Cause and Effect Essay

A Cause and Effect Essay is concerned with causes (why things happen) and effects (what happens as a result). In other words, it explains why or how something happened, and what resulted from that. Since the aim of a cause/effect essay is to inform, its tone is professional and the presentation factual. The information is presented as convincingly as possible so as to convince the readers to accept the causes and effects as plausible.

Keep the following points in mind when writing a cause/effect essay:

  • Make sure you know your topic well. You cannot convince people unless you are convinced yourself and have enough information to give.
  • Don’t write in the first person. This will limit the information to just yours. A statement, on the other hand will make your point more forceful and not limited to just your views. 
  • Give the main idea of your topic in the introductory paragraph using the words “cause(s)” and “effect(s)”. Without being specific, make statements that link the two.
  • Focus on direct and related causes and effects, and leave out the indirect and remote ones.
  • Give supporting evidences to strengthen your points. They may be statistics, facts, anecdotes, or your personal observations.
  • Present the causes and effects in a logical order until you have clearly made your point.
  • Make transition from one paragraph to the next smooth. The topic of each paragraph should be connected to the previous one as well as to the main idea of the essay.
  • Summarize all that you have said before in your concluding paragraph.

If you keep these points in mind, and remember not to stray from the “causes” and “effects”, you will have a winning essay.

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