ACADEMIC WRITING

Organisation
Argumentation
Compare and Contrast
Cause and Effect
Classification

Cause and Effect

A cause and effect relationship text is written when you want to discuss why something has happened (cause) and what happens as a result (effect). For example, the cause of poverty may be low wages, unemployment, and lack of education which then has the following effects: inadequate accommodation, no food, and no opportunities. This type of academic writing is used when you want to link events or actions with their causes and effects.

CHECK POINTS

- is it clear from the introduction that the writing will be a cause and effect discussion?
- can you clearly read the causes? the effects?
- is the writer’s purpose of the text clear?
- is there sufficient information supporting or backing up the effects, causes?
- are correct transitional words used in the writing to signal cause and effect information (cause: because of, since, because; effect: as a result, due to, thus)?
- are the causes and effects supported with sufficient facts, statistics, further information?
- is some cause/effect irrelevant?