Analyzing Cause and Effects

Analyzing Cause and Effects Eng 050

Cause and Effect • We all analyze causes and effects whether or not we realize it. • Why you find someone attractive • Nice eyes • Strong shoulders • Why the movie was good • Good acting • Interesting story • The effects of cutting English class • Will miss something important • Will get behind

Cause and Effect • Essentially, every time you make a decision, you do compare and contrast for sure, but also cause and effect. • It’s the search for connections and reasons • To understand a cause, you look to the past for reasons why something is the way it is • To understand and effect, you look to the future to figure out what the possible results of an action might be • For our purposes, I would decide upon one course or another.

Cause and Effect • Let’s read the example on page 289. • Doing the cause and effect paragraph will require a lot of critical thinking. So choose your topic carefully. • Now let’s read the paragraph on page 290. We’re going to answer some questions about it as well. • What is Appleby analyzing? • Does Appleby’s topic sentence capture this focus? Why or why not? • What causes and effects does Appleby cite? • How does each cause and each effect relate to the topic sentence?

Cause and Effect • Now let’s read the paragraph on page 292 and answer a few questions on this one. • What is Hine analyzing in this paragraph? • Does Hine’s topic sentence capture this focus? Why or why not? • What one cause and one effect does Hine cite? • How does each relate to the topic sentence? • Did Hine get to the real causes and effects connected with face-to-face relationships among the blind? If so how? • How did Hine organize this paragraph: chronologically, or one extreme to another.

Cause and Effect • Okay, now it’s time to start writing. But first, do you feel like you’ve got a handle on what a cause and effect is? Yes or no? Or not, what concept is missing? • The prompt given in the book is why did you choose the college you are attending today. Since this topic works for me as well as for you, we’ll use this as our sample topic. • But before we start writing, let’s think of some other appropriate topics on which to write about, and come with a “stand” and some reasons to support that stand. • I’ll come up with a few but you fill in the rest

Cause and Effect • Why hasn’t soccer, the world’s most popular sport, caught on in America? • Slow moving • Several other sports • What are the effects of television on study habits? • Procrastination • Lack of focus • What effects does stress have on you? • Overeating • Over shopping

Cause and Effect • Guidelines for writing a cause and effect paragraph • Step 1: Write a topic sentence that makes a clear statement about what you are going to analyze • Decide what you are analyzing • Are you focusing on causes, or effects? • You can also do both, but that might be difficult to limit your focus, so proceed with caution • There’s an additional option—the cause and effect chain • Think of this as a chain reaction. You hit a car, which hits the one in front of it, which hits the one in front of it…and so on.

Cause and Effect • Guidelines for writing a cause and effect paragraph • Step 2: Choose facts and details to support your topic sentence. • Let’s take the Freedman paragraph for example. At the beginning of the paragraph, the author cites two results (“effects”) of American-ization. • Often caused painful conflicts • Gaps appeared between children and parents • He then discusses seven causes of this situation • Two from the parents’ side, • Five from the children’s side

Cause and Effect • Guidelines for writing a cause and effect paragraph • Step 2 Continued • He then discusses seven causes of this situation • Two from the parents’ side • Spoke English with heavy accents • Clung to Old World customs • Five from the children’s side • Spoke English all day long • Thought in American terms • Wanted to be accepted as equals • Rejected Old World customs • Were embarrassed by their parents’ immigrant ways

Cause and Effect • Guidelines for writing a cause and effect paragraph • Step 3: Make sure you include the real causes and effects of your topic. • In other words, keep digging. Don’t just stop at the first few causes and effects. Make sure there’s not something deeper lurking. • Say you’ve gained weight. The obvious reason would be that you are overeating. But maybe there’s a deeper reason. You’re depressed. Or you have a medical issue, such as problems with your thyroid. So while overeating might be a cause, there’s a deeper cause. • Another example: You’ve been in a car accident because your car spun out of control. At first examination it might seem like you were driving too fast. But on further examination, there was ice on the road that was the real cause.

Cause and Effect • Guidelines for writing a cause and effect paragraph • Step 4: Organize your material so that is communicates your message clearly. • Present your details in a logical order, depending on your topic. Two main options: • Chronological order. • From one extreme to another. For example, your start with the root cause or effect, move onto the lesser causes or effects. Or the reverse, with the smaller cause or effect, then the larger cause or effect. • Example: I chose Cabrini College mostly because it was close, but also because I liked the campus and it had my major. • Example: I chose Cabrini College because it had my major, because I liked the campus, but most of all because it was close.

Cause and Effect • Let’s do a sample one. I’ll go back to the prompt at the beginning (why you chose the college you are attending) • Here’s some brainstorming regarding this topic so I have all of the information I need in front of me when I start to write. • Good reputation • Close to work • Not too far from home • Tuition expensive but doable • Very helpful when I applied (liked the people) • Campus is small and pretty • Had the program I wanted • They accepted me!

Cause and Effect • Here’s a few topic sentences. • “There’s many great schools for education in the Delaware Valley, but when choosing a place to get my graduate degree Cabrini College fit the bill in terms of location, campus culture, and program offerings.” • “Cabrini College proved to be such a good fit for me in terms of location, campus culture and program offerings that I didn’t even look at other schools when contemplating where to get my graduate degree.” • Notice what I did here. I referred to the overall topics I’d be discussing—location, culture, program offerings—without getting detailed. I’ll be giving those details when I write the paragraph.

Cause and Effect • Let’s develop some details from my list • Good reputation— “The school is well-known for the programs in education.” • Close to work– “It will be very easy to get to after work.” • Not too far from home – “Also, it’s not too far from home if I ever need to go on a weekend.” • Tuition expensive but doable – “The tuition is expensive, but West Chester is too far, and at least it costs less than Villanova.”

Cause and Effect • Let’s develop some details from my list • Very helpful when I applied (liked the people) – “The admissions counselor was very helpful when outlining all of the steps for enrollment, and my advisor who helped me choose courses was great.” • Campus is small and pretty – “The campus offers a pleasant environment, and the scenery is pretty. Plus it isn’t large, so I will be able to find my classes with ease.” • Had the program I wanted – “They had a certification program, which was exactly what I was looking for.” • They accepted me! – “Admissions was a breeze. I faxed her a copy of my transcripts from St. Joe’s and Villanova, and they took me over the phone.”

Cause and Effect • Let’s develop some details from my list: There’s many great schools for education in the Delaware Valley. When choosing a place to get my graduate degree Cabrini College fit the bill in terms of location, campus culture, and program offerings. The school is well-known for the programs in education. It will be very easy to after work. It’s not too far from home if I ever need to go on a weekend. The tuition is expensive. West Chester is too far, and at least it costs less than Villanova. The admissions counselor was very helpful when outlining all of the steps for enrollment, and my advisor who helped me choose courses was great. The campus offers a pleasant environment, and the scenery is pretty. Plus it isn’t large. I will be able to find my classes with ease. They had a certification program, which was exactly what I was looking for. Admissions was a breeze. I faxed her a copy of my transcripts from St. Joe’s and Villanova, and they took me over the phone.

Cause and Effect • What’s missing from this paragraph? Hint: There’s more than one thing missing. There’s many great schools for education in the Delaware Valley. When choosing a place to get my graduate degree Cabrini College fit the bill in terms of location, campus culture, and program offerings.The school is well-known for the programs in education. It will be very easy to after work. It’s not too far from home if I ever need to go on a weekend. The tuition is expensive. West Chester is too far, and at least it costs less than Villanova. The admissions counselor was very helpful when outlining all of the steps for enrollment, and my advisor who helped me choose courses was great. The campus offers a pleasant environment, and the scenery is pretty. Plus it isn’t large. I will be able to find my classes with ease.They had a certification program, which was exactly what I was looking for. Admissions was a breeze. I faxed her a copy of my transcripts from St. Joe’s and Villanova, and they took me over the phone.

Cause and Effect • If you guess transition phrases, you are right! And there’s no concluding sentence. Help me put some transition words in here. There’s many great schools for education in the Delaware Valley. When choosing a place to get my graduate degree Cabrini College fit the bill in terms of location, campus culture, and program offerings. The school is well-known for the programs in education. It will be very easy to after work. It’s not too far from home if I ever need to go on a weekend. The tuition is expensive. West Chester is too far, and at least it costs less than Villanova. The admissions counselor was very helpful when outlining all of the steps for enrollment, and my advisor who helped me choose courses was great. The campus offers a pleasant environment, and the scenery is pretty. Plus it isn’t large. I will be able to find my classes with ease. They had a certification program, which was exactly what I was looking for. Admissions was a breeze. I faxed her a copy of my transcripts from St. Joe’s and Villanova, and they took me over the phone.

Cause and Effect • Now that we’ve worked on one, let’s read one more example and see if we read it differently than the first several paragraphs we read. • And let’s go through the revision checklist in the book.

Cause and Effect • Here’s a shorter version of the checklist for your own use. • Subjects and verbs • Does each sentence have one of each of these? And do the tenses of the sentence and verb “agree”? • Pronouns • Do your pronouns “agree” with each other? • Modifier Errors • Are your modifiers as close as possible to the words they modify?

Cause and Effect • Checklist continued • Punctuation and mechanics • Are your sentences punctuated correctly? • Are your words capitalized when necessary (and not capitalized when not necessary)? • Word choice and Spelling • Did you choose the correct words? Remember, when it doubt look them up, or use another word. • Spelling—Again, look up words you aren’t sure of.

Cause and Effect • Do you feel like you can write one on your own? • Just to be safe, let’s do one together in class.

Analyzing Cause and Effects