"Cause and effect" and "reason-result" writing establishes causal relationships between events, actions, ideas, or feelings. One thing leads to another, causes another or is caused by another, results in another, etc.. The various parts are often, but not always, linked using words and phrases like the following: because, since, as, for, so, therefore, consequently, accordingly, hence, thus, for this reason, as a result.
Example: The truck in the right lane ahead of me began to drift into the left lane, leaving the three cars ahead of me little choice but to brake. If they had not done so, they would have had no alternative but to swerve into the oncoming traffic, and the resulting accident would have been quite a mess. As it happened, the first car stopped rather abruptly, causing the second, third and fourth cars in the line to jam on the brakes. Unfortunately, the driver of the fifth car wasn't paying as much attention to what was going on ahead of him, beyond the next car. Consequently, the fourth car ended up 'helping' the fifth car stop.
This page includes two tasks: Reading and Analysis, and Writing. You may want to consult this page of linking words, or discourse markers.
Reading and Analysis: Read the following text and identify (highlight, underline or circle) the linking constructions that are used to establish a cause/effect or a reason/result relationship. Then make a three-column table listing causes/reasons in one column and effects/results in the second column. List the linking constructions used to establish each relationship in the third column.
Does the writer establish any cause/effect or reason/result relationships without using such "signposts"? If so, make a list of these and consider how you know the relationship exists.
It started out innocently enough; looking for a file I needed for a meeting the next day, I shoved a diskette in the floppy drive of my computer. Instead of a list the contents of the diskette, however, I found myself staring at an error message telling me the drive could not be accessed and asking if I wanted to try again. I did, and was rewarded with the same results. Next, I ejected the diskette and reinserted it. It didn't feel quite right, didn't click into place the way it should have, so I repeated the process several times, each time getting the same error message when I tried to call up the A: drive.
The timing couldn't have been worse. My calendar was overflowing with deadlines and meetings and classes that needed to be prepared, and I couldn't imagine how I would cope without my electronic right hand. Just then the phone rang; it was the fellow who maintained the administrative staff's computers - a "doer," not a bureaucrat, and a welcome discovery in an overly hierarchical, bureaucratic organization. At the sound of his voice, visions of his office passed before my eyes; computers, monitors, and spare parts of every description occupied every square inch of available space, which inspired me to ask if he happened to have a spare diskette drive for me and a few minutes to spare to install it. At the time, I was helping him out on one of his many projects, so I figured maybe he wouldn't mind helping me with my little predicament. I guessed right, and in a very few minutes there was a knock at the door; my techie knight in shining armour, looked right past me at the crippled computer across the room.
Not one to waste time, he squeezed past me and made a beeline for the computer. Dropping to his knees, he went straight to work, detaching the scramble of cables and wires and unscrewing the housing. When he saw the inside of the computer, a chuckle escaped him; every slot had a device in it - DAT streamer, CD ROM and CD writer, JAZ drive, 5-3/4" and 3-1/2" floppy drives, and the SCSI cable connecting them took up every available bit of space, making it extremely difficult to remove the floppy drive, or anything else, for that matter. By the time he had spent several minutes wrestling the drive to free it from the housing, his chuckle had given way to a low growl, and his friendly banter had taken on a bitingly ironic tone. His mood didn't improve when the computer repeatedly refused to boot. Eventually, after much grumbling and muttering, he discovered the reason; because the computers he was used to working with had only one floppy drive, he had not thought to reconnect the 5-3/4" drive; as a result, the computer could not find all the devices it expected to find and thus did not boot properly.
In the meantime, I had a closer look at the old drive and discovered the cause of the original "problem"; someone (surely not I?) had inserted a stack of diskette labels - four, to be exact - in the opening. How they had gotten in there was a mystery to me; the effect they had, however, was clear. Sheepishly, I reported my discovery to Ron and asked if he wanted to put the original floppy drive back and keep his replacement drive. It didn't take him long to calculate the additional time and frustration it would cost to repeat the operation, so he suggested leaving things as they were.
In the long run, I was glad the drive had "crashed", because while Ron was systematically checking all the connections, he discovered that the cooling fan on the processor wasn't working. Even worse, when he removed the fan, he discovered it, or rather the heat diffusor, was glued to the processor, which meant he couldn't replace one without also replacing the other. That the fan had given up the ghost was not surprising, since I routinely leave the computer on around the clock, but its failure meant the processor had overheated and was on its last legs as a consequence. Fortunately, Ron had discovered the problem before the hard drive and all my data were also destroyed. A round of calls to suppliers followed to locate a replacement fan.
By this time, all the unexpected complications were affecting Ron's attitude. His sense of pride and determination kicked into high gear, making it extremely awkward for me to suggest we get some advice from someone who had worked on my computer before. Offers to bring him a cup of coffee or tea elicited the response that he had yet to earn a reward. Another round of phone calls to suppliers followed, this time to locate a replacement processor.
Not surprisingly, of course, first-generation Pentium processors are easier to find these days in museums than in computer shops, so after making a couple of calls without locating a 133 MHz Pentium I processor, he decided to donate one he happened to have at home. Unfortunately, however, he lives in North Bremen, so I had to wait until the next day to watch him replace the processor and fan.
I wish I could say the story ended here, but it didn't. The SCSI controller and cable caused the next series of problems. A broken bit of plastic connector here, a kinked cable there, a bent pin, a reversed connection, an improper sequence - and again the computer refused to boot properly, over and over again. I was beginning to berate myself for not having the good sense to investigate the original problem more closely before calling in the emergency team. I was also feeling severe withdrawal symptoms; after all, it was my third day of being "unplugged." I am a pretty heavy user, and you can imagine, perhaps, what I was like after two-and-a-half days without a computer, e-mail or Internet access.
By this time, it was Friday, and I was facing the prospect of a long holiday weekend with a ton of work to do and no Internet connectivity to allow me to do it. After Ron went home for the weekend, leaving behind a computer that booted but didn't properly recognize all its parts, I finally felt free to take the initiative. As I mentioned, I was feeling pretty desperate; among other things, the computer didn't know it was connected to a network, yet none of the settings had been changed; here was yet another mystery. I dialled the numbers I usually call for support and managed to persuade one technician to come and take a look. He succeeded in getting the SCSI devices working properly, but the computer now didn't know it had a network card, which meant I was still without either e-mail or Internet. Better than nothing, I suppose, but still not what I needed...
Writing: Choose one of the following subjects to write about. Use mind-mapping, freewriting or outlining to discover, explore and analyze immediate and ultimate causes and effects of your chosen subject.
ULS 2
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