Welcome!

Throughout this module, you will be able to use reading strategies, literary analysis, and critical thinking skills to construct meaning and develop understanding as well as an appreciation of a variety of genres of both fiction and nonfiction. You will learn by using the best way nowadays to work individually without the straight directions of a teacher; but remember, read very carefully the instructions given.

Table of Contents

Introduction and instructions

Lesson 1-Cause and effects

Lesson 2-Facts and opinions

Lesson 3-Main Idea-Stated and unstated

Lesson 4-Sequence of events

Lesson 5-Theme

Module 2

Objective:

After the studying this module, the students will:

• Establish cause and effects

• Distinguish between facts and opinion

• Infers the main idea

• Identify sequence of events in a story

• Identify theme

  Process describes how something happens; cause and effect analyzes why something happens. Cause-and-effect essays examine causes, describe effects, or do both. In the following passage from a New York Times column entitled "The Pump on the Well," Tom Wicker considers the effects of a technological advance on a village in India.

[Cause]  When a solar-powered water pump was provided for a well in India, the village headman took it over and sold the water, until stopped. The new liquid      abundance attracted hordes of unwanted nomads. Village boys who had drawn water in buckets had nothing to do, and some became criminals. The gap between rich and poor widened, since the poor had no land to benefit from irrigation. [Effects]Finally, village women broke the pump, so they could gather again around the well that had been the center of their social lives. Moral: technological advances have social, cultural sentence   and economic consequences, often unanticipated.

         Cause and effect links situations and events together in time, with causes preceding effects. But causality involves more than sequence: Cause-and-effect analysis explains why something happened--or is happening---and it predicts what probably will happen.

Remember:

• A cause is WHY something happens.         

• An effect is WHAT happens

Cause and effect

Practicing exercise         

1. Which of the following is a possible cause of losing your car keys? 

a.      You have a hole in your pocket.

b.      You are late for an appointment.

c.      You walked under a ladder.

2. Which of the following is a likely effect of losing your car keys? 

a.      It starts to rain.

b.      You get angry.

c.      You get hungry.

3. Which of the following is a possible cause of doing well on a test? 

a.      You slept through all the lectures.

b.      You guessed at all the answers.

c.      You studied hard.

4. Which of the following is a likely effect of doing well on a test? 

a.      Your grade in the class goes up.

b.      You learn nothing.

c.      Your teacher yells at you.

5. Which of the following is a possible cause of feeling happy? 

a.      Your wallet is stolen.

b.      A stranger purposely steps on your foot.

c.      You get a raise at work.

6. Which of the following is a likely effect of feeling happy? 

a.      You smile a lot.

b.      You are short tempered with people.

c.      You develop a headache.

7. Which of the following is a possible cause of forgetting your best friend's birthday? 

a.      Your best friend reminded you the day before.

b.      You wrote it down on your calendar.

c.      You were preoccupied with a family tragedy.

8. Which of the following is a likely effect of forgetting your best friend's birthday? 

a.      Your best friend moves away.

b.      Your best friend is disappointed but understanding.

c.      You develop amnesia.

9. Which of the following is a possible cause of a car accident? 

a.      The roads are slick with rain.

b.      Everyone drives carefully.

c.      People wear seatbelts.

10. Which of the following is a likely effect of a car accident? 

a.      Other drivers slow down to look at the accident.

b.      It stops raining.

c.      Traffic clears up.

Cause and effect

Practicing exercise-Answer key

1.    B

2.    A

3.    B

4.    A

5.    C

6.    A

7.    C

8.    B

9.    A

10. A

Cause and effect

Quiz

The New Addition
by Gina Lewis

My parents had been talking for months and months about a new and wonderful addition to our family. They showed me pictures of Elena and pictures of where she lived, and they told me what little they knew of Elena's life in Sarajevo.

There was a war going on that had taken the lives of many people and destroyed much of the country. One group of people wanted to gain control of the country. Elena's parents had been killed, and her grandparents had been taking care of her. Her grandparents became sick and couldn't give Elena the attention a five-year-old needs. Elena's grandparents felt that the best chance for her to grow up in a safe place was to give her up for adoption in another country. When our community center agreed to help place orphan children, that's when my parents got involved.

I couldn't help feeling a little angry and depressed. I didn't ask for this "new addition." Now there would be Nina and Elena Davis. I knew my parents would fuss over her. They were already fussing over what food to make for her and what clothes of mine she'd fit into-and she wasn't even here yet! I had just about made up my mind to ignore her.

I'd heard stories on the news about orphans, but they just seemed like made-up stories about made-up people. Then I saw Elena as she arrived at the airport. As I watched her eyes search fearfully through the crowd for a familiar face, I realized she was a real person. I saw a very lonely and frightened little girl. I thought about how Elena had suffered through many things that I would never have to undergo. That one look changed how I thought about her. That was when Elena became my sister!

I. Complete the chart below with causes or effects. When the author doesn't state the cause directly--why something has happened--look for clues in the story. Then think of the effect--what happened.

Cause and effect

Quiz-Answer key

Cause and effect

Test

Cause and effect

Test-Answer key

1. C

2. E

3. D

4. G

5. B

6. H

7. A

8. F

9. C

10. F