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Select a topic from the list above, or create one of your own. Consider the length of your essay as you choose your topic and decide whether to write about causes, effects, or both. Example: You couldn’t explore fully both causes and effects of child abuse in a five-page paper. |
Consider your purpose and audience, and choose a point of view. Ask yourself these questions.
- What is my purpose? A cause-and-effect essay for a college course may be both informative and persuasive.
Example: An essay on academic cheating could examine the causes (informative) and propose policies to help alleviate the problem (persuasive).
- Who is my audience? How much do my readers already know about the topic? If your readers are unfamiliar with the topic you are writing about (or if the topic is complex), limit your focus to the most important, obvious, and easily understood causes or effects. If your audience is generally familiar with your topic, then you can deal with less obvious or more complex causes or effects. Take into consideration what your readers will think are the most likely causes or effects.
- What point of view is most appropriate given my purpose and audience? Although academic writing usually uses the third person (he, she, they), you might use the first person (I) to relate relevant personal experiences.
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Discover causes and effects. Try one or more of the following idea-generating strategies.
- Write your topic in the middle of a page. Then alone or with a classmate, brainstorm possible causes and effects, listing causes on the left and effects on the right. (Creative and abstract learners may prefer brainstorming; social learners may prefer brainstorming in pairs.)
- Replay the event in your mind. Ask yourself, “Why did the event happen?” “What happened as a result of it?” Make notes on the answers. (Abstract learners may prefer replaying the event.)
- Ask questions (or have a friend ask the questions) about the problem or phenomenon and then write down answers. Did a chain of events cause the phenomenon? Try to identify causes and effects that are not obvious. (Rational and pragmatic learners may prefer asking questions.)
- Research your topic. Try Googling a keyword and making notes on possible causes and effects. (All learners can benefit from conducting research.)
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Identify primary causes and effects. Review your prewriting, and highlight what you see as the primary, or most important, causes and effects. Ask yourself
- What causes or effects are the most obvious and immediate?
- What cause(s) or effects are the most serious? For whom?
- What causes or effects will my readers expect me to address?
| Example: |
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| Topic |
Effects of television violence on young viewers |
| Primary effects |
An increase in aggressive behavior |
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A willingness to accept violence as normal |
| Secondary effects |
Learning inappropriate or offensive words |
In groups of two or three, test your causes or effects.
- Take turns presenting your primary causes or effects to the group. First, state your cause(s) or effect(s), and then explain why you think they are important:
Example: I think _____ caused/is an effect of _____ because _____.
- Have each member of the group rank each cause or effect as
(a) sufficient (enough) on its own (b) a contributing cause or minor effect (c) an unlikely cause or effect
- Then compare notes and discuss what might be the most interesting or persuasive causes or effects to focus on.
Hint: Do not assume that the most obvious or simplest explanation is the only one. If a child often reports to the nurse’s office complaining of a stomachache, a parent may reason that the child has digestive problems, but a closer study of the symptoms may reveal that the stomachaches are the result of stress. |
Gather evidence to support your thesis. Compile evidence — facts and statistics, expert opinion, personal observation — to support each cause or effect you will include. (Conduct research as needed.) Alone or with another student, consider whether one or more of the other patterns of development would help you support your thesis effectively. (Chapters 22 and 23 can help you find and select sources.)
- A story (narration) could demonstrate the effects a fad diet had on an individual.
- A comparison with a fad diet from an earlier era could show likely effects.
- Examples of earlier fads that have come and gone could show likely causes.
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Draft your thesis statement. An effective thesis statement should
- State the cause-and-effect relationship. Do not leave it to your reader to figure out.
The word because makes the cause-and-effect connection explicit. Adding their lungs are especially sensitive to irritants makes the cause more specific and focused.
- Avoid overly broad or absolute assertions.
- Avoid an overly assertive or dogmatic tone.
Working together. In groups of two or three students, take turns reading your thesis statements aloud. While they listen, have group members write down the cause-effect relationship and identify any qualifications. Then, as a group, discuss how writers could make the cause-effect relationship more plausible and specific. |
Choose a method of organization.
- Chronological order works well when a clear sequence of events is apparent.
- Most-to-least order works well to highlight one or two particularly important causes.
- Least-to-most order works well to create suspense.
Review Figures 19.1, 19.2, and 19.3 to find the graphic organizer that is closest to your essay’s basic structure. Or use the outline function in your word-processing program to create an outline for your essay. |
Draft your cause-and-effect essay. Use the following guidelines to keep your essay on track.
- Your introduction should identify the topic and causal relationship as well as draw your reader into the essay. Unless you want to give readers the sense of discovering the cause-effect relationship for themselves, you will likely include the thesis statement as well.
- Your body paragraphs should include a clear topic sentence and provide sufficient evidence (examples, statistics, expert opinion, comparisons, and so on). Use transitional words and phrases (such as in addition, furthermore, more important, or finally) as you move from one cause or effect to another, and use transitional sentences to alert readers that you are moving from discussing causes to discussing effects (or vice versa) or shifting to a different pattern of development. Use qualifying words and phrases, such as perhaps, possible, it is likely, and most likely to limit your claims and avoid a dogmatic tone.
- Your conclusion should remind readers of your thesis and draw your essay to a satisfying close.
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Evaluate your draft and revise as necessary. Use Figure 19.5, “Flowchart for Revising a Cause-and-Effect Essay,” to evaluate and revise your draft. |
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Edit and proofread your essay. Refer to Chapter 10 for help with . . .
- editing sentences to avoid wordiness, make your verb choices strong and active, and make your sentences clear, varied, and parallel, and
- editing words for tone and diction, connotation, and concrete and specific language.
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