Table of Contents
What is a Cause and Effect Essay?
A cause and effect essay can be defined as,
“ A paragraph or essay form which probes and analyzes into the causes (rationale, reasoning and background reasons) along with the effects (consequences, effects and outcome) for a particular event, happening, condition or behavior”.
Typically, students might confuse themselves between a cause and effect essay and a compare and contrast essay. A cause and effect essay concentrates on the ability of the writer to hook up the reasons why things happened and lead to the particular consequences. In addition, the writer approaches the sequence of events linearly, further analyzing the reasons and impact vigilantly.
The Domino Effect
At times, an event might trigger another event or happening, which may lead to another event, and it causes another event to happen. This is known as the causal chain or domino effect.
Format and Outline of a Standard Cause and Effect Essay
Introduction
The introduction consists of statement of thesis topic, thesis statement, background information and analysis and literature review, if required. The thesis statement is followed up with by the statement of the main issue by describing the cause in detail with explicit illustration of circumstances.
First Body Paragraph
The first paragraph of a cause and effect essay introduces and describes the first reason which renders the thesis statement or hypothesis true. It is followed up by a detailed description and explanation of the primary reason along with background information or examples and related material.
Second Body Paragraph
The second paragraph of a cause and effect essay brings in and describes the secondary reason which renders the thesis statement or hypothesis true. It is followed up by a detailed description and explanation of the second reason along with establishing a relationship between the primary and secondary reasons or causes.
Third Body Paragraph
The third paragraph of a cause and effect essay states the last and final reason which effects the main thesis statement and the primary and secondary causes. It establishes a correlation and interdependence among the 3 reasons by means of implementing deductive analysis.
Conclusion
The conclusion recaps the whole essay in general and explicitly states the deductive reasoning, earlier established from the causes in a categorical order.
Types of Casual Relationships in Cause and Effect Essays
Necessary Causes
A necessary cause is one which needs to be essentially present for a particular event or happening to occur. A sufficient cause may or may not be accompanied by other causes.
Example: Scientific causes e.g. Global warming, natural causes and universal cause and effect relationships.
Sufficient Causes
A sufficient cause is one which has the ability to produce a certain type of effect independently but might not be the only source of inducing the designated cause and may or may not be accompanied by other causes.
Example: Social causes e.g. divorce, teenage violence, homosexuality etc.
Contributory Causes
A contributory cause is an impetus which aids in producing a specific effect or outcome but is not capable of inducing the effect in its independent capacity. A contributory cause is necessarily accompanied by other causes.
Example: Accidents and events like cars accident or a particular event.
Guide Tips for Drafting Cause and Effect Essays
Writing Style
The writing style for a cause and effect essay typically makes use of casual chains, logical flow of events, systematic order of events and happenings. The writer should make use of deductive analysis of the existing data to reach provide a logical reasoning of the particular happening.
Organization
To organize your cause and effect essay, write down all the possible causes that come into your mind for the specific effect.
Next, narrow down and categorize the causes into parent causes. For example if your are working on the causes of divorce then you can make parent categories of internal, external, family specific and natural causes and then assign the sub-causes like lack of tolerance, financial issues, work issues into each parent cause.
Format an outline map of your cause and direct inducements. Then, you can adjust the map into your essay structure by formatting transition words and sentences.
Words and Phrases for Sentence Development in Cause and Effect Essay Writing
| as a result certainly above all because may equally important therefore undoubtedly One reason why … There are other reasons, too, … |
consequently necessarily finally due to perhaps first thus primarily One of the most important reasons why … |
possibly initially leads to probably last unquestionably second thereof The main reasons why |
