Cause/Effect Essays
Chapter 6.
Cause/Effect Essays
Please note that all the data and most part of the discussions provided in the
following PPT slides are drawn from Oshima and Hogue (2006) Writing
Academic English (4th ed.).
2 2
Preview of Chapter 6
• In this chapter, we will discuss …
– what ‘cause/effect’ essays look like;
– how we organize this type of essays; and
– what are the subtypes of ‘cause/effect’ organization.
• In so doing, we will also talk about …
– major transition signals that are frequently used to
introduce (or indicate) causes and/or their effects.
3 3
Preview of Chapter 6
(cont’d)
• Cause/effect essays as a common pattern of essay
organization
– One of the common patterns of essay organization is called
‘cause and effect’ (NB: We have skipped another common
pattern of organization called ‘chronological order’ in
Chapter 5).
– In a ‘cause/effect’ essay, you discuss (i) the causes (i.e.,
reasons) for something , (ii) the effects (i.e.,
results/consequences), or (iii) both causes and effects.
4 4
Preview of Chapter 6
(cont’d)
– You might use cause/effect organization to answer typical
test questions as follows:
• Education: Explain the decline in reading ability among
schoolchildren.
• Environmental studies: Discuss the effects of global warming
on the environment.
• Business, Economics: Discuss NFTA (North American Free
Trade Agreement) and its effects on the U.S. economy.
• History: Discuss the causes of the U.S. Civil War.
• Psychology: Explain the causes and effects of the “Stockholm
syndrome.”
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Organization for Cause/Effect Order
• Two major ways to organize cause/effect essays
– You can organize a cause/effect essay in two main ways:
“block” organization and “chain” organization.
– In block organization,
• you first discuss all the causes as a block (in one, two, three,
or more paragraphs, depending on the number of causes).
• Then, you discuss all effects together as a block.
• Of course, you can also discuss only causes or only effects.
– In chain organization,
• causes and effects are connected to each other in a chain
(details to come shortly).
6 6
Block Organization
• Transition paragraph in block organization
– In block organization, a short paragraph often separates one
major section from another major section, and this paragraph is
called a ‘transition’ paragraph.
– The purpose of a transition paragraph is to conclude one section
and introduce another section.
– You do not always have to write a transition paragraph, but it is
helpful when your topic is ‘long’ and ‘complex’.
• Example: Several paragraphs about the causes of global
warming > a transition paragraph > another several paragraphs
about the results of global warming
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Block Organization
(cont’d)
– Essays that discuss mainly (or only) causes or mainly (or only)
effects might have a transition paragraph between blocks of
different kinds of causes or between blocks of different kinds of
effects.
• Example: the personal effects of our increased life expectancy >
transition paragraph > its many effects on the economy
– In short, a block-style cause/effect essay could have many
different patterns, some of which are illustrated on the next
slide.
– Subtypes of block organization
8 8
Block Organization
(cont’d)
• Model Essay: Cause/Effect Essay (Block Organization)
(pp.96-97)
• Practice 1. Block Organization (p.98)—In-class exercise
9 9
Chain Organization
(cont’d)
• Basics of chain organization
– The other organizational pattern you can use to write about
causes and effects is ‘chain organization’.
– In this pattern, causes and effects are closely linked to each other
in the form of a chain.
• In other words, one event causes a second event, which in turn
causes a third event, which in turn causes a fourth event, etc.
• Each new cause and its effect are ‘links’ in a chain.
– Depending on the complexity of the ideas in each link,
• you can devote an entire paragraph to one link; or
• you may include several links in one paragraph; or
• you may describe the entire chain in one paragraph.
10 10
Chain Organization
(cont’d)
• When chain organization works better?
– Chain organization usually works better than block
organization when the causes and effects are too closely linked
to be separated.
– The chain pattern can be illustrated as follows:
11 11
Chain Organization
(cont’d)
• Model Essay: Cause/Effect Essay (Chain Organization)
(p.99)
• Practice 2. Chain Organization (p.100)—In-class exercise
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Interim Summary
• The type of ‘cause/effect’ organization you choose depends on
your topic.
– A ‘chain’ pattern is usually easier …
• if the causes and effects are very closely interrelated;
• for example, you might use a chain pattern to write about the causes
of a particular disease or phenomenon in nature such as a
thunderstorm or a rainbow.
– A ‘block’ pattern is usually easier …
• with large, complex topics such as global warming or
homelessness.
– Sometimes you will want to use a combination of ‘block’ and
‘chain’ organization.
• The model essay on pp.96-7 uses block organization, but in
paragraphs 4, 5 and 6, you will find chain organization.
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Cause/Effect Signal Words and Phrases
• Just as certain ‘transition signals’ show logical division and time
order, certain words and phrases signal cause/effect relationships.
– See the examples of transition signals to indicate causes and effects on
the two upcoming slides.
– Given those transition signals for cause/effect relationships, try
Practice Questions 3 and 4.
• Practice 3. Recognizing Cause Signal Words (pp.101-102)—In-class
exercise
• Practice 4. Recognizing Effect Signal Words (pp.102-103)—In-class
exercise
• Practice 5. Using Cause/Effect Signals (p.103)
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Review
• The followings are the important points covered in this chapter.
– Cause/effect organization is a common pattern in academic
writing to write about causes (or reasons) and effects (or results).
– There are two common cause/effect patterns of organization.
• In block organization, the causes (or reasons) are grouped together
in one block, and the effects (or results) are grouped together in
another block; there may be a transition paragraph between blocks.
• In chain organization, the causes and effects are too closely linked to
be separated; one cause leads to an effect, which is the cause of the
next effect.
– Use a variety of cause/effect signal words to help your reader
follow your ideas.
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