CAUSE EFFECT RESEARCH PAPER

1. CAUSE EFFECT RESEARCH PAPER AP ENGLISH III & ENGLISH III MRS. B. LEE

2. WHAT IS A CAUSE?WHAT IS AN EFFECT? • Cause and Effect helps us understand why things happen or what the results of an event will be. • An effect is WHAT happened. • The cause is WHY it happened.

3. WHY USE CAUSE AND EFFECT? • Cause/Effect helps us…. • Make sense of things • Envision the future or understand the past. • Plan. • Make decisions. • Implement changes.

4. 4 WAYS TO ORGANIZE YOUR PAPER • CAUSE MULTIPLE EFFECTS • EFFECT MULTIPLE CAUSES • CAUSAL CHAIN • MULTIPLE CAUSES MULTIPLE EFFECTS ** The general structure of the paper is still the same – outline, introduction, body, and conclusion.

5. MULTIPLE CAUSES & EFFECTS • A cause can have many effects; an effect can have many causes! • All multiples must be mentioned and explored, otherwise, you will be oversimplifying the topic you are researching.

6. PROVE YOUR POINT • Do not simply state that something is a cause or an effect. • Provide EVIDENCE to PROVE it is a cause or effect. • Include adequate details and supporting evidence.

7. INTRODUCTION OF CAUSE-EFFECT PAPER • Contain general information and thesis statement • It is suggested that if you focus on the causes you will start by mentioning the effects. However, if you focus on the effects, you can start by mentioning the cause(s). • HOOKS are AWESOME to USE!!!! This will reel in the reader so they will want to read your paper. You can use a quote or situational example.

8. CAUSE-EFFECT THESIS • It must be able to be proved! • It can NOT be opinion-based! • It MUST include both the cause and effect that is the focus of your paper. EXAMPLE: Over the last seventy-five years television has become a prevalent form of communication and entertainment for people which has led to shortened attention spans of individuals, decrease in person-to-person communications, and a decrease in physical activity.

9. SUGGESTED PATTERNS FOR CAUSE-EFFECT PAPERS CAUSE-TO-EFFECT PATTERN • Introduction & Thesis Statement • Effect 1 • Effect 2 • Effect 3 • Conclusion

10. SUGGESTED PATTERNS FOR CAUSE-EFFECT PAPERS EFFECT-TO-CAUSE PATTERN • Introduction & Thesis Statement • Cause 1 • Cause 2 • Cause 3 • Conclusion

11. THE “WHY” GAME • Remember being little and always asking, “Why?” • This paper is a big, fat WHY question! • Start with an idea and then ask why this particular idea or event occurred. Keep asking “WHY” until you are no longer to ask “WHY.”

12. EXAMPLE OF THE “WHY” GAME • Original idea: Students and their families have to pay unnecessary amounts of money that is financially damaging Why? • Students must remain in college longer than necessary Why? • There are not enough classes offered to meet the demand Why? • There is not enough money in the budget and/or the money is spent unwisely Why? • Well I don’t know why but it would benefit students and families if more money was put into the colleges to build new classrooms and hire more teachers • You play the way game until you can’t go any further, so you can see how the events are related.