Writing Cause and Effect Paragraphs

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WRITING CAUSE AND EFFECT PARAGRAPHS

A cause-and-effect essay is a type of essay that explains how one event or situation leads to another. This can be an interesting

type of essay to write, because it allows you to explore the different impacts that one event can have.

To write a successful cause and effect essay, it is important to understand the basics of this type of essay.

Cause and Effect Essay Definition

Cause and effect essay is a common type of essay including multiple paragraphs examining and analysing causes and effects.

The cause-and-effect essay is a great way for students to analyse the relationship between two or more variables. This type of

writing can either have positive or negative results, depending on what you are looking at!

Cause and effect essay sheds light on how things happen or reasons of occurring (causes) and what happens in its result or effects

of those things. It is a common practice done to organize and discuss ideas in depth.

Cause and effect or reason and result essays are a part of every student’s academic writing. Students at all levels get these types of

reasoning essays to analyse their abilities and skills to write and knowledge on the topic.

Cause and effect essays are generally of three types:

Effect-Focused Method: In which an emphasis is laid on the results or effects of a situation or an event.

Cause-Focused Method: In this, different causes of an event are focused on and discussed.

Cause and Effect-Focused Method: The analysis is done on both the causes and effects equally.

Here are the ways that will help you arrange the cause and its effects in your essays.

 Sequential Order

 Reverse Sequential Order

Therefore, it is not always important to work in sequence when discussing causes and effects. Instead, you can also start from the

main effect.

Also, you need to consider the below questions to make your cause and effect essay effective.

 What are the causes and effects?

 What elements should be considered?

 Are there single or multiple effects and causes?

 How to present the list of causes and effects in an essay?

Cause and Effect Essay Structure

Cause and effect essays can be written choosing between the two structures. Before you start writing make sure which structure to

choose i.e. Block or a chain structure.

Block Structure

In this structure, you usually write all the causes of your topic at first, and it affects later. Whether an effect-focused or cause-

focused essay, this structure can be used to give shape to your essay.

A general block essay includes:

 Introduction

 Cause 1
 Cause 2

 Cause 3

 Cause n

 Transition

 Effect 1

 Effect 2

 Effect 3

 Effect n

 Conclusion

Chain Structure

The other structure given to your essay is chain structure and according to this, you have to give a cause following its effect.

Every cause presented in your essay should be followed by the effect right after it.

A chain structure looks like this:

 Introduction.

 Cause 1 and Effect 1

 Cause 2 and Effect 2

 Cause 3 and Effect 3

 Cause n and effect n

 Conclusion

Both structures can be chosen by students depending on how well they are able to convince and affect people. Here is a basic

cause and effect essay structure that you can follow for writing your essay.

Cause and Effect Essay Outline

Outlining is just as important as writing an essay. It is very important to give an outline in this essay so that there is no cause and

effect left behind to mention.

An outline works as a guide in writing an essay as it ensures that all the instructions are efficiently followed.

This simple structure will provide an outline for your essay:

 A Hook

 Thesis Statement

 Topic sentence 1

 Cause 1

 Effect 1

 Topic sentence n

 Cause n

 Effect n

 Rephrased Thesis statement

 Conclusion
WRITING ACTIVITY
Instruction: Choose 1 topic from the list below and write a cause-and-effect essay in not less than 250 words.

1. Teenage pregnancy can be a serious issue among students. What are possible causes and effects of teenage pregnancy?
2. Jealousy and envy are common human emotions. What causes jealousy and envy and what effects can these emotions
have on people?
3. Domestic abuse comes in many forms and are quite rampant but they are often unreported. What are the effects of
domestic abuse on school going children?
4. Less educated people who know how to manage money tend to be more successful than educated people who do not
know how to manage their money well. What are the effects of good money management skills on people?
5. The hardest thing to achieve in life is self-discipline because it determines how we live the all aspects of our lives i.e
time, finances, relationship, studies etc. What effects can a poor self-discipline have on a person’s life?

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