C AUSE AND E FFECT M ODE OF W RITING College Prep III Chawanna Chambers, M. Ed.
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Transcript of C AUSE AND E FFECT M ODE OF W RITING College Prep III Chawanna Chambers, M. Ed.
WHAT IS CAUSE AND EFFECT?Analyzes why something happens, not how.
How it works…One cause One effectOne cause Many effectsMultiple causes One effectMultiple causes Multiple effects
TYPES OF CAUSES Main cause: the most important cause
Contributory Causes: less important
Immediate Cause: closely precedes the effect
Remote cause: less obvious because it involves something in the past or far away.
Causal Chain: an effect can be the cause to another effect, on so on.
ILLOGICAL ASSUMPTIONSAvoid Post Hoc Reasoning:
Do not assume that just because event A precedes event B, event A caused event B. This illogical assumption is called post hoc reasoning. This error leads you to confuse coincidence with causality.
AVOIDING KEYWORD CONFUSION Causal relationship keywords
Because Therefore Consequently As a result
Chronological relationship keywords Subsequently Later Afterward
EXERCISE: THE CASE OF THE HARTFORD ROOF COLLAPSE
“During one winter a number of years ago, an unusually large amount of snow accumulated on the roof of the Civic Center Auditorium in Hartford, Connecticut, and the roof fell in. Newspapers reported that the weight of the snow had caused the collapse, and they were partly right. Other buildings, however, had not been flattened by the snow, so the main cause seemed to lie elsewhere. Insurance investigators eventually decided that the roof design, not the weight of the snow (which was a contributory cause), was the main cause of the collapse.”
THE CAUSE-EFFECT RELATIONSHIPS
MAIN CAUSE
EFFECT
CONTRIBUTORY CAUSE
Roof design
Roof collapse
Weight of snow
IMMEDIATE CAUSE POSSIBLE REMOTE CAUSES
EFFECTWeight of snow
Roof collapse
Roof designRoof materialsImproper maintenanceRepairs not made
CAUSAL CHAIN
CauseEffect
EffectEffect
Effect
(Cause)
(Cause)
(Cause)
AB
CD
E
Can you think of anything that might create a causal chain? Discuss with your tablemates.
PLANNING A CAUSE AND EFFECT ESSAY Purpose and Thesis:
Be sure to identify the relationships among the specific causes and effect you will discuss.
Thesis statement should tell the reader: The points you plan to consider The position you will take Whether you will emphasize causes, effects, or both The cause and/or effect you consider most important The order in which you will treat your points.
Pla
nn
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a C
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Effe
ct Essa
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Order and sequence—several possibilities include:
Chronological
Main cause first, and then contributory causes
Contributory causes first, and then main cause.
Pla
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a C
au
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nd
Effe
ct Essa
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ORDER CONT…
Negative effects first, then positive
First dismiss events that are not causes, and then discuss actual causes for an effect
Most obvious causes first, and then less obvious causes
TRANSITIONSP
lan
nin
g a
Ca
use
an
d E
ffect E
ssay
Distinguish causes from effects.
Cause/Reason: for the (simple) reason that being that For in view of (the fact) inasmuch as because (of the fact) seeing that As owing to (the fact) due to (the fact that) in that since forasmuch as
Effect/Result: as a result (of this) Consequently Hence for this reason Thus because (of this) in consequence so that Accordingly as a consequence so much (so) that So Therefore
STRUCTURING A CAUSE AND EFFECT ESSAY—THESIS STATEMENTS
Finding CausesLess important causeEffectMost important cause
Describing or Predicting EffectsCause First effectSecond effectThird (most important) effect