
For Freshman English A (first semester first-year writing)
Corresponds to Chapters 9 of The Student Writer
- Definitions:
- Cause = the “why†of an event, trend, situation, phenomenon
- Effect = the “what happened†of a cause
- Analysis = evaluation; a close, detailed, critical, focused consideration
- Two Types – both types discuss both causes and effects but …
- Focus on causes – the known, unknown, speculated, unexpected, etc. causes
- Analysis of the why people get skin cancer (the causes of skin cancer)
- Focus on effects – the expected, unexpected, unlikely, etc. effects
- Analysis of what would happen if campus closed a parking lot (the effects of parking lot closure)
- Purposes of cause-and-effect analyses:
- To inform or share
- To entertain
- To persuade (probably most common)
- Can be combined with any of the other patterns of development: exemplification, description, compare/contrast, etc.
- More definitions: Types of causes
- Underlying = base, hidden, not as readily recognized; sometimes the “why†of the “whyâ€
- Cause of divorce = two-career marriage. But why? Less time together, more stress = these are underlying causes
- Immediate = right now; occurs at or close to time of effect
- Remote = far away; occurs at distant time to time of effect
- Causal chain = a linear tracing of the causes to effects where effects are causes to something else
- Low tire caused blowout, blowout caused wreck
- Tips for writing:
- Don’t exaggerate causes or effects
- Do identify/explain several of both
- Don’t omit causes or effects
- Must address why something isn’t a cause or effect
- Give credit where due
- Structure:
- Intro = must engage interest in way that tells reader why important problem, and include thesis that indicates type (focus)
- Body = variety of ways: paragraph for each cause/effect, all causes then all effects, etc. (depends on type and topic)
- Conclusion = summarize points, restate thesis, look ahead (remind why problem, what will happen if not dealt with)
- Underlying = base, hidden, not as readily recognized; sometimes the “why†of the “whyâ€
- Focus on causes – the known, unknown, speculated, unexpected, etc. causes
Categories: