Using Cause and Effect to Explain

Expository writing is often used to explain particular events, such as scientific discoveries or moments in history. Two important factors in any event are its cause or causes and its effect or effects.

Expository writing may begin with the effect and then investigate its cause or causes. For example, in writing about an event such as the Civil War, you might ask the question, “Why did it come about?” To answer this question, you would discuss the various causes of the war.

Expository writing may also begin with the cause and explore its effects or possible effects. In dealing with the Civil War, a writer might ask, “What happened because of the war?” To answer this, it would be necessary to analyze the effects on the North, on the South, and on all black people. In writing about a discovery such as that of the Salk polio vaccine you might report the effect of widespread use of the vaccine in order to give the reader a better idea of the discovery's importance. At other times, you could use the principle of cause and effect to predict the future. You could take a current event and write about its possible future effects.

Whether you start with a cause or causes or with an effect or effects, you are tracing a process. You may be tracing forward from cause to effect. You may be tracing backward from effect to cause. In either case, your explanation will be convincing to your reader only if it is supported by accurate and relevant details.

WORKING WITH THE MODEL

Read the following paragraphs from a book. Note that the effects are presented first. Note that the last paragraph states the cause.

Perhaps the most common example of distorted seeing on or off the tennis courts is what I have come to call the “uh-oh experience”. I discovered this phrase one day while watching two advanced players engaged in a long rally. On about the tenth shot, Paul hit a ball deep to John's backhand corner and rushed to the net. John, who had always considered deep backhands his greatest weakness, seemed to lose his composure. His lips tightened and his neck jutted forward while his feet shuffled backward hurriedly, jerking his racket back at the last possible second, he flailed away, and as he saw his shot land just wide of the alley, he exclaimed, “There I go again!”

“What was the last thought you remember before hitting that shot?” I asked later.

“Just 'uh-oh, here comes another deep backhand!” said John ruefully.

I realized that John's error had originated in his mind even before he had moved his racket. It was not a lack of sufficient talent or technique but his actual perception of the ball, which had lost him the point. He had not really seen the ball; rather, he was watching all his past backhand errors approaching him. A threat was coming toward his weakness, so he tightened and retreated. Half of him wanted to defend himself; the other half wanted to strike out against his aggressor. Like Don Quixote, he defended himself against an illusionary monster and struck out.

W. Timothy Gallwey

Inner Tennis

A. Think about the cause-and-effect relationship analyzed in this passage.

1. What is the cause of the tennis player’s problem? Where had the cause originated?

2. What was the final effect? What sequence of thoughts and actions led to this effect?

3. What did the author name this effect?

B. Imagine you have been asked to rewrite these paragraphs, starting with the cause and then describing the effects. Outline the paragraphs you would write.

C. Imagine you are preparing to develop a cause-and-effect paragraph about each of the following subjects:

¨ an automobile accident

¨ losing a game

¨ gaining ten pounds

¨ environmental pollution

¨ getting a poor grade on a test

¨ financial problems

1. Write a cause-and-effect statement for each paragraph.

2. List at least three details to support each statement.

SUMMARY

· Expository writing is often used to explain the causes and effects of particular events.

· Expository writing may begin with a cause and analyze its effects, or begin with an effect and trace back to its causes.

· In order to analyze a cause-and-effect process convincingly, the writer must present accurate and relevant details.

DRAFTING

1). Choose three historic events. For each event you choose, list three things that helped to cause the event, or three effects that event had.

2). Read your lists of causes and effects. Decide which one would make the most interesting cause-and-effect essay. Write a one-sentence cause-and-effect statement that gives your main idea. For example:

The invention of the steamship brought travel for pleasure and a greater variety of goods within the reach of many people.

Increased taxes and rising unemployment caused discontent throughout the country.

3). List at least ten details to support your main idea.

4). Read your list carefully. As you read, ask yourself the following questions:

· What other details, if any, should be added to the list?

· Which details, if any, do not directly support the cause-and-effect statement?

Then revise your list. Reword, add, or take out items to make your list as clear and as complete as possible.

5). Write a concluding statement for your essay.

6). Organize your cause-and-effect statement, list, and conclud­ing statement into an outline.

COMPOSING

Use your cause-and-effect statement and your outline to write a cause-and-effect essay. You may want to use your cause-and-effect statement exactly as it is in your essay, or you may wish to reword it or divide it into two or more sentences.

REVISING

Read your essay carefully. As you read, ask yourself the following questions:

· What cause-and-effect relationship is traced in the essay? Is the re­lationship traced from cause to effect or from effect to cause?

· How was the cause-and-effect statement used in the essay? How might it be made clearer and more precise?

· Which accurate and relevant details support each statement of cause? Which details, if any, might be added? Which details, if any, should be eliminated because they are either not accurate or not relevant?

· Which details support each statement of effect? Which details, if any, might be added? Which details, if any, should be eliminated because they are either not accurate or not relevant?

· What is the concluding statement? How might it be made clearer and more precise?

PROOFREADING

Proofread your essay. Follow the steps presented in the Proofread­ing Checklist on page 142. Correct any mistakes you have made in sentence structure, capitalization, punctuation, or spelling.

Дата добавления: 2015-10-30