Unit 6.
Cause and Effect Essay
Part II
Review: Cause-and-Effect Essay
• Cause and effect essays are concerned with why things happen
(causes) and what happens as a result (effects)
• Step 1. Distinguish between cause and effect. To determine causes,
ask, "Why did this happen?" To identify effects, ask, "What
happened because of this?“
• Step 2. Develop your thesis statement. State clearly whether you
are discussing causes, effects, or both.
• Step 3. Find and organize supporting details. Back up your thesis
with relevant and sufficient details that are organized.
• Step 4. Use appropriate transitions. To blend details smoothly in
cause and effect essays, use the transitional words and phrases.
Writing Model
• (p.142) What It Takes to Be a Professional Athlete.
• Introduction:
–
–
–
–
What strategy is used to write the hook?
What is the thesis statement?
What is its focus: causes or effects?
How many causes (or effects) will be discussed?
• Body paragraphs:
– What is the topic in each body paragraph?
– There are 2 sentences that do not support the topic sentences
of two paragraphs. Point them out.
• Conclusions:
– What does the writer do in the concluding paragraph?
– What type of comment does the writer make?
Review: Rhetorical Focus
•
•
•
•
Multiple causes  Effect
Cause  Multiple effects
Causal chains / Domino
(p.144)
• Can you say
“opening the
window”
sharpen the
pencil?
Exercise
• (p.144)
• Number the causes below so that they form a
logical causal chain.
Logical fallacy
• Fallacy:
– A and B regularly occur together  A is the cause of B.
• The mistake being made is that the causal conclusion is being
drawn without adequate justification.
• Example: It is claimed by some people that severe illness is
caused by depression and anger. After all, people who are
severely ill are very often depressed and angry. Thus, it follows
that the cause of severe illness actually is the depression and
anger. So, a good and cheerful attitude is key to staying healthy.
• Way to avoid it: to pay careful attention to the temporal
sequence of events.
– Effects do not generally precede their causes.
http://www.nizkor.org/features/fallacies/confusing-cause-and-effect.html
• Fallacy:
– A and B are regularly connected  A is the cause of B.
• The causal conclusion is drawn without considering the
possibility that a third factor might be the cause of both.
• Example: The needles from the pine trees along the
Wombat river fell into the water. Shortly thereafter, many
dead fish washed up on the river banks. The owners of the
Wombat River Chemical Company claimed that is it was
obvious that the pine needles had killed the fish.
• Way to avoid: always ask "could there be a third factor that
is actually causing both A and B?"
http://www.nizkor.org/features/fallacies/ignoring-a-common-cause.html
Peer evaluation
• Based on the rhetorical focus of cause and effect
essay, make your own peer-evaluation sheet.
• You should have found out that the so-called peerevaluation sheet is just a checklist, a list for your peer
to examine whether your writing have every
necessary element.
• It’s time for you to grow to be an independent
writer! You’ve skipped personal checklist, and now
you need to practice to make your own checklist.
Language Focus
• The future with Will
• Using Will with So That
• Expressing future possibility with If Clauses.
About Will
• (p.147)
• Use will to discuss future effects of a cause or
set of causes.
• Use will to make predictions.
• Add adverbs like probably or certainly with
will to express a degree of certainty.
Future Tense
• One way to show future time is by using be going to + V or
will in a sentence. Which one is more commonly used?
• In spoken English, be going to + V and will are both
commonly used.
• In written English, will is much more common.
Why?
• This is probably true for a number of reasons.
– First, will is a little more formal and polite sounding. Since
writing is usually more formal than speaking, will is the
more appropriate choice in many types of writing.
– Second, will is just easier to write because it is shorter and
you do not have to change the form of the be verb.
• Use going to
– when you are writing about someone else's plan, especially if it
is a definite plan.
• He is going to ride his bicycle around Taiwan this summer.
– to make predictions when we have good evidence that the
prediction will come true.
• It is going to be hot today. It's only 7:00, but the
temperature is already 34ºC.
• Use will
– if the plan is not definite, it is better to use will.
• Maybe he will ride his bicycle around Taiwan this summer.
– when you are not absolutely sure about the thing to do.
• I bet you will meet someone at the party.
– to state your intention when you write about a promise that you
have made.
• I promise that I will pick you up at 7:00.
About the logical flow So That
• (p.148)
• The future with will can be used with the
logical connector so that.
• Main clause + so that + Time clause
Cause
Effect
Simple Present
Future tense(will)
• Students work hard in school so that they will
be successful.
About the logical flow If Clause
• The if clause introduces a possible situation
(the cause).
• The main clause talks about the possible result
(the effect) of the situation.
• If clause + Main clause
Cause
Effect
Exercise
• (p.144)
• Choose one of the causal chains, then develop
the chain into a short paragraph. (About 5
sentences are enough.)
• Use so that or if clause in your paragraph to
show the logical flow.
• Change your paragraph with your partner.
Read each other’s paragraph and see if any
logical fallacy is made.