increasing obesity among Americans.

ANALYZE & WRITE

Write a page or two explaining how causal analyses disguise the writer’s assumptions. In your discussion, you might do one or more of the following:

  1. Consider how the readings and your own essay are exercises in exerting authority. We have said that because causal analysis deals with possibilities instead of certainties, writers must be somewhat tentative about their speculations. However, if causal analysis is to be convincing, it cannot be too timid. Writers who have studied a subject carefully may feel that they are justified in exerting their authority. Compare two or more of the essays by McClain, Vedantam, King, and Goode. Which seems most assertive? What accounts for your response? What seems to you assertive or unassertive about your own essay? Was it your knowledge or your ideology (your way of looking at the world), or both, that gave you (or withheld from you) the confidence to be authoritative?
  2. Consider how easy it is to accept a causal analysis. If not alert, readers may begin to think that the analysis a selection offers is the only possible one. Are any of the selections in this chapter so seductive that you find yourself accepting their causal analyses without question? Explain briefly.
  3. Write a page or two explaining your ideas about authority and ideology in essays speculating about causes. Connect your ideas to your own essay and to the readings in this chapter.

    Question