Chapter 11 Cause and Effect: Determining Reasons and Outcomes

Chapter 11 Cause and Effect:
Determining Reasons and Outcomes

Writing Cause and Effect

Cause and effects deal with reasons and results; they are sometimes discussed together and sometimes separately. Like other forms of writing to explain, writing about causes and effects is based on natural thought processes. The shortest, and arguably the most provocative, poem in the English language – “I/ Why?" – is posed by an anonymous author about cause. Children are preoccupied with delightful and often exasperating "why" questions. Daily we encounter all kinds of causes and effects. The same subject may raise questions of both kinds.

The car won't start. Why? (Cause)

The car won' start. What now? (Effect)

Exploring and Organizing

One useful approach to developing a cause-and-effect analysis is listing. Write down the event, situation, or trend you are concerned about. Then on the left side, list the causes; on the right side, list the effects. From them you will select the main causes or effects for your paragraph or essay.

As you use prewriting techniques to explore your ideas, you need to decide whether your topic should mainly inform or mainly persuade. If you intend to inform, your tone should be coolly objective. If you intend to persuade, your tone should be subjective. In either case, you should take into account the views of your audience as you phrase your ideas. You should also take into account how much your audience understands about your topic and develop your ideas accordingly.

Composing a Topic or a Thesis

Now that you have listed your ideas under causes and effects, you are ready to focus on the causes, on the effects, or, occasionally, on both. You controlling idea, the topic sentence or the thesis, might be one of the cause:"It is not just chance; people have reasons for joining gangs." Later, as you use the idea, you would rephrase it to make it less mechanical, allowing it to become part of the flow of your discussion.

Writing an Outline

Your selection of a controlling idea takes you to the next writing phase: completing an outline or outline alternative. There you need to

• Consider kinds of causes and effects.
• Evaluate the importance of sequence.
• Introduces ideas and work with patterns.

In its most basic form, your outline, derived mainly from points in your listing., might look like one of the following:

Paragraph of causes

Topic sentence: It is not just chance; people have reasons for joining gangs.

I. Low delf-esteem (Cause 1)

II. Surrogate family (Cause 2)

III. Protection (Cause 3)

Essay of effects

Thesis: One is not a gang member without consequences.

I. Restricted vocational opportunities (Effect 1)

II. Life of crime (Effect 2)

III. Drug addiction (Effect 3)

IV. Ostracism from mainstream society (Effect 4)

Considering Kinds of Causes and Effects

Causes and effects can be primary or secondary, immediate or remote.

Primary or Secondary

Primary means "major," and secondary means "minor.” A primary cause may be sufficient to bring about the situation (subject). For example, infidelity may be a primary (and possibly sufficient by itself) cause of divorce for some people but not for others, who regard it as secondary. Or, if country X is attacked by country Y, the attack itself, as a primary cause, may be sufficient to bring on a declaration of war. But a diplomatic blunder regarding visas for workers may be secondary importance, and, through significant, it is certainly not enough to start a war over.

Immediate or Remote

Causes and effects often occur at a distance in time or place from the situation. The immediate effect of sulfur in the atmosphere may be atmospheric pollution, but the long – range, or remote, effect may be acid rain and the loss of species. The immediate cause of the greenhouse effect may be the depletion of the ozone layer, whereas the long – range, or remote, cause is the use of CFCs (chlorofluorocarbons, commonly called Freon, which are found in such items as Styrofoam cups). Even more remote, the ultimate cause may be the people who use the products containing Freon. Your purpose will determine the causes and effects appropriate for your essay.

Evaluating the Importance of Sequence

Order

The order of the causes and effects you discuss in your paper may be based on time, space, emphasis, or a combination.

• Time: If one stage leads to another, as in a discussion of the causes and effects of upper atmospheric pollution, your paper would be organized best by time.
• Space: In some instances, causes and effects are best organized by their relation in space.
• Emphasis: Some cause and effects may be more important than others.

In some situations, two or more factors (such as time and emphasis) may be linked; in that case, select the order that best fits what you are trying to say, or combine orders.

Introducing Ideas and Working with patterns

In presenting your controlling idea--probably near the beginning for a paragraph or in an introductory paragraph for an essay--you will almost certainly want to perform two functions:

Discuss your subject. For example, if you are writing about the causes or effects of divorce, begin with a statement about divorce as a subject.

Indicate whether you will concentrate on causes or effects or combine them. That indication should be made clear early in the paper. Concentrating on one--causes of effects--does not mean you will not mention the other; it only means you will emphasize one of them. You can being attention to your main concern(s)--causes, effects, or a combination--by repeating key words such as cause, reason, effect, result, consequence, and outcome.

Notes:

Do not conclude that something is an effect merely because it follows something else..

Emphasize your main concern(s)-causes, effects, or a combination-by repeating key words such as cause, reason, effect, result, consequence, and outcome.
Causes and effects can be primary or secondary, immediate or remote.

The order of causes and effects in your paper may be based on time, spacem emphasis, or a combination


Source:Brandon, Lee. Brandon, Kelly. Paragraphs and Essays with Integrated Readings, Tenth Edition. Boston, NY: Houghton Mifflin Company, 2008