CAUSE AND EFFECT

CAUSE AND EFFECT You know from experience that one thing leads to another. A cause makes something happen. An effect happens, as the result of some event or cause.

CAUSE AND EFFECT When trying to identify cause and effect, ask yourself the following questions: Why did this happen? What happened because of this? Look for signal words and phrases, such as: affected so because therefore reason thus result why

CAUSE AND EFFECT A causal chain is a series of events in which each event causes another one to happen. Think of a causal chain as if it were like dominoes falling in a row. Be careful, though…One event can follow another without having been caused by it.

CAUSE AND EFFECT To identify the sequence in a causal chain, follow these steps: Look for the first event. Ask yourself what happened because of that event. Look for hidden or multiple causes and results. Use a flowchart structure to record the chain of events.

CAUSAL CHAIN EXAMPLE Cause → Effect ↓ ↘ Effect → Cause