Cause & Effect

Rhetorical Strategy

AP Language & Composition

The Method

To figure out reasons and results is to use the method of CAUSE AND EFFECT.

Why did something happen?

What were the consequences?

What might be the consequences?

Examples of the Method Causes? Why do birds migrate? What has caused sales of Detroit-made cars to

pick up (or decline) lately? Effects What have been the effects of the birth-

control pill on the typical American family? What impact has the personal computer had on

the nursing profession? Suppose an asteroid the size of a sofa were to

strike in Philadelphia?

Process: Subjects, Purposes, and Theses

Causation: Why? What results? What if? An excellent cause and effect subject should

be a topic near to you.

Example: For a 500-word essay due Thursday, the causes of teenage rebellion would be a less feasible topic than why a certain thirteen-year-old you know ran away from home.

Process: Subjects, Purposes, and Theses

Most of the time you will seek simply to explain what did or might occur, laying out the connections clearly.

You may want to go further, arguing for one interpretation over others. You still need to be clear and accurate in presenting your interpretation, treat the other issues fairly.

Process: Subjects, Purposes, and ThesesExamples

A bill like the one we’ve just passed (to ban imports from factories that use child labor) is of no use unless it goes hand in hand with programs that will offer a new life to these newly released children. Chitra Divakuaruni Live Fee and Starve

It is possible to stop most drug addiction in the United States within a very short time. Simply make all drugs available and sell them at cost. Gore Vidal, Drugs

My suspicion is, in fact, that very few of us ...have really responded to the AIDS crisis the way the federal government and educators would like us to believe. My guess is that we’re all but ignoring it and that almost anyone who claims otherwise is lying. Meghan Daum, Safe-Sex Lies

Causal Relations

Pay attention to chronological order. What caused what?

Example: Why a battle may be lost?1. The losing general had fewer soldiers and had a blinding hangover the morning he mapped out his strategy.2. Winter set in and winter enforcements failed to arrive, and a Joan of Arc inspired the winning army.

ONE EVENT PRECEDES ANOTHER EVENT!

Causal Relations Determine if the cause is major or minor.

Ex: If Judd acquires a heavy drug habit and also takes up residence in a video arcade, and as a result finds himself penniless, it is probably safe to assume that the drug habit is the major cause of his going broke and his addiction to video games a minor one.

(If you were writing about his sad case, you’d probably emphasize the drug habit by giving it most of your space, perhaps touching on video games briefly.)

Cautions with Causal RelationsBeware of confusing coincidence with cause. Post hoc-because A happened before B, A

must have caused B.Ex: This is the error of the superstitious man who

decides that he lost his job because a black cat walked in front of him.

Another error is to oversimplify causes by failing to recognize their full number and complexity.

Ex: Violent crime is simply a result of “all those gangster shows on TV.”

Discovery of Causes

What am I trying to explain? What is the character, personality, or mental

state of whoever acted? In what scene or location did the act take

place, and in what circumstances? What instruments or means did the person

use? For what purpose did the person act? Pentad: the act, actor, scene, agency, and

purpose

Focus on Clarity and Conciseness

Read p. 435 in The Bedford Reader

http://www.hsph.harvard.edu/gallery/intro.html

CAUSE & EFFECT REVIEW

Why did something happen?

What were the consequences?

What might be the consequences?