Cause and Effect

1. Cause and Effect EAP 1640 Dr. Dianne Ruggiero

2. What is it? • Emphasis is on why • Writers examine both causes and effects, but most will stress just one. • Why X happens and what results from X.

3. Example • Writing about hobby • Could emphasize the causes – what led up to your interest in that particular hobby. • Once you have identified the reasons, then sort them by order of importance.

4. How to avoid traps • Divide your subject into two categories – causes and effects. • Think about the steps or stages that are involved and identify them as possible causes or effects. • List an example or two for each possible cause or effect. • Sort out each list by dividing the items into primary or secondary causes and effects, that is, those that are relatively important and those that are relatively unimportan.

5. Cheating in College

6. Cheating in College (Cont.)

7. Logical Fallacies • Do not mistake a relation of time with one of cause. • Post Hoc Reasoning is when you mistake a temporal relationship for a causal one. • Also, it is easy to mistake a primary cause or effect for a secondary one.

8. Valid Causal Relationships • Evidence and logical reasoning are essential to cause-and-effect essays. • If drawn to one example, you need to think about how to avoid resting your entire argument on that one example.

9. Audience and Purpose • Determines both what to say and how to say it. • An awareness of the reader and that person’s possible preconceptions can also guide your approach to the topic.

10. Thesis and Organization • Most essays organized either around causes or effects, one or the other, not both. • Whichever one you don’t emphasize can make a good conclusion. • Good idea to put thesis in introduction so reader can follow the logical relationships between ideas as you develop main point.

11. Have you stated the topic as a question that asks why X happened? Have you stated the topic as a question that asks what results from X? Is a temporal relationship involved? Which do you want to emphasize, cause or effect? What is your point? What evidence can you use to support your point? What does your reader think? What role do you want to play in the essay? – observer or participant? Pointers for Using Cause and Effect