In a cause-
Irresponsible behavior caused my car accident.
The writer supported this thesis by presenting the causes with details that explain them.
| CAUSE | Driving too fast | CAUSE | On my cell phone |
| DETAILS |
Rainy and slippery Going too fast to control car Could not stop |
DETAILS |
Not paying close attention Hit a curve while laughing Did not react fast enough |
| CAUSE | Drinking | ||
| DETAILS | Not focused Slowed reaction time |
When you are writing about causes, be careful that you do not say something caused an event or situation just because it happened beforehand. For example, many of us have gotten sick after a meal and assumed that the food caused the sickness, only to find out that we had been coming down with the flu even before the meal.
When writing about effects, do not confuse something that happened after something else with an effect. In the previous example, just as the meal did not cause the illness, the illness was not the effect of the meal.