Understanding Cause and Effect
Understanding Cause and Effect
Look at this picture.
What do you think caused the dragon to be angry at the knight?
Maybe the knight woke the dragon up from his nap. Maybe the dragon didn't like shiny things.
Whatever the cause, the effect was that the knight felt a need to quickly run away before the dragon could catch him.
In books, things happen.
The cause is why something happened.
The effect is what happened as a result.
For example:
It was raining outside. The little girl forgot her umbrella, so she got all wet.
The cause was that the little girl forgot her umbrella.
The effect was that she got all wet.
Let's try another one:
Sarah had been looking forward to going to the movies for a week. On Friday night, she got dressed and was ready to head out the door when her mom stopped her and said, "I'm sorry Sarah, but I have a meeting tonight. You have to babysit your little sister."
Sarah got angry and stomped up the stairs.
This story has a couple causes and effects.
The cause was Sarah's mom had a meeting and needed her to babysit.
The effect was Sarah couldn't go to the movies.
The cause was Sarah learned she couldn't go to the movies.
The effect was Sarah got angry.
Recognizing Cause and Effect
When you're reading a book and something happens, you should ask the question, WHAT CAUSED THAT TO HAPPEN?
If you have trouble figuring out the cause, the author will often use one of the following words to connect the cause to the effect:
- So
- As a result
- Because
- Therefore
- Consequently
- Due to
- Which caused
- Since
The knight got too close to the dragon, which caused the dragon to wake up.
When the dragon woke up, the knight became scared. As a result, the dragon ran away.
The practice questions and worksheets below will help you recognize cause and effect in a text.
Related Worksheets: