Get Tips on How to Write a Cause and Effect Essay

Lots of college students look for tips on how to write a cause and effect essay, and it’s understandable, considering how often professors give them this task. This type of writing is a great tool for triggering people’s critical thinking and teaching them how to build logical connections between different subjects. Here, you have to choose an issue, look into it, and explain what causes it as well as what consequences it has.

In theory, it’s not that difficult — tracing links like this is an interesting task that is also easy in nature. But as practice shows, reality is far more difficult, and lots of young people find themselves lost and confused, completely unsure as to which angle they should pursue. If you are experiencing the same problems, don’t worry — we’re going to explore all parts of a cause and effect essay in the clearest manner possible.

What Is a Cause and Effect Essay Structure?

Almost every paper follows a relatively similar structure. It starts with an introduction, is followed by the body, and ends with conclusion. But do you know the specific features that cause and effect papers are represented by in these paragraphs? If not, take a look below and try to remember them!

Introduction

10% of word count is the best size for this section. Roughly, it could be broken into 4 parts. 

a) Hook. This is the first sentence of cause and effect essay introduction, and its goal is perfectly reflected in its name. Writers should hook their readers here, making sure that they got their attention and interest. With our type of paper, it could include a piece of stunning statistics, a curious fact, or rhetorical question. For example, “How often do people hear that video games killed a person?” It is bold and even outrageous to an extent, so more readers get enticed into reading text further. Just avoid overdoing it and don’t use personal pronouns — they shouldn’t be a part of cause and effect essay.

b) Background. Mention some basic facts about a subject you’ve chosen. For average-sized papers, several sentences would be enough. This could be a period when your issue appeared and started drawing attention, major known facts about it, etc. For instance: “When video games started gaining popularity at the start of 2000, many people began to harbor fears about their effect on the players’ psyche.”  Being concise but informative is a useful tip for how to write a good cause and effect essay.

c) Your view. The next sentence should serve as a bridge between background and thesis. Make it good as it must sound natural and consistent with your topic. Following our selected format, our sentence could feature this idea: “However, as research shows, video games are not as influential. It is abuse and bullying that become the common motivators of young people’s violent behavior, with their entertainment preferences being a coincidence.”

d) Thesis statement. This is the major element within cause and effect essay structure. You should make this claim strong, debatable, and wholesome, mentioning all big points you’ll be building on when writing an essay. Avoid personal pronouns and words like “In this paper…” Get to the point right away. Here is an appropriate thesis for our sample topic: “Abuse at home and cruel treatment at school are major contributors to violent outbursts, with video games being meaningless in this causal chain.”

Body

If you know what to put into the body, you know how to do a cause and effect essay. Break it into as many paragraphs as you require for touching upon every point you outlined in thesis. Be sure each of them has the following elements.

1) Opening sentence. It must prepare an audience for what is waiting for them within a paragraph. It should also be explicitly related to a part of your thesis.

2) Evidence. All words must be based on relevant and credible information. Introduce at least some paraphrases or direct quotes for support. Don’t go overboard with them, though: too many quotes result in a rising plagiarism rate.

3) Closing sentence. It should either summarize the paragraph briefly or function as a link between this and the next paragraph. Such sentences must be concise yet sufficiently detailed.

Conclusion

Here, the layout is pretty much the same as it is in other papers. Repeat all major discoveries you have made, underlining what factors cause which event. Don’t use quotes or any new material here — you should only focus on the sections you’ve already written and take info from there.

Writing a Cause and Effect Essay: Five Big Steps

So, which steps should students follow for creating a good essay? Each person has their own strategies, but no matter how deeply unique they are, some of them are universal. We propose five steps that could guide you through the entire writing process. Follow them closely and you’ll be done in no time.

• Look for an exciting topic. There are lots of topics to choose from. Some are daring, others are original, and some students might go for the most complex ones to be impressive. All these options could bring success, but the truth is simple: you’ll have most chances if you pick something you really like. It doesn’t matter how difficult or easy your theme is — if you enjoy it, your writing is going to reflect that. Think about the issues that bother you. People are curious creatures, and they often have questions about why some factors cause some events. Recall what’s been plaguing you and make it into a topic!
• Brainstorm and Narrow it down. How to write a cause and effect essay step by step? We’ve already covered the themes, but now it’s time to move on to stage 2. Let’s imagine you’ve selected the topic of “child abuse.” Now, it is time to brainstorm and start narrowing it down. Think what you’d like to focus on more: are you going to look into reasons that lead to child abuse? Will you examine effects of child abuse? Maybe  focus will be equal? Keep going through options until you stumble across the one you like.
• Do preliminary research. Start collecting sources for supporting your cause and effect writing. Read their summaries or abstracts, focus on those that fit your ideas, come up with something new if inspired, etc. Prepare support base for your upcoming paper. Make sure that your sources are fresh enough to still count as relevant because, in most colleges, older articles and books are rejected since they are considered outdated.
• Write an outline. This step is one of the most hated among students, but it’s still helpful and useful. How to write a cause and effect essay outline? It is simple: provide details for every idea you had within it. What is your thesis? Compose it in advance and include it there. What will each paragraph concentrate on? Listing major points would be enough, but you could also introduce sub-points if you’d like. This way, after you start writing, you’ll be able to follow a specific plan instead of risking going in the wrong direction.
• Edit, edit, edit. The final stage is always editing. Now that your paper is complete, you should re-read it for catching all mistakes you might have made. This could concern grammar, content, or even formatting. Is there a strong link between cause and effect? Are reliable sources used? Are all quotes cited? Check it at least several times for being absolutely sure that everything’s perfect.

Help with Choosing Topics for Interesting Essays

You know now that settling on a solid topic is the best answer to question of how to start a cause and effect essay in an effective manner. But where to find it? Sometimes students cannot come up with anything on their own, regardless of how hard they brainstorm. If this is your problem, try our site. It has a special section with topic suggestions. There are ideas of all kinds and for all subjects, so cause and effect category is present as well. Don’t worry about using some of these titles — they are free and unique enough to make your paper stand out.

Go Through Samples Before Starting Your Writing Journey

Before you compose cause and effect essay outline, consider looking through online samples of similar papers. You should see what they are and how their authors explored their points of view there. Like with titles, we have a category with accessible samples on our website, and they’ve been created specifically for our visitors. Use these essays as a guide; solidify your understanding of cause and effect essays with their help, and embark on your own writing journey.

The More You Write, The More Exciting It Gets

When you succeed in writing your first cause effect essay, you’ll see how simple and exciting this process could be. Afterward, working on similar tasks will likely seem far more pleasant. Go for interesting topics, use Internet for sources, and consult with other people when needed.

In case you’re facing an exception that made you unable to proceed with your work, it’s not a problem either. Things happen, especially with students, who are constantly busy and under the threat of increased stress levels. Contact our service if you require academic assistance. Explain your needs, and we’ll find a way to fulfill them. Whether you need us for writing a cause and effect paragraph or a whole essay, we’ll do it — you’ll never regret sharing your task with us.