The Perfect Couple: Cause and Effect

A perfect example of a cause-and-effect relationship. The cause is why something happens; the effect is
result, what happens due to the cause. Therefore, cause-and-effect essays establish a relationship between
events.

Cause and effect usually (but not always) happen in time order: The cause comes first, creating an effect.
The following chart shows this order of events:

A Night to Remember

• Just before midnight on April 14, 1912, one of the most dramatic and famous of all maritime
disasters occurred, the sinking of the Titanic. The Titanic was the most luxurious ship afloat at the
time, with its beautifully decorated staterooms, glittering crystal chandeliers, and elaborate food
service. In addition, it was supposed to be the safest ocean liner ever built. The hull of the 46,000
ton White Star liner was divided into 16 supposedly watertight compartments. According to the
ship's manufacturer, four of the 16 compartments could be flooded without threatening the ship's
buoyancy. That April, the majestic ocean liner was on its first voyage ever, traveling from
Southampton, England, to New York City. The evening of April 14, the ship was sailing 95 miles
south of Newfoundland when it collided with a gigantic iceberg. No one saw the iceberg until it
was only about 500 yards away, a distance the ship would travel in 37 seconds. The ship sank
because the iceberg ruptured five of the 16 watertight compartments. The “unsinkable” Titanic
vanished under the water at 2:20 A.M., April 15. There were about 2,200 passengers aboard, and
all but 678 died. The tragedy was made even worse by the crew's futile rescue attempts. Since
there were not enough lifeboats, hundreds of people died who could have survived.
A Tragic Crop

• The potato has had a major historical impact on Ireland. In the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries,
the average Irish citizen planted potatoes and ate about 10 pounds of potatoes a day—and little
else. Potatoes are nourishing: On this diet, the Irish population nearly tripled from the middle of
the eighteenth century to just about the middle of the nineteenth century. But depending on only
one food was dangerous. When the potato blight hit Europe in 1845, the results were devastating
in Ireland. There, the potato famine meant more than starvation that year. It meant no seed
potatoes to use to grow the next year's crop. It meant that the pig or cow that would usually have
been sold to pay the rent had to be slaughtered, because there was nothing to fatten it on. No pig or
cow meant no rent. No rent meant eviction. As a result, homelessness and disease followed on the
heels of hunger. Almost a million Irish people died as a result of the potato blight. Another million
moved to the United States.

CLUE WORDS FOR “CAUSE”

because bring about contributed to

due to the reason for give rise to
led to on account of created by
since given that while
as whereas as a result of

CLUE WORDS FOR “EFFECT”

as a result consequently hence so

therefore for this reason outcome finally
then effect thus

after accordingly subsequently