Cause and Effect

Cause-and-effect paragraphs explain the reasons something happens. These paragraphs may be
written from cause to effects or may be written as a list of the causes for an already clear effect.
Cause and effect paragraphs generally follow a basic paragraph format. They begin with a topic
sentence and this sentence is followed by specific supporting details.

Example:

Over the past few years drug policies in professional sports, especially Major League
Baseball, have come under serious investigation. This is due to several different reasons. First,
the physical capabilities of players in recent years have reached extremes, with players becoming
bigger and stronger than ever before. Also the admission of several players to the misuse of
performance enhancing drugs in the locker rooms has raised both public and legal suspicion.
Finally, an increase in the number of long standing records being broken has sparked the
questioning of fans and sports administrations alike. With players and organizations both having
a responsibility to the fans exhibit fair competition, drug policies are becoming stricter and
investigations into misuse are becoming more intense.

The effect in the above example would be: “Over the past few years drug policies in professional
sports, especially Major League Baseball, have come under serious investigation.”

The causes in the above example would be: The physical capabilities of players, the admission
of several players to drug misuse, and an increase in records being broken.

Combined, these two elements form a cause-and-effect paragraph.