Support in Cause and Effect

In a cause-and-effect essay, support consists of explanations of causes and effects, and it demonstrates the main point stated in your thesis. Take, for example, the following thesis statement.

Irresponsible behavior caused my car accident.

The writer supported this thesis by presenting the causes with details that explain them.

CAUSE Driving too fast CAUSE On my cell phone
DETAILS

Rainy and slippery

Going too fast to control car

Could not stop

DETAILS

Not paying close attention

Hit a curve while laughing

Did not react fast enough

CAUSE Drinking
DETAILS Not focused
Slowed reaction time

When you are writing about causes, be careful that you do not say something caused an event or situation just because it happened beforehand. For example, many of us have gotten sick after a meal and assumed that the food caused the sickness, only to find out that we had been coming down with the flu even before the meal.

When writing about effects, do not confuse something that happened after something else with an effect. In the previous example, just as the meal did not cause the illness, the illness was not the effect of the meal.