When students are asked to explore cause and effect essay topics, it means that they should discuss why something happened (its causes) and what the outcome was (its results). Cause and effect essays are one of the most popular assignments in academic writing.
If you do not know how to write a cause and effect essay, simply follow our pieces of advice:
- Make sure you properly understand the difference between “cause” and “effect.” If you want to find out about causes, you should ask yourself “why did it occur?” If you want to know about the results or effects, you should ask yourself “What was the outcome?” Here is an example of cause an effect relations.
Cause
My PC crashed.
Effect
I have lost my doc file with a lab report.
There can be different topics for cause and effect essays. In many cases, there can be one single cause leading to multiple effects or one effect that comes down to multiple causes. If you would like to know how many causes/effects you should discuss in your essay, read your task file carefully.
Causes
- Like to read much
- Enjoy discussing historical events
- Know everything about modern publishers
- Write my own poems.
Effect
- Would like to major in Literature
Cause
- Run 30 minutes every day
Effects
- Improve health
- Forget about daily problems
- Get out from my computer and save eyesight
- Have a good muscle tone.
In most of cause and effect essays, one single situation leads to a number of results. Here is a vivid example:
Forgot to call my dad…dad did not take mom’s birthday cake…mom got frustrated…everyone’s mood is spoiled.
- In every essay, one should create a thesis statement. In our case, you should enumerate the causes and events.
- Before writing your essay, create cause and effect essay outline not to forget about vital details. You should find good supporting details and examples to make your writing compelling to the reader. Remember that cause and effect essays should be somehow organized. Here are examples of how you can present your ideas:
- Categorical order. You can discuss your topic by dividing it into several categories or subtopics.
- Chronological order. You should discuss your topic in compliance with the sequence of events.
- The order of importance. You can discuss your ideas from the least important to the most important (or in the opposite way).
- If you would like to attain unity and coherence in your essay as well as exclude possible logical gaps, use a number of transitions. They will smooth the reading process.
Transitions for Causes
First, second, third, then, since, due to, because, etc.
Transitions for Effects
Therefore, thus, as a result, consequently, thereafter, etc.
While writing a cause effect essay, remember about the following rules:
- Determine the purpose of writing. In academic writing, the purpose can be either to inform the reader or persuade.
- If there are too many causes or effects, you will have to set priorities. Depending on the number of pages, you should identify how many causes and effects you can effectively discuss in the paper. Choose the most important or vivid causes/effects.
- Do not forget about evidential support. Provide definitions of complex terms, use ideas of researchers, present direct quotes and statistics. It will strengthen your personal opinions.
- Sound solid and firm in your claims. No matter what cause and effect essay topics you discuss, never write in a way “It can be possible that” or “This quote might indicate.”
While choosing a topic, ensure you do understand what can be discussed. Select a topic that matters to you.
