Cause and Effect : How to organize your draft?

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A cause and effect pattern is one of the first options you might consider for organizing your writing. As a fundamental thought patter, it can be used in a number if ways. Explanations (Why something happened) and arguments (Why something will cause something to happen) are two typical uses. Here’s cause and effect explanation that shows that Nevada’s beginnings as a mining state influenced the environment there today:

Nevada’s evolution as a family–values-free zone can be explained, historians say, by its origins as a mining state, populated largely by single men. Toward the end of the nineteenth century, there were three men for every woman and a significant number of those women were using the gender disparity to their economic advantage. Nevada, unlike it neighbor Oregon, was not settled by small farmers agitating for moral reform. Instead, it remained a saloon society, dominated by cowboys and hustlers. Its inhabitants realized a long time ago that handsome profits could be made by inviting the rest of America into those saloons. (Rebecca Mead : Letter from Nevada)

Here’s cause and effect paragraph arguing that certain invention, the screw, had far – reaching effects.

It’s not an exaggeration to say that accurately threaded screws changed the world. Without screws, entire fields of science would have languished. Navigation would have remained primitive and naval warfare as well as routine maritime commerce in the 18th and 19th centuries would not have been possible. Without screws there would have been no machine tools, hence no industrial products and no industrial revolution. Think of that the next time you pick up a screwdriver to open a can of paint. (Witold Rybczynski: One good Turn)

Other Pages in This Section :

Reasoning from Evidence

Assertion and Support


Comparison and Contrast



Choosing and Combining Patterns

Successful Writing Index

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