Lesson 4

1.2.2. Paragraph Development by Cause and Effect

● Objectives:
By the end of this lesson, learners will be able to:
1. Describe the cause and effect development pattern and how to be
applied.
2. Apply this pattern in writing a paragraph appropriately.

● Cause and Effect

When a paragraph is organized by cause and effect, the writer is
providing an explanation of the relationship between two items. A cause
produces a result; an effect is a result of a cause. To claim that one event
or condition causes another is to say that the first brings about the second.
Organizing a paragraph by cause and effect can be accomplished in two
ways:
(1) Begin the paragraph with an effect and then follow with the causes of
the effect.
(2) Begin with.
If the writer's objective is to show why something exists or occurs,
then effects-to- causes is the better choice. If the writer's goal is to show
consequences, then the causes-to-effects order is more appropriate.
The following paragraph, for example, argues the point that
teenagers shouldn't be allowed to get a driver's license until they are
eighteen years old explaining the causes for doing this:
In my opinion, people should be at least eighteen years old before
they are allowed to get a driver's license. First of all, people under
eighteen should be concentrating on their studies. It takes a lot of time
for teenagers to learn the rules of the road and how to handle a
vehicle. It would be better if they used this time to study. Second,
statistics show that young drivers have more accidents than older
drivers. They tend to be careless, and a machine that weighs several
thousand pounds should be handled very seriously. Finally, and most
importantly in my opinion, if teenagers cannot drive, they learn other
ways to get around that may lead to good lifelong habits, such as
using public transportation, bicycling, or just walking. These habits
may ultimately help the environment and most certainly will help
teenagers to be more physically active. In short, it is clear that there
are many good reasons for a young person to wait until age eighteen
to get a driver's license.
(Source: Boardman, C. A. & Frydenberg, J. (2002). Writing to
Communicate. Paragraphs and Essays. Pearson Education, Inc.)
 Cause and effect enables you to establish why something happens,
to explore the results, and to forecast the consequences. The writer can
explore scientific occurrences ("Why the earth spins"), historical events (
"Why the Persian Gulf War was a battle for oil rights"), and social issues
("Why movies have a PG-13 rating"). Consider using the following
strategies if they are appropriate to your writing:
● classify the various causes or effects;
● list the known or foreseeable consequences;
● trace recent history to explain a current condition;
● compare your subject with one from the past to emphasize the
possible outcome and to discuss positive or negative aspects;
● search out contributory causes as well as the main cause; or
● maintain a logical sequence so that one cause or one effect
logically follows from the preceding cause or effect.

Look at the following set of paragraphs which demonstrates the use

of cause and effect:
The system confines students to school. Students graduate from
high school because they acquire a set number of credits, and they go
to college for four more years- all the while isolated from society. If
the high school curriculum required students to do community
service work, perhaps 75 hours, the student would quickly learn
about the real world faced by government employees and social
workers.
First, service work benefits everyone. It helps the homeless,
elderly, physically and mentally ill, and the different charities. It
helps the young person doing the work because the person broadens
his or her knowledge of the differences in social standards.
Second, the young person discovers people in all their various
forms, faces, and fears. In some settings, the youngster will learn
about poverty or about wealth, a lesson that might encourage them to
work hard.
Third, it helps the community that will receive several thousand
hours of free service. It will ease the tax burden. It will free city
workers to pursue meaningful projects. It will make the community
proud.
(Source: James D. Lester, Sr. & James Lester, Jr. (1994). Writing:
Style and Grammar. United States of America.)