Cause and Effect Essay

Often writers are asked to explain

how certain conditions or events

are related to the occurrence of

other conditions or events. When a

writer argues that “one thing leads

to another”, he or she is making a

cause and effect argument.

EXAMPLES

CAUSE EFFECT

UNEMPLOYMENTILLEGAL LOGGING

RAPID

INCREASE OF

CRIMES

POVERTY

GOVERNMENT

PROBLEMS

WORSENING

GLOBAL

WARMING

STRONGER

TYPHOONS

CLIMATE

CHANGE

STEPS THAT WILL HELP YOU WRITE AN EFFECTIVE CAUSE-AND-EFFECT ESSAY

Establish your Direction

Decide whether you want to talk about Causes, Effects or both.

Present a Clear Thesis

Your thesis should inform readers of your purpose or intention. The thesis may focus on causes, effects or both.

Follow an Organizational Pattern

There are two basic ways to organize a cause-and-effect essay:

Chronological (time) order

It discusses the causes and effects in the order that they occur.

Emphatic Order

It reserves the strongest or most significant cause and/or effect until the end

Use Transitions

Transitional words help your reader follow your cause-and-effect analysis.

Draw a Conclusion

Restate the thesis and and reach a conclusion concerning the cause

and/or effect analysis.

To Understand more about

cause-and-effect essay

see example on page 49“The Beneficial Effects of Music’’