CAUSE EFFECT RELATIONSHIP

Definisi

Cause and effect teks adalah jenis paragraf yang berisi analisa – analisa penulis tentang sebab dan
akibat. Paragraf ini diawali dengan sebab – sebab yang dijabarkan di awal kalimat dan kemudian
ditarik menjadi satu kesimpulan umum yang merupakan akibat dari penyebab – peyebab yang telah
dijabarkan tersebut.

Model paragraf cause and effect ini biasanya sering digunakan dalam penulisan essay dan text
explanation. Hal ini dikarenakan model ini dianggap memiliki alur penyampaian gagasan yang jelas
dan terstruktur, sehingga para pembaca mudah mengerti ketika membacanya.

Generic Structure

Paragraf cause and effect memiliki susunan atau generic structure sebagai berikut:

1. Memiliki gagasan utama pada topik sentence yang akan di bahas dalam keseluruhan
paragraf.

2. Memiliki supporting detail atau kalimat-kalimat pendukung yang berupa penyebab.

3. Diakhiri dengan concluding sentence atau kesimpulan yang berupa akibat.

Language Form

Paragraf cause and effect memiliki gaya bahasa seperti di bawah ini.
 1. Menggunakan tenses yang tergatung dengan konteks waktu dalam kalimat, dengan kata
lain, dapat berupa past tense, present tense, atau future tense.

2. Banyak menggunakan kata kerja atau verb dalam kalimat aktif dan pasif.

3. Menggunakan transisi seperti, due to, because, consequently, as a result, dan causes.

4. Menggunakan third person point of view.

Jika kita ingin fokus pada cause (sebab) polanya yaitu:

• Clause 1 + Because/Since/As + Clause 2

• Clause 1 + Due to/Owing to + Gerund/Noun

Jika kita ingin fokus pada akibat (effect) polanya yaitu :

• Clause 1 + So/Therefore/As a result + Clause 2

Example

Cause

• BecauseI used full fat milk because I did not have skimmed milk at home.He did the
ironing because his wife asked him to do it.They traveled to India because they wanted to try
traditional Indian food.

• Due to/owing toI sneezed due to/owing to the spices in the air.He doesn’t agree with
her, due to/owing to her absurd ideas.Our economy is getting better, due to/owing
to industry.

• Since/asI decided to buy natural yoghurt since/as John wants to be healthy.She was using
sunflower oil since/as she ran out of olive oil.Since/as we were not invited to their party, we
had our own party at home.

Effect

• As a resultI couldn’t walk for a year as a result of the accident.He was eating fast food every
day and as a result he got very fat.As a result of eating mouldy cake, they got food poisoning.

• SoWe had no kiwis so I decided to eat some cherries instead.He didn’t feel very well so he
didn’t visit us.We were very hungry so we ordered a pizza.

• Therefore“I think therefore I am.”He wanted to buy a new house, therefore he started saving
up his money.They found learning to surf too difficult and they therefore quit.

Use

We use cause and effect conjunctions to link two sentences and to show their cause and effect
relationship.

• Cause conjunctions (Because; Due to/owing to; Since/as) are used to introduce the reason of
a sentence;

• Effect conjunctions (As a result; So; Therefore) are used to show the purpose of a sentence.

Paragraph Cause and Effect 1

Drought which is happened this year is very long. Even, in the last two month almost there was no
rain. Moreover, with the very hot weather makes surface of the soil is cracked and dry and causes
the dust is flying away. In addition, the water that is stored in the irrigation couldn’t be found
anymore, so that there is no water which is flowing the farmers’ rice. As a result, they suffered a
failure in harvesting because the rice they planted is failed to grow caused by this drought.

Artinya:

Kemarau yang terjadi tahun ini sangat panjang. Hampir tidak ada hujan yang turun dalam dua bulan
terakhir ini. Ditambah lagi dengan cuaca yang sangat terik membuat permukaan tanah menjadi retak
dan kering. Selain itu, air yang ada di dalam irigasi ikut mongering, sehingga tidak ada air yang
mengaliri sawah – sawah para petani. Akibatnya, para petani mengalami kerugiaan karena padi yang
mereka tanam mengalami gagal panen disebabkan oleh kemarau yang sangat panjang ini.

Paragraph Cause and Effect 2

Alcoholic drinking is very dangerous for our health. There are lot of problems caused by this
dangerous fluid. First, it can cause a swell in our liver. This is because it can trigger the liver to work
extra hard filtering the fluid in our body, so that, the liver becomes swollen because it contains so
much fluid. Secondly, alcoholic drinking damages the human brain. It will decrease the function of
alcohol addict’s brain, thereby increasing the risk of depression and frustration. If this happens,
there will be a change in behavior on the alcoholic, even they can be mad. Then, alcohol also
decreases the functions of our senses. One is our eye is absolutely can be blind because of alcohol.
In addition, this drink can also speed up menopause in women because it decreases the function of
reproductive organs in women, so that they will get menopause sooner than the period in general.
Last, it is also able to cause defects in the fetus. Alcohol that comes into the body of pregnant
women also has an impact on their baby, so that they will be born with disabilities. Therefore, the
circulation of alcoholic drinking is prohibited in Indonesia because it causes several dangerous
diseases to the body.

Artinya:

Minuman alcohol sangat berbahaya bagi kesehatan tubuh kita. Pertama, alcohol bisa menyebabkan
lever membengkak. Hal ini dikarenakan alcohol bisa memicu lever untuk bekerja ekstra untuk
menyaring cairan di dalam tubuh, sehingga lever menjadi bengkak karena mengandung cairan yang
sangat banyak. Bahaya yang kedua alcohol mengakibatkan kerusakan pada otak manusia. Alkohol
akan menurunkan fungsi otak para pecandu alcohol sehingga meningkatkan resiko depresi dan
frustasi. Jika hal ini terjadi, akan terjadi perubahan tingkah laku pada para pecandu alcohol bahkan
bisa menjadi gila. Kemudian, alcohol juga menurunkan fungsi-fungsi indera kita. Salah satunya
adalah mata yang bisa mengalami buta akibat alcohol. Selain itu, alcohol juga bisa mempercepat
menopause pada perempuan karena alcohol menurunkan fungsi organ reproduksi pada wanita,
sehingga mereka mengalami menopause lebih cepat dari waktu pada umumnya. Bahaya yang
terakhir, alcohol ternyata juga bisa menyebabkan cacat pada janin. Alkohol yang masuk ke dalam
tubuh ibu hamil juga berdampak kepada bayi yang di dalam kandungannya, sehingga mereka akan
lahir dalam keadaan cacat. Oleh karena itu, peredaran minuman berakohol dilarang di Indonesia
karena menyeyababkan penyakit bagi tubuh.

Exercise:
Cause and Effect Essays

(a) Underline the cause and highlight its effect in each of the following sentences.

1. After the dog bit her, we had to take her to the hospital.

2. Her computer stopped working due to a virus.

3. The police arrested him because he committed a crime.

4. She set fire to the curtain first before the whole house burnt down.

5. If she gets accepted to university, she will become a doctor.

6. Unless she finds a replacement, she will be fired.

7. Owing to the lack of customers, the restaurant closed down this week.

8. Since she is scared of clowns, she never goes to the circus.

9. He passed his first year at university; as a result, his parents bought him a car.

10.She is lazy, therefore she has failed all of her subjects.

(b) Complete the sentence by filling in a cause or an effect as required. Circle what was needed to
complete each sentence: cause or effect.

1. Melanie did not go to school because ______________________________

___________________________________________. cause/effect

2. Due to ________________________________________________, Jason was late for work again.

cause/effect

3. Since Zinzi bought all the chocolate in the shop, Sarah ________________
__________________________. cause/effect

4. If ___________________________________________________, there won’t be enough space in

the car. cause/effect

5. Khulani works late every Friday so that _________________________

___________________________. cause/effect

6. Since Jamie’s parents found out about the party he hosted without their permission,
___________________________________________________ __________________________.
cause/effect

7. Owing to _________________________________________________, the tickets were all sold

out. cause/effect

8. In view of Mandisa’s fear of heights, _______________________________

__________________________. cause/effect
9. As a result of Thabo’s silence, ____________________________________
__________________________________________. cause/effect

10. Jenny shouted at Mark first ______________________________________

_____________________________________________. cause/effect

(c) Read through the following passage, underlining causes and highlighting effects.

I woke up late this morning because my alarm clock did not ring. As a result, I had to rush to get
ready for school and I made a huge mess all over the house. I missed the bus because I had to go
back home to fetch my cellphone. Consequently, I was late for school, and my lecturer was not
pleased with me at all. Due to the fact that my day had been going so badly, I was in a bad mood
and I shouted at my friends. Since I was in such a bad mood, they didn’t want to hang out with me
and they left. After they left, my day only got worse. In view of all that happened today, I’ve
decided that I need two alarm clocks instead of one, to make sure I wake up on time in the
mornings. Now, tabulate your causes and the related effects using a table similar to the one below:
Cause Effect eg. My alarm clock did not ring. I woke up late. (d) You have been given a cause and its
effects. Link the cause and its effects using a few sentences. Remember to use your linking words.1.
CAUSE: terrorist attack; bomb explosion EFFECT: people killed; families grieving; multiple funerals 2.
CAUSE: global warming EFFECT: heat waves in summer; people fainting; overcrowding in hospitals
(e) Write a paragraph in which you explain something that happened to you in terms of its causes
and effects.