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    Cause and Effect

    Cause and effect essays seek to establish a casual relationship between two or more occurrences or facts. This type of academic evidence relies heavily upon logic and established evidence. In order to convince a discerning audience of your ideas, you must make them believe your chain of evidence. Thus, providing ample and supported evidence is a must.

    Another point that is important to remember with this type of rhetorical strategy is that you must either focus on causes or effects. Let's look at an example. Suppose my thesis is "Children watch too much television which causes them to lose their creativity." As a reader, you know that I will be discussing the ways in which T.V. watching causes kids problems. So a schematic of my essay would probably look something like this:

  • T.V. is immediately gratifying
  • T.V. stimulates with sound and action bites often with violence
  • Conclusion
    • Causes
    1. Introduction with thesis
    2. Definition of creativity--How much is too much
    3. T.V. does not require participation which leads to passivity
    		ex. 1
    ex. 2
    ex. 3
    ex. 1
    ex. 2
    ex. 3
    ex. 1
    ex. 2
    ex. 3
    Effect:

    Lack of imagination

    Now, let's turn this around and write an essay which show the effects only.

  • Passivity
  • Impatience
  • Violence
  • Conclusion
    • Cause

    Watching too much T.V

    		 Effects:
    1. Introduction: Watching too much television effects many areas of a child's life.
    2. Creativity loss
    		ex. 1
    ex. 2
    ex. 3
    ex. 1
    ex. 2
    ex. 3
    ex. 1
    ex. 2
    ex. 3
    ex. 1
    ex. 2
    ex. 3

    As you can see it is important to choose one place to begin; if you do not, you will lose your audience because they are depending upon your logic and your clear explanations to show why they should believe in the causal relationship you are writing about.

    Another type of cause/effect strategy is the causal chain which shows a linked relationship of events: the first event leads to or influences the second, the second leads to or influences the third, etc. Here you still have a clear thesis statement which leads and directs the essay; however, instead of three or four items of discussion, as in the example above, you would show the chain of events. A schematic of this type of essay it would look like this:

    Primary cause arrow.gif (4190 bytes) Effect 1 Cause 2arrow.gif (4190 bytes) Effect 2 Cause 3arrow.gif (4190 bytes) Effect 3 Cause 4arrow.gif (4190 bytes) Final Effect

    Thus if we were using the topic of television watching, our outline would go something like this:

    • Effect 3/Cause 4--Since a majority of the television shows are about immediate gratification and violent tendencies, the children will be indoctrinated toward that type of expression rather than something which springs from their own imagination.

    • Conclusion

    Introduction: Draw a scene showing little Jane and Johnny with dull little faces in front of the boob tube. Thesis: Since television watching leads to a lack of creativity, a child should be limited to one hour per day.
    		Effect 1/Cause 2--Studies show those who sit in front of the T.V. for hours at a time become passive
    		 
     
     
    Effect 2/Cause 3--When a person is passive she is more susceptible to images and impulses
    		 
     
     
     
     
     
    Final Effect: Because children do not use their imagination, when they are challenged to do so, they will be incapable because their "imaginative" ability is stunted.
    		 
     
     

    Here again you must use evidence to support each of your points or you will lose your audience. I would suggest that you make an outline or schematic before you begin the essay, as it will help you when you draw upon the evidence at hand, especially with this assignment. Remember, however, write what you know first, then later you can go back and add evidence from your textbook. Of course, this presumes that you understand the material. If you do not, please ask questions on the discussion board.

    Transition words are imperative in this type of essay, as they give cues to your readers and help them follow your train of thought. Here are a few which might be helpful in your essay:

    as a result, consequently, therefore, because of this, hence, since, leads to, contributes to, results in, causes, follows from, is due to, is a result of, is a consequence of.

    You do not have to limit yourself to these, but these and others should be used to weave your ideas together.

    A summary of this handout:

    		The rhetorical strategy of cause and effect relies upon logic and evidence;
    three types of organization patterns are available: 1) a few causes leading to one situation, 2) a situation leading to a few effects, 3) the causal chain;
    use a schematic or outline to help with organization;
    add evidence from text or lectures after writing what you know about the topic
    transition words and phrases should be used throughout the c/e essay.
    Contents within this site are copyrighted by both the author of essays and/or Jan Strever.
    The contents within these pages are solely those of the author and S.C.C.
    should not be held responsible.  ©1999-2009
    Last revised: November 19, 2009 by Jan Strever -- jstrever@scc.spokane.edu
    Personal site:  http://www.js.spokane.wa.us/

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