As you make your way through different education levels, your teachers will assign you several essays to write. Instructors use these pieces of writings to test or pass on some concepts. For instance, a cause-and-effect essay is used to teach logic, critical thinking, and persuasive writing. You need to understand how to write a cause and effect essay to develop a good write-up.
This article will explore in detail how to write a cause and effect essay step by step. We will first go through writing process steps before identifying ourselves with common cause and effect essay topics. Meanwhile, you can contact Mycoursebay essay writers for further professional writing help. We can ace your essay!
Table of Contents
What is a Cause and Effect Essay?
A cause-and-effect essay is an argumentative essay that explores the relationship between ideas and events. It displays why a particular situation comes into being (cause) and what happens because of this situation coming into being (effect). Organizing the essay is crucial as it enables the reader to grasp the relationship between the variants.
Consider this scenario: Frank was driving 75 m.p.h. in a 35 mile per hour zone, so he got a speeding ticket. From the above example, you can conclude that driving at 75 m.p.h in a 35m.p.h area (cause) brought about Frank being given a speeding ticket (effect). Easy to understand, right? In case you were asking yourself, ‘what is a cause and effect essay?’, you now have the answer.
How to Write a Cause and Effect Essay Step by Step
You need to know how to write a cause and effect essay step by step to create an outstanding essay. The critical content of a cause-and-effect paper is the explanation of how specific conditions translate into particular events. There is, however, much more to it. Mastery of the steps is a critical skill that should never be ignored.
Mastering the step-by-step procedure of writing a cause-and-effect essay is as essential as understanding what this kind of essay entails. In other words, one step leads to another in writing an essay. Outlined below are guidelines on how to write a cause and effect essay step by step:
Step 1 – Familiarizing with the Instructions
Acquainting oneself with instructions and guidelines is a significant part of any writing. Your essay will largely depend on how you comprehend the instructor’s requirements.
Step 2 – Brainstorming Essay Topics
While many instructors will assign you specific cause and effect essay topics, others will allow you to write on one of your own. Coming up with an essay topic can be challenging. It takes effort to observe and speculate about the possible causes of real-life occurrences.
The main thing to remember is picking a topic representing a scenario with a particular event or situation leading to another. List down all the ideas that pop into your mind. Do not prejudice against any particular one at this stage.
Step 3 – Deciding on a Specific Essay Topic
After writing a list of cause and effect essay topics, you now want to choose a specific one to discuss. To avoid coming up with a paper with far-fetched content, you have to select a more familiar topic. Knowledge of a chosen subject makes it easier to establish a chain of cause-and-effect events.
Although selecting a topic within your range of interests may be simple, you must also keep in mind the key characteristics of good cause and effect essay topics. They include:
- Relevance
- Accuracy
- Significance
- Interestingness
- Clarity
Selecting a good topic means narrowing it down to a more specific idea. Generally, cause and effect essay topics should concise and straight to the point. However, if you are finding it difficult to choose a topic, below are some of the easy cause and effect essay topics:
Environmental cause and effect essay topics
- Effect of human behavior on climate change
- The economic impact of climate change on gross domestic product.
- How does the melting of sea ice in the Arctic affect the life of polar bears?
- The influence of global warming on climate change.
- Effects of poor sanitation and waste management on the environment.
Medical cause and effect essay topics
- Effect of custom-made technology on human health
- Impact of sleep on brain health
- What are the long-term effects of poor diet on a growing infant?
- How has research helped in cancer treatment?
- Effect of obesity on heartbeat rate
- Cause and effect essay on smoking
Sports cause and effect essay topics
- What effect have the Olympics had on sports as well as on international relationships?
- Historical factors that have made football a popular sport
- Cause and effect of violence in football
- How does being a professional athlete affect the life expectancy of an individual?
- Impacts of regular exercise on a person’s stress levels
You can also consider
- Cause and effect essay topics on health care
- Personal cause and effect essay topics
- Funny cause and effect essay topics
- Technology cause and effect essay topics
Step 4 – Choose Between Cause or Effect
This kind of essay requires that you either address cause or effect. It is worthwhile considering one that has more ideas between the two. Brainstorming these ideas gives you the best angle to start your cause or effect essay.
Step 5 – Research on the Chosen Topic
Once you have settled on a particular topic and chosen the angle you want to pick your essay from, it is time to conduct research. Credible sources are those written by experts, not personal blogs or any other source that is not verified.
Your essay speaks volumes about how informed you are. If you want to win the best grade, consider researching intensively. The more you explore resources, the more you get ideas for your essay.
Step 6 – Thesis Statement – How to Write a Cause and Effect Essay Thesis Statement
Knowing how to write a cause and effect essay thesis statement is crucial. A thesis statement highlights reasons for exploring the chosen topic. In other words, a thesis introduces your main idea.
Your thesis statement should specify whether you are going to put your focus on revealing effects or causes. It gives readers a rough idea of what they should expect in the paper. A well-crafted thesis should not be personal but a general one.
Step 7 – Writing an Outline
Having known how to write a cause and effect essay thesis statement, the next step is crafting an outline. An outline enables the learner to keep track of the content and structure of the essay. Knowing how to write a cause and effect essay step by step can go a long way to get you an outstanding paper. Therefore, coming up with a cause and effect essay outline is very critical.
There are typically two structures that can be used to write a cause-and-effect essay; the block structure or the chain structure. With the block arrangement, a cause comes first, followed by an effect. This effect then becomes the next cause. The flow continues to form a chain of events.
Having chosen a suitable arrangement for your essay, you now want to write. A cause-and-effect paper has three main parts; the introduction, the body, and the conclusion, just like any other essay. Outline your paper to ensure that different paragraphs address different cause-and-effect ideas. You may want to go through Mycoursebay’s ‘how to write a cause and effect essay outline example’ for further reading.
Understanding the cause and effect essay structure is crucial to coming up with the best outline. Mentioned below are ideas on how to go about different parts of a cause-and-effect essay:
How do you write an introduction for a cause and effect essay?
The introduction of your essay should contain an engaging hook. Your content needs to be as catchy as possible. You want to keep the reader on your paper. Here, you introduce the topic and state your thesis. Also, discuss the ideas supporting your thesis statement. The introduction should be brief as it only presents what is yet to be addressed in the succeeding paragraphs.
Writing the body.
To make your cause-and-effect essay exemplary, try to support your causes and effects arguments with relevant evidence. Let your essay flow naturally while keeping it simple and straightforward. There should be a smooth transition between sentences and paragraphs.
The cause-and-effect conclusion
The conclusion summarizes the ideas in the body. Discuss how relevant the body is to your chosen thesis. You may also want to support the need to carry out further research on the thesis statement.
Step 8 – Writing the First Draft
Having done your research and crafted an outline, writing your first draft should not be a problem. Ensure to address all the points in your outline in an easy-to-understand language. Keep each body paragraph anchored to your thesis while maintaining a smooth transition between various sections. The cause and effect essay structure should be maintained.
Step 9 – Reviewing the First Draft
Ascertain that the cause and effect essay structure has been followed. Reviewing the draft helps in establishing how well different ideas have been addressed. Carrying out an essay review is a relevant stage as it assists the writer spot mistakes in grammar and logic. Do not be discouraged by the mistakes you make. Remember that you are just learning how to write a cause and effect essay.
Step 10 – Writing a Final Draft
After establishing shortcomings, re-draft your essay into the final product. Remember that writing is not inborn; it is your effort that differentiates between you and the rest of the class. Be creative and humorous in your essay to appeal to the reader’s attention.
Your ‘what is a cause and effect essay?’ question is now answered. You can agree that writing this kind of essay is a simple and straightforward process. It is helpful recalling that a cause-and-effect essay largely depends on your critical thinking and how logical you are with your flow of ideas. Contact mycoursebay.com, one of the most trusted assignment help websites, for queries and more cause and effect essay topics for college students.
