Cause and Effect Essay

The point of a cause and effect essay is to show that a specific event or phenomenon occurred because of a specific reason.   Strong organization is critical to writing a convincing and coherent essay. It's also important that the thesis of your essay be stated very clearly so that the reader understands the point you intend to make.  In addition, cause and effect essays require strong supporting points, which means thorough research.  For additional helpful hints on writing a cause and effect essay, take a look at the tips and suggestions provided below.

Finding a Topic:

  • There are plenty of essay topics to choose from for writing a cause and effect essay.  The important thing to keep in mind is that the topic you choose should suit a cause and effect relationship.
  •  It's also important to choose an essay topic that is meaningful to you.  This will make you more interested in the topic, which will help you write a better paper.
  • Cause and effect essays can look at current events, historical events, political events, scientific studies, environmental situations etc.  Don't limit yourself to only one area when searching for a topic.

Organizing the Cause and Effect Essay:

  • Research your topic thoroughly and locate detailed information that can support your thesis.
  • Your supporting evidence can be presented chronologically, categorically, or in order of importance, but stay consistent with how you present the information.
  • Stay focused on the particular cause or effect that you are discussing in your paper.  Avoid discussing indirect causes and effects.
  • Transitional phrases and words are very important to the cause and effect essay, as they help explain reasons and results.  Some useful transitional phrases and words commonly used in cause and effect essays include 'as a result, 'consequently', 'therefore', 'because', 'so', 'the main reason', 'due to', etc.

Important Reminders about the Cause and Effect Essay:

  • Cause and effect essays do not have to be about both the cause and the effect.  In fact, it's better to write about only the cause or the effect, as writing about both can be confusing and cumbersome.  For this reason, it is common to look for cause essay topics or effect essay topics, but not cause and effect essay topics.
  • Make sure you distinguish between cause and effect and let the reader know which you are discussing in your essay. To identify a cause, ask yourself why something happened.  To identify the effect, as yourself what happened.
  • You might want to buy a good cause and effect example essay to use as a model for your paper or to use as a resource that you can site in your paper.
  • You can also search online for cause and effect sample essays to obtain ideas for a topic.

Too conclude, the cause and effect essay is a way of explaining either the causes or the effects of some type of event or situation.  When you write a cause and effect essay, it is better to write either about the cause or the effect, but not both.  It's is also important to state clearly in your paper which one you intend to discuss.

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