2. Organization of a cause and effect paragraph
The cause/effect paragraph is based on a formula "X'
(cause) produces Y (effect) or "Y (effect) is produced by X
(cause)." In other words, "Because X has taken place, Yhas
occurred" or "Y has occurred because of X." Based on that formula,
the organization of a cause and effect paragraph or essay falls
into two basic pattern outlines: the cause-to-effect pattern and
the effect-to-cause pattern, each of which is determined by the
topic sentence that gives bath the cause and the effect.
The cause-to-effect pattern
In the cause-to-effect pattern, the topic sentence of a
paragraph states the main idea in such a way that some cause pro-
duces some effects. Consider the following paragraph in which the
topic sentence indicates the cause first, then the discussion of
the paragraph concerns the effects resulting from that cause.
A copper indusks- depression in Arizona has
caused great losses. One effect of the copper indus-
ta- depression is the loss of more than 46 million
dollars in wages last year alone. Another is that
Arizona business lost more than 39 million dollars
in copper industry purchases. The third is that
state and local governments lost more than 9 million
dollars in taxes. The fourth effect is that one out