Cause-and-Effect Essay Writing

Melissa Jensen Miss JensenEDRD 6530 AKA U.S. HistoryApprenticeship Assignment

Cause-and-Effect?

Cause-and-effect writing gives reasons and explanations for events, conditions, or behavior

Cause=a person or thing that acts, happens, or exists in such a way that some specific thing happens as a result; the producer of an effect

Effect=something that is produced by an agency or cause; result; consequence

Where to start?

Get a topic—event or condition

Brainstorm causes or effects Additional research (if necessary)

Example:Effect: Your car won’t startCauses: You are out of gas, Your battery is dead, You don’t have any good CDs in the car

Planning

Diagram relationships of causes and effects

Check for errors

Ask questions: Have I assumed a relationship when there is

none? Have I assumed only one cause when many may

be appropriate? Have I incorrectly assumed a causal relationship

between two events that follow each other?

Causes: •You are out of gas—relationship•Your battery is dead—relationship •You don’t have any good CDs in the car—no relationship

Drafting the essay

Use cause-and-effect diagram

Create outline Most important causes and effects Ask questions:

Who was responsible? Who was affected? Did the event have social or economic consequences?

Compose thesis

Examples

Example

Add markings showing thesis, causes, & effects

Examples

Examples

Add markings showing thesis, causes, & effects

Assignment

You will be turning in a cause-and-effect essay at the end of the week. This essay will be in response to the following question: How did industrialization become an important part of America’s development and how did it directly affect Americans?

Industrialization in the US