Suppose the river where you spent many fun afternoons fishing or swimming is drying up. There must be a cause or many causes leading to that effect.
Or, suppose you want to investigate the effects of excessive logging upstream of your favorite river. The two events may be related, and it is the goal of a cause and effect essay to display this relationship.
Everything in this world has causes and effects, resulting in a cosmic interrelationship of infinite proportions.
As an example, writing a good essay results in good grades, good grades get you into a good college, a good college will likely get you a good life.
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If you aim to learn what a cause and effect essay is, how to write one, and the criteria used to mark it, read on.
Be sure to stick around to the end for the detailed cause and effect essay outline example.
What Is A Cause And Effect Essay
While the name is self-explanatory, the definition is a bit more specific.
A cause and effect essay is an academic paper that analyzes the causes of an event and draws logical links between the two.
It can also be defined as a paper that investigates the causative factors of an event to draw clear, direct links between them.
From this definition, you can tell that there are two types of cause and effect essays.
One kind focuses on the event to find the causes, called a Focus-on-Effects essay. The other focuses on how various events cause a certain effect, so it is called a Focus-on-Causes essay.
This essay is not as simple as one might think.
For example, it is common in some parts of the world to have power outages during storms. However, do you think it is accurate to say the power went out because there was a storm?
Just because one precedes the other does not give it a direct correlation - instead, it might be better to say the power went out because a tree fell on the lines.
The goal of a cause and effect essay is to find out and clarify such nuances.
What Makes A Good Cause and Effect Essay
There are no specific criteria that define what a good cause and effect essay is.
Most schools and instructors will use a custom rubric to grade the essays from their students.
However, from years of experience, top academicians at Help for Assessment cite the following qualities as necessary in a top-grade cause and effect essay.
Each of the paragraphs has a specific purpose in the essay. As such, our next step is to review the cause and effect essay structure.
Cause and Effect Essay Format Sample
This is a chain cause and effect essay outline, where each cause is followed by an effect.
You will notice that this essay is very similar in structure to another common type of essay: the problem-solution essay.
Another outline called the block format is also possible.
With the block format, all the causes/effects are listed first, then all the corresponding effects/causes are listed and then links drawn between the two. Below is a sample block format.
Sometimes, you find that a cause does not lead directly to an effect. Instead, it leads to a situation, and that situation to another, in a linked chain that leads to the effect.
In this case, you can choose to use the causal chain or domino pattern for the essay format.
Each paragraph in your essay will represent one link, and the essay will usually have up to seven paragraphs and five in the body.
With that, it’s time to explore the step-by-step process that leads to writing the best cause and effect essay.
How to Write A Cause and Effect Essay Step-by-Step
1. Brainstorm
The first step is to come up with an appropriate cause and effect essay topic.
There are unlimited ideas for you to start with, but thinking about the qualities you want from your essay will help you to narrow down.
That is, it should be specific, interesting, relevant, accurate, and consistent with your current level of education.
You can gather ideas from books and publications, movies and videos, and even music. Write down all the ideas that pop into your head.
2. Selection
Narrow down the ideas you have so that you ultimately end up with one. You can start by eliminating those that are too common and likely to be overused.
You want your topic idea to be as unique and fresh as possible. You can also look at which will have relevance in your dream career.
For example, if you want to be a doctor, you might pick one that is related to that as opposed to one on climate change.
3. Focus
Take your chosen topic and narrow it down to a specific statement.
For example, if your idea was “Deforestation,” you can narrow it down to “The effects of deforestation in the Amazon on global climate.”
4. Identify The Causes/Effects And Your Supporting Points
If your topic will be cause-focused, identify the effects and its main supporting points or vice versa for the alternative viewpoint.
Write these down, and then choose the three strongest points which will fit into your essay body.
5. Craft a Concise Thesis Statement And Title
These should be as focused as possible to be able to tell the reader exactly what your essay is about.
To write the thesis statement, condense all the causes and effects into one brief but clear sentence. You can do it in two sentences if they don’t fit in one.
Now you know the what and the how of cause and effect essays. Checkout 20+ cause and effect essay sample topics here.
Need Help to Write Your Cause and Effect Essay?
A cause and effect essay is straightforward and relatively easy to write. However, this makes it all the harder to achieve top marks.
Your essay has to stand out and be exceptional if it to impress your instructor.
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