In writing an article, you want to make sure that you convey your central points in ways which are logical and relatively straightforward. You want each of your main assertions to prepare the reader for what comes next, and then you want your selected details to support those assertions.
Causality
Causality is the chain of cause-and-effect within a work of writing. With causality, you want to show how each assertion you've made supports the future assertions in the work. For example, saying "the spider bit me, and then my hand swelled up" implies that the spider's bite gave the narrator a bad reaction. This could be extended to show a trip to the hospital and the mailing of "Get Well" cards from coworkers.
Compare that to "the spider bit me, and then my coworkers sent me cards." Without the context of the hand swelling up and the hospital trip, we don't know how the cards are related to the spider bite. Do the narrator's coworkers think the narrator overreacts to everything? Or is there a running joke in the office about spiders and Halloween? Without a solid chain of causality, we can't tell.
Details
Details are an important part of realism in your writing. By adding specific and believable (not simply true, but believably true, as evidenced by your writing) details, you can immerse your reader in the world of your story, poem, or essay.
In the spider bite example above, we don't see much detail. For the causality example, this is okay - we're simply looking at how events work together. But if we want these events to feel true and genuine, then we'll want to add in some some more specifics. For example:
You want to make sure that each detail you provide contributes to the overall narrative - in this example, it wouldn't make sense to mention that the narrator had chow mein for lunch, or that she wears purple Birkenstocks on Fridays.
Conversely, you want to ensure that the narrative as a whole is supported with enough details that each of your main points is believable. Would the above example make sense if we didn't know that the spider was from Walgreens, or that it's for Halloween? Probably. But would it work if we didn't know that the spider toy was the size of a football? Probably not.
Mapping
In your small groups, I'd like you to draw out maps of your essays. For each essay, write down the main points that you make, and then write down the details that you use. Draw arrows from the details to the main points they support. For example, one point of the spider story is that John is a terrible person. The detail which supports this is the fact that he clamps the spider to the narrator's wrist. This detail also supports the fact that the spider is causing her wrist to swell up - it shows that the jaws are the source of the tourniquet-like effect causing her to lose sensation in her hand.
After you've mapped your essay, find another member of your group (or another group, if you're working as a group) to map out your essay. After they've finished, compare the two maps. Are there any differences? Are there any points of detail or causality which could be added to make your article more clear? Are there any that could be removed without changing the meaning of your work?
Causality is the chain of cause-and-effect within a work of writing. With causality, you want to show how each assertion you've made supports the future assertions in the work. For example, saying "the spider bit me, and then my hand swelled up" implies that the spider's bite gave the narrator a bad reaction. This could be extended to show a trip to the hospital and the mailing of "Get Well" cards from coworkers.
Compare that to "the spider bit me, and then my coworkers sent me cards." Without the context of the hand swelling up and the hospital trip, we don't know how the cards are related to the spider bite. Do the narrator's coworkers think the narrator overreacts to everything? Or is there a running joke in the office about spiders and Halloween? Without a solid chain of causality, we can't tell.
Details
Details are an important part of realism in your writing. By adding specific and believable (not simply true, but believably true, as evidenced by your writing) details, you can immerse your reader in the world of your story, poem, or essay.
In the spider bite example above, we don't see much detail. For the causality example, this is okay - we're simply looking at how events work together. But if we want these events to feel true and genuine, then we'll want to add in some some more specifics. For example:
I hate John. He went to Walgreens and bought this fluffy robotic spider thing for Halloween. It looked like a football with eight giant pipe cleaner legs, and it had a spring-loaded plastic mandible. Well, John had to be a smart aleck - he brings his spider ball up to me while I'm typing and clamps the plastic jaws over my wrist. But then the jaws are so cheap that the release button breaks off, and then my hand starts swelling up because he clamped the spider on my wrist so tight. Before you know it, my fingers are turning purple and I can't feel the keyboard.
You want to make sure that each detail you provide contributes to the overall narrative - in this example, it wouldn't make sense to mention that the narrator had chow mein for lunch, or that she wears purple Birkenstocks on Fridays.
Conversely, you want to ensure that the narrative as a whole is supported with enough details that each of your main points is believable. Would the above example make sense if we didn't know that the spider was from Walgreens, or that it's for Halloween? Probably. But would it work if we didn't know that the spider toy was the size of a football? Probably not.
Mapping
In your small groups, I'd like you to draw out maps of your essays. For each essay, write down the main points that you make, and then write down the details that you use. Draw arrows from the details to the main points they support. For example, one point of the spider story is that John is a terrible person. The detail which supports this is the fact that he clamps the spider to the narrator's wrist. This detail also supports the fact that the spider is causing her wrist to swell up - it shows that the jaws are the source of the tourniquet-like effect causing her to lose sensation in her hand.
After you've mapped your essay, find another member of your group (or another group, if you're working as a group) to map out your essay. After they've finished, compare the two maps. Are there any differences? Are there any points of detail or causality which could be added to make your article more clear? Are there any that could be removed without changing the meaning of your work?
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