The main point in a cause-and-effect essay should reflect your purpose. For example, if you are writing about why a certain event in history happened, your main point would be to explain the causes. If you are writing about what happened as a result of that event, your main point would be to explain the effects. Consider the following thesis from an essay on drunk driving.

The main point of the essay is to discuss the effects of drunk driving — thousands of destroyed lives. The body of the essay will give examples.

Sometimes a thesis statement for a cause-and-effect essay will include both what caused the topic and what resulted from the topic. The topic sentence below follows this pattern.

Sometimes the writer does not directly indicate causes or effects in the thesis statement, as in the following example.

Until local police departments enforce restraining orders, women and children will continue to be the victims of violence.

Although the writer does not indicate a specific cause or effect, the main point of the essay is clear — to discuss how unenforced restraining orders have resulted in violence. The body of the essay will likely give examples of such situations.

As you begin to write cause-and-effect essays, you might find it helpful to include both the topic and an indicator of cause or effect in your thesis statement.