Cause and Effect

Process describe how something happens; cause and effect analyzes why something happens. Cause and Effect essay examine causes, describe effect, or do both. Cause and Effect, links situation and events together in time, with

causes preceding effects. But causality involves more than sequence; cause and effect analysis explains why something happened or is happening and its predicts what probably will happen. Sometime many different causes can be responsible for one effect. Similarly many different effects can be produced by a single cause.

* Main and Contributory Causes

Even when you have identified several cause of an effect, one- the main cause is always more important than the others- the contributory causes. Understanding the distinction between the main cause and the contributory cause is vital for planning a cause and effect paper: once you identify the main cause, you can emphasizes it in your paper and downplay the other causes.

* Immediate and Remote Causes

Another important distinction is the difference between an immediate cause and remote cause. An immediate cause closely precedes an effect and is therefore relatively easy to recognize. An remote cause is less obvious, perphas because it involves something in the past or far away. Assuming that the most obvious cause is always the most important can be dangerous as well as shortsighted. Root cause can be extremely important.