1. Cause-and-Effect Essay
Writing Workshop
Cause-and-Effect Essay
KEY TRAITS
IDEAS
Clearly identifies a true cause-and-effect relationship
Presents a thesis statement that explains the connection between the cause(s) and effect(s)
Includes facts, examples, and other details to illustrate each cause and effect
2. ORGANIZATION
Has an interesting introduction and a satisfying conclusion
Presents cause(s) and effect(s) in a sensible order
Uses transitions to signal clear connections between cause(s) and effect(s)
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2. Cause-and-Effect Essay
Writing Workshop
Cause-and-Effect Essay
KEY TRAITS
3. VOICE
Has a tone appropriate for the audience and purpose
4. WORD CHOICE
Uses precise language to explain each cause and effect
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3. Cause-and-Effect Essay
Writing Workshop
Cause-and-Effect Essay
KEY TRAITS
5. SENTENCE FLUENCY
Varies sentence lengths to add interest and energy
6. CONVENTIONS
Employs correct grammar and usage
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4. Cause-and-Effect Essay
Writing Workshop
Apply the Writing Process: Prewriting
What Should I Do?
What Does It Look Like?
1. Brainstorm to find a topic.
Create a cluster diagram, and fill in the circles with any ideas that come to mind. Think about events in your own life, what’s happening in the world, natural phenomena, and anything else that intrigues you. Then circle the topic that interests you most.
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5. Cause-and-Effect Essay
Writing Workshop
Apply the Writing Process: Prewriting
What Should I Do?
What Does It Look Like?
2. Chart causes and effects.
Outline the cause-and-effect relationships of your topic. Remember that a cause can have several effects and that several causes can combine to produce one effect.
TIP: Make sure you have picked a true cause-and-effect relationship. The fact that one event follows another doesn’t necessarily mean that the first event causes the second.
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6. Cause-and-Effect Essay
Writing Workshop
Apply the Writing Process: Prewriting
What Should I Do?
What Does It Look Like?
3. Consider your audience and purpose.
Write a sentence or two stating whom you’ll be addressing and what you want to accomplish in your essay.
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7. Cause-and-Effect Essay
Writing Workshop
Apply the Writing Process: Prewriting
What Should I Do?
What Does It Look Like?
4. List details that support your main points.
Gather facts, statistics, quotations, and anecdotes that help you explain the causes and effects. Be concrete and specific.
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8. Cause-and-Effect Essay
Writing Workshop
Apply the Writing Process: Drafting
What Should I Do?
What Does It Look Like?
1. Choose an organizational pattern.
You might organize your essay by describing an effect and then analyzing its causes. Another way to organize your essay is to begin with a cause or causes and trace the effect or effects. The writer of the student model analyzed a series of
related causes and effects.
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9. Cause-and-Effect Essay
Writing Workshop
Apply the Writing Process: Drafting
What Should I Do?
What Does It Look Like?
2. Include specific details about each cause and effect.
Refer back to the details you collected in step 4 on page 557. Incorporate these into your draft to help the reader experience the events you’re describing rather than just read that “this happened, then that happened.”
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10. Cause-and-Effect Essay
Writing Workshop
Apply the Writing Process: Drafting
What Should I Do?
What Does It Look Like?
3. Make it memorable.
Create a strong conclusion that does more than just summarize the points you’ve made. Try showing why the information is important or how it might affect your life or your reader’s life.
TIP: Before revising, review the key traits on page 554 and the rubric and peer-reader questions on page 560.
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11. Cause-and-Effect Essay
Writing Workshop
Apply the Writing Process: Revising & Editing
What Should I Do?
What Does It Look Like?
1. Grab the reader’s attention in your introduction.
Read the first paragraph aloud. Underline phrases or sentences that might bore or confuse a reader.
Add examples, facts, or other details to create excitement and interest.
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12. Cause-and-Effect Essay
Writing Workshop
Apply the Writing Process: Revising & Editing
What Should I Do?
What Does It Look Like?
2. Clearly connect your ideas.
Draw a circle around sentences that make you ask:
How is this related to what I just said? Insert transitions that clarify how the ideas are connected.
See page 560: Clarify with Transitions
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13. Cause-and-Effect Essay
Writing Workshop
Apply the Writing Process: Revising & Editing
What Should I Do?
What Does It Look Like?
3. Consider your audience.
Ask a peer reader to [bracket] words or statements in your essay that he or she has questions about.
Add background information to explain these ideas.
See page 560: Ask a Peer Reader
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14. Cause-and-Effect Essay
Writing Workshop
Apply the Writing Process: Revising & Editing
What Should I Do?
What Does It Look Like?
4. Vary the lengths of your sentences.
Draw a box around sentences that seem choppy because they are all the same length.
Combine or split up some of these sentences to make your writing more lively and rhythmic.