Chapter 3 101 Cause and effect are an action-reaction combination. The cause is the reason something happens, and the effect is what happens as a result. The cause makes the effect happen. The tornado caused the roof to fly off the building. The earthquake made the dishes break. Tornado and earthquakes are the causes. They made the other things happen. The second parts of the sentence are the effects. They happened after the causes. The cause is that thing which makes something else happen. The effect is what it is that happens as a result of the cause. So there is always a relationship between cause and effect. Examples: The smells wafting from the kitchen caused him to become hungry. The
smells
are
the
cause
and
hunger
is
the
effect.
He took a sleeping pill and became ill. The sleeping pill is the cause of him becoming ill. Illness is the effect the sleeping pill had on him.
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Cause: sleeping pill. Effect: illness. What is a Cause and Effect Essay? A cause and effect essay can be defined as,
“ A paragraph or essay form which probes and analyzes into the causes (rationale, reasoning and background reasons) along with the effects (consequences, effects and outcome) for a particular event, happening, condition or behavior�. Typically, students might confuse themselves between a cause and effect essay. A cause and effect essay concentrates on the ability of the writer to hook up the reasons why things happened and lead to the particular consequences. In addition, the writer approaches the sequence of events linearly, further analyzing the reasons and impact vigilantly. Writing tasks involving cause and effect analysis usually take one of two forms: explaining how a known cause produces specific effects; explaining how specific effects are produced by a previously unknown cause (which the writer has discovered). The second type of analysis is commonly referred to as root-cause analysis. The first type of analysis is what the technology and privacy topic requires.
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Sometimes many effects from the cause or the cause results in different effects EFFECT (Topic Sentence) Cities have grown very large. [There are several reasons for this.]
CAUSES (Supporting Sentences)
Factory jobs attracted people.
(Cities have grown very large.)
Better schools attracted families to move to the city.
(Cities have grown very large.)
Places of leisure, entertainment, and culture made city life appear more interesting.
Cause and Effect Conjunctions Here are some common conjunctions that can be used to express cause and effect: since because consequently
as a result therefore for this reason
because of + noun phrase due to + noun phrase so
There are two things you must be careful of when using these conjunctions. First, you must order the cause and the effect correctly. For example, in the sentence
Ali closed the window because the weather outside was cold. the CAUSE is the fact that the room was cold, and the EFFECT is Ali closing
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the window. The conjunction because is placed in the correct position here, which is right before the cause. Similarly, in the sentence
Because the weather outside was cold, Ali closed the window. the conjunction because is correctly placed before the part of the sentence that expresses the cause, even though the subordinate clause because the room was cold is now at the beginning of the sentence. (Note that the first letter of the conjunction is now capitalized.) However, in this sentence:
Second, you should be careful when using commas. Conjunctions such as therefore, consequently, as a result, and for this reason are usually followed by a comma, as in these examples:
The weather was cold; therefore, Ali closed the window. The weather was cold. Therefore, Ali put on her coat. The weather was cold. Consequently, Ali put on her scarf. A blizzard hit the town. As a result, the schools were closed. The adverbial clause conjunctions since and because are exceptions. These are attached directly at the beginning of CAUSE-sentence without a comma, as in the example above, Because the weather outside was cold, Sally closed the window. The comma here is placed at the end of the subordinate clause. The coordinating conjunction so is also different from the ones above. This conjunction has a comma before it, as in this sentence:
The weather was warm, so Munib turned on the air conditioner.
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However, in formal academic writing, so may not be used at the beginning of a sentence (although you will often see it in informal writing):
The weather was warm. So Munib turned on the air conditioner. (too informal -- avoid this usage)
Exercise 2 It is useful to distinguish between the cause and the effect. In each of the following (1-5), one sentence is the cause and the other is the effect. Write a "C" next to the cause, and write an "E" next to the effect. Then rewrite the sentences into one sentence. Be sure to use vocabulary that specifies cause and effect. (1)___ (a) There is no life on Venus. ___ (b) There is no atmosphere on Venus. (2)___ (a) Solar batteries need to be recharged frequently. ___ (b) Solar batteries are impractical for powering cars on long trips. (3) ___ (a) The element silicon melts. ___ (b) The temperature is above 1410째C. (4) ___ (a) Daily exercise strengthens the heart. ___ (b) Many people who exercise daily have healthy hearts. (5) ___ (a) Cakes and candy are high in sugar. ___ (b) Cakes and candy are bad for the teeth.
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