Causal Analysis Essay Outline

The sections you must fill in and submit for a grade are in red.
Use this to organize your research before you begin writing. Do not start writing until this is filled out.
As you read and research, fill in the blanks. The hook and the conclusion will likely be written last.
Again, turn this in BEFORE you begin writing. This will be part of your portfolio.

Introduction - 1 Full Paragraph Minimum

Hook/Attention Grabber (A sentence that’s going to make me want to read your paper from beginning to
end.):
The lasting legacy of…
On December 18, 1865, two men fought their way through…
“Ask not what your country can do for you…”
Since 1953, over one million refugees have…
A good way to start an introduction for a causal analysis is to tell a story about the event or person - Walt
Disney’s animated feature films provided decades of entertainment to people of all ages. When Snow
White was first introduced in 1938, the innocent characters of the beautiful princess and adorable
dwarves created an image of wholesomeness that the American public clung to in times of war.
However, what most Americans are not aware of, is that Walt Disney also designed and published World
War II propaganda films that included the loveable characters of Daffy Duck and Mickey Mouse.

HOOK: Step into the realm of secrecy and conspiracy theory, which, the government calls Area

51.

Interesting Information I (story, fact, quote, statistic, memory, etc.)

What adds to the mysterious nature of Area 51 is that it is nowhere to be found if looked for on a

map or GPS.

Interesting Information II (story, fact, quote, statistic, memory, etc.)

Although Area 51 is still around most people forget how it was first established. The Facility was

created during the Cold War in the 1950s. Intended for military aircraft during the war, after the

war concluded the government did not want to abandon the facility since the location was ideal

and they could perform nuclear weapons tests without caring for the harm of civilians.

Interesting Information III (story, fact, quote, statistic, memory, etc.)

Furthermore, it took the government almost half a century to acknowledge the facility.
Thesis Statement (Research question answered and expanded into formal academic language) -

The intrigue surrounding Area 51 can be attributed to the mysteries they are trying to conceal

from the public. However, the harder the government attempts to hide Area 51, the people’s

thirst for knowledge never stops, so in return, the public creates narratives centered around

extraterrestrials, illicit experiments, and covert planes/drones.

Body Paragraphs
● Topic sentence that identifies the topic for the paragraph
● Several sentences that describe the causal relationship
● Evidence from outside sources that corroborates your claim that the causal relationship
exists
● APA or MLA formatted in-text citations indicating which source listed on the Works
Cited page has provided the evidence (Remember! The effect of not properly citing every
source will cause you to fail the paper. I will not grade it.)
● All sources must be introduced with their credentials, where the source came from, and
then the quote.
○ According to Dr. Angela Reed from the Cleveland Clinic…
○ As stated in the April 1993 Journal of American History, vol. 27 article, “The
Decline of Civil Behavior” by Mylan Broward, “blah blah blah” (pg 32).
● Information from outside sources should be placed in the middle of the paragraph and not
at the beginning or the end of the paragraph
● Summary sentence(s) that concludes the evidence
● Be sure and use transition phrases/sentences between paragraphs.

Paragraphs and or Topics with Source (title or author) and Quote or Fact. You have to use 4

sources, so grab two pieces of information from each source.

P/T 1

The Seeds of a Conspiracy (Jacobsen, 2011, p. 63).

P/T 2

The Lunar-Landing Conspiracy and Other Legends of Area 51 (Jacobsen, 2011, p. 317)
P/T 3

From Ghost Town to Boomtown.(Jacobsen, 2011, p 124)

P/T 4

The Unique History of Area 51 (Buz, 2016, para. 15).

P/T 5

Black jets of Area 51 history (Buz, 2014, para, 7).

P/T 6

A Mach-3 drone and what it is doing (Buz, 2014, para, 14).

P/T 7

The variety of drones tested (Buz, 2016, para. 19).

P/T 8

The infamous Roswell incident (RD, n.d. para. 7)

Conclusion
● Conclude the key points and evidence provided in the paper
● Tie in the introduction
● If you began with a story, conclude that story
● If you began with a question(s), refer back to the question(s) and be sure to provide the
answer(s).

Conclusion:
Finally, the mystery surrounding Area 51 continues to show how strong the human fascination

with secrecy and the unknown can be. Despite Area 51's Cold War Origins, even after the war
was over the government's continued silence over the facility led to conspiracy theories being

formed. Also when it came to Area 51 Being deliberately Off all maps and GPS systems this

only adds to the layer of intrigue over the facility which only breeds more theories and

speculation. Such as extraterrestrials, illicit experiments, and covert aircraft development become

the main idea of these tales, which only shows how the human imagination can run wild without

concrete evidence. Area 51 not only stands as a physical location in the Nevada desert but as a

symbol of what the human imagination can think of.

Sources List - Properly format each source in APA or MLA - indicate which style you’re using.
APA

Source I Full Citation:

Jacobsen, A. (2011) Area 51: an Uncensored History of America's Top Secret Military Base

Little, Brown, and Company VBG

ty6

Source II Full Citation:

Buz, C. (2014) Area 51 Black Jets: a History of the Aircraft Developed at Groom Lake,

America's Secret Aviation Base Yenne Bill

 Power History https://www.jstor.org/stable/26276549

Source III Full Citation:

Buz, C. (2016) Area 51: The Graphic History of America's Most Secret Military Installation

Zimmerman Dwight Jon Air

Power History https://www.jstor.org/stable/26276726

Source IV Full Citation:

RD, L.(n.d.) Area 51: the Dreamland Chronicles

Clarivate Analytics

Media Source Full Citation:

Photo from the book