Review It
When reading a description of a series of events, the reader can use prior knowledge and signal words to help determine if the earlier events just preceded the later events or were the cause of the later events.
Let’s examine two passages and identify the relationship between the events.
Passage #1
Russia had an alliance with Serbia and France, so they declared war on Austria-Hungary. Germany had an alliance with Austria-Hungary, so they declared war on Serbia and France. In order to reach France, Germany invaded Belgium, ignoring Belgium’s neutrality. Belgium had an alliance with Great Britain, therefore Great Britain declared war on Germany. Japan was a rival of Germany, so they joined the alliance with Austria-Hungary. The Germans defeated Belgium within three weeks and advanced within 15 miles of Paris. Their advance was stopped at the Battle of Marne. The war developed into a stalemate and, as a result, for the next three years soldiers faced each other across an elaborate network of trenches. This was known as the Western Front.
As you can see, there are several signal words such as "so," "in order to," and "as a result." These words indicate this is a cause-and-effect text structure and earlier events caused the later events to occur. Remember, placing the events in chronological order helps you analyze relationships, especially when there is a lack of text structure signal words to assist your analysis.
Passage #2
This passage is from a letter written by a British soldier, Captain Noel Chavasse, on June 20, 1915, while he was stationed on the Western Front.
“have not been able to write for some time, but I have much to tell you now. All leave was cancelled, and we were told confidentially that in a few days the Battalion would take part in a charge on the German trenches.
So we prepared for it. The men charged 'dummy' trenches, and practised bomb-throwing. The machine gun officer went through all his guns, and I took all extra precautions. The men were in excellent spirits, and sharpened their bayonets and cleaned their rifles most industriously. Sick men tried to get well for it, and a sick Officer who heard of it came out of hospital; but they all realised its gravity.
We went up to the trenches from which we were to jump up on the night of the 14th. It was an eight-mile walk, and the pipers played us for four miles. There was a tremendous stream of men along the road, as a whole brigade was to attack. The men were in the best of spirits, and sang all the way. My stretcher-bearers who had had their number increased to 24 making as usual a joyful noise, and had finally to be silenced by the Adjutant. We halted at last, for we had to go up to the trenches by a by-path, and I said Goodbye to as many Officers as I could. I had been ordered to stay back on a main road half a mile behind the trenches, and felt very sore about it, but I went up to see what the ground was like.”Source: Diary of Captain Noel Chavasse; Accessed: British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC)
In passage # 2, the signal word “so” indicates that the earlier event (being informed of the upcoming charge on the German trenches) caused the later event (the men preparing for the charge). But the later account of events are described using a sequence text structure, with signal words such as “finally” and “at last.” These words indicate that events prior to charging the German trenches merely preceded it and were not the cause of the later event (the charging of the German trenches).
Tip
You can help determine the relationship between events by placing them in chronological or sequential order as described in the text. This gives you an outline of events to look for text structure signal words.
