A cause and effect essay is a common assignment in many educational institutions. If the student wants to maintain excellent academic reputation, he/she should definitely know the essentials of this task.
Everything is interconnected in the world. A new toy makes a child happy, rain causes the rainbow, and a funny moment makes a person smile. Indeed, the ability to recognize the cause and its effects may help the writer to create a perfect cause and effect essay. The following article will teach you how to start an essay, how to organize its body, and how to finalize it on a powerful chord.
A cause and effect essay is an academic task that explores the causes of some issues, things, or events and their potential effects. In an academic world, it is a common way of organizing the ideas and a perfect instrument for checking the student writing skills.
When writing a cause and effect essay, a beginner should pay attention to the obvious causes and effects. As such, it is not necessary to mention the contributory aspects, though one can include them if he/she is running out of the interesting ideas. Obviously, the direct reasons can help understand the causes and effects of the specific thing much better.
If you want to write a good cause and effect essay, you need to realize its purpose clearly. As such, in most cases, the primary goal of the cause and effect essay is to find the parallel between the events. Decide if you want to inform or persuade your reader. If the prompt defines the specific word count, limit your essay to several causes and effects taking the requirements into consideration. Do not procrastinate since it will significantly reduce your chances of getting a good grade. If you experience difficulties on some of the stages of the writing process, feel free to ask your professor for assistance. He/she will provide you with not only an effective manual of academic writing but also good cause and effect examples.
The writing process should start with writing a good outline that will help you stay focused and omit the meaningless information. Indeed, an outline serves as a plan for your paper and it is vitally important for writing a good academic essay. An outline for a cause and effect essay is quite different from the outlines for other papers. For instance, it usually consists of more than three points in the main body and its structure depends on the number of causes and affects you want to mention in your essay. Do not know how to compose a good cause and effect outline? No worries! Keep reading our article and your will learn the important aspects of its structure.
Before writing the outline, pass through the brainstorming process. Collect the information on your topic and write down the ideas that come to your mind when you think about your subject. Select the best ones and start writing your outline. Pay attention that your outline does not need to include complete sentences. Short points will be enough to organize your thoughts and ideas in the logical flow. Check the example of a good outline below:
In your introduction, provide the target audience with the background information on your topic and explain why this very topic needs analysis. For instance, when writing about the causes and effects of anorexia nervosa on teenagers, feel free to mention the recent statistics that will serve as the proof that the current issue is worth discussing. Keep in mind that people judge the book by its cover so you do not have to underestimate the value of introduction for your paper. The opening sentences are particularly important for grabbing the reader`s attention and you have to create some hook that would help you engage your target audience.
Each introduction should include a thesis statement that outlines the whole paper. If you want to write a powerful thesis statement, you need to dedicate enough time and efforts for outlining the main idea of your essay and shaping it into the correct form. Remember that the thesis statement should include the sound argument, your opinion, as well as have a concise structure. We assure you that a good thesis statement can be written only after conducting a thorough research.
For instance, “The recent studies prove that more than 15% of teenagers die of the severe consequences of anorexia nervosa. Therefore, finding the causes and consequences of this terrible statistics is crucial”
The main body of the cause and effect essay consists of the several paragraphs. Each of these paragraphs should start with a topic sentence related to the thesis statement and discuss one particular cause or one particular effect. You may follow the point by point structure and discuss all causes and all effects in separate paragraphs one by one. Alternatively, you may discuss all causes in one paragraph and all the effects in another one. In general, all your paragraphs should be organized in the logical order so that your reader could follow your ideas without any efforts. To make your writing smoother, do not forget to use transition words.
For instance:
Paragraph 1:
Causes: TV marketing, role modeling, poverty;
Paragraph 2:
Effects: poor health conditions, loss of appetite, stress, and frustration.
Cause and effect essay conclusion should summarize all meaningful points discussed in the essay. Remember that your conclusion should not introduce new causes or new effects. It should just demonstrate the results received in the process of discussion. In your conclusion, restate the thesis statement without repeating it. Remember that your conclusion is your last chance to make a strong impression on your reader. So, finalize it with an intriguing idea or thought-provoking question.
For instance:
The best way to overcome anorexia nervosa is to change food habits, have better rest, and consult with a psychologist.
Apart from the structure mentioned above, follow additional tips and secrets that will help you make your academic success closer:
Choosing a good topic for a cause and effect essay is of a paramount significance. We have collected the most interesting examples so that you could relax and focus on the writing process itself. We highly recommend you to choose the topic that seems interesting to you since being engaged in your topic you will be able to make your essay interesting to your reader.