Change, cause & effect

What have we learned in this lesson?

• Stories are held together by chains of cause and effect.
• Cause and effect can be seen at multiple levels, including: 
  • quick, one-off changes at the scene level, and
  • long-term changes in character and circumstances across a story.
• Connectors are useful for communicating cause and effect, especially when the relationships are complex or not obvious.
• Some connectors such as 'so' and 'because' make explicit links.
• Many connectors, such as 'since', 'then', 'and', are less explicit, and rely on context to complete the meaning.
• While connectors are important and useful, they are not mandatory. Readers can infer cause and effect if events are presented and sequenced in a way that makes the relationship clear.
• At a whole-of-story level, causes and effects usually add up to some significant change in the characters and their circumstances.
• You can view the arc of a story as a normal baseline situation (in the beginning), then one or more causes (the middle), and then final effects (the end).

Where did the snippets come from?

Furia, by Yamile Saied Méndez

In Argentina, a girl wants to be a scholarship soccer player but needs to push back against her family and community to pursue her ambitions.

Fairy Tales from the Brothers Grimm, by Philip Pullman

A punchy, modern English retelling of classic German folk and fairy tales, including Cinderalla and Red Riding Hood, by the author of the The Golden Compass.

Walk Two Moons, by Sharon Creech

An intricate and layered story of a teenage girl and her father both struggling to come to terms with her mother's departure from their lives, including fighting over new homes and new relationships.

Catching Teller Crow, by Ambelin Kwaymullina and Ezekiel Kwaymullina

A dead girl returns as a ghost to help her grieving father solve a mystery involving a burned orphanage and an unidentified body. Published in the U.S. as The Things She's Seen.

Watership Down, by Richard Adams

An epic story about a group of rabbits who flee a doomed warren and endure a terrifying journey to establish a safe new home. Mythical world-building.

Emilio: Through My Eyes

Dramatic story of a Mexican teenager whose mother is kidnapped by a drug cartel. Part of the Through My Eyes series of novels, which tells stories from the perspectives of young people around the world.

The Apothecary, by Maile Meloy

A fast-paced historical fantasy-mystery-spy-thriller about a couple of kids brewing magical potions to rescue one kid's father from spies with nuclear weapons.

The Old, Dead Nuisance, by M.T. Anderson

A short story about fake psychics in a house with some very real ghosts. Collected in Guys Read: Thriller, edited by Jon Scieszka.

Where does the cover image come from?

The cover image from this lesson comes from an amazing illustrator called Tim Peacock who does a lot of editorial work for American publications such as The New Yorker.

That's it for this one. See you next time, and pay attention to those causes and effects! 👋