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Some Quick Hints That Will Help You Write A Cause And Effect Essay


What is a cause and effect essay? It is an essay about something that happened and why (cause) and what resulted from it (effect). What took place and why? Here are some things to keep in mind for a good cause and effect essay.

Distinguish Which is Which

First you should figure out what the cause is and what the effect is. Sometimes there are multiple causes that lead to an effect, and other times there is one cause that leads to multiple effects. To determine each, asking a question is helpful.

  • To find out the cause, ask “why did this happen?” Your answer is the cause.
  • To find out the effect, ask, “what happened because of this?” Your answer is the effect.

If there are many causes and/or many effects, try to narrow it down. You don’t want to talk about too much because your paper will seem like it’s all over the place and will have too much for the reader to absorb.

Have a Purpose

Are you going to inform the reader or persuade the reader with this essay? You should know this before developing your thesis and before writing so you know what you are going to say and how to approach the causes and the effects.

Thesis

Next, come up with your thesis statement. Talk about the cause and/or the effect in this statement. Make it clear to the reader what you intend to talk about throughout the paper. Here, you should also hint at whether you would be persuading the reader of something.

Back it Up

Find evidence to support your thesis. You should have supporting details for both the cause and for the effect. The more supporting evidence you have, the stronger your paper will be. Define terms, give statistics and facts, give examples, or talk about your personal observations. Also try to only focus on immediate and direct causes and effects. Talk about causes or effects that are close in time and related. Talking about remote and indirect causes or effects will make your essay weaker.

Use Transitions

Transitions are important for all essays, but they are especially important for your cause and effect essay to flow well between the two.

  • Good transitions for causes are: due to, one cause is, another cause is, first, second, for, since, because.
  • Good transitions for effects are: one result is, another result is, as a result, resulted in, thus, therefore, consequently.
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