Good cause and effect essay writing strategies

As a student, you may be required to compose many essays during your academic career. You may be required to write to inform your audiences regarding a topic or for others to analyze a topic. Some may write an argument for or against the topic, whereas others may write to persuade the readers to take action. Different writers and authors make use of various types of strategies to achieve different goals, and one of the most effective ways to inform the readers is to make use of a cause-and-effect essay. 

As the name suggests, cause and effect essays explain how different causes cause certain specific events. Therefore, knowing how to write a cause-and-effect essay is a significant skill for students studying in every academic field for their development. 

What is a cause-and-effect essay?

The cause-and-effect essay is also known as a variant of an explanatory essay that explains a particular topic to discuss the cause of the issue and its consequences. For instance, the cause and effect essay on the role of deforestation in climate change might include examining the causes of deforestation, such as the demand for clear land for grazing pastures and wood, and then explaining how these create effects that negatively impact climate change. 

There are different types of expository essays. The main objective of the cause-and-effect essay is to inform the readers. When writing an expository essay, imagine yourself as the informed explainer who provides the readers with the information required to think critically regarding the topic and reach their conclusions. The goal is not to persuade, argue and entertain the audience. However, there are incidents when persuasive and argumentative essay writers use cause-and-effect strategies in their format. However, cause-and-effect writing is considered an expository piece of writing in the context of academic essay writing. 

Cause and effect essays are similar to other types of expository essays in that they present facts in a clear and logical format. The essays make use of analytical and objective tone, avoiding the usage of inciting and flowery language. This is how they differ from persuasive, argumentative, and descriptive essays. As a writer, you can use a passive voice more frequently when writing a cause-and-effect essay than other types of essays, especially when writing the cause-and-effect effect for your specific courses. 

Steps for Structuring a Cause and Effect Essay

• The structure of the cause-and-effect essay is similar to any other type of essay. The essay starts with an introductory paragraph, starting with a hook statement for the audience, then the thesis statement,  and a quick preview of the points made in the paragraph to support the thesis. 
• After the thesis statement, every point supporting the thesis statement has its section. The sections can be as short as one paragraph or long enough to contain multiple paragraphs, depending on the amount of information you are required to provide and whether you are required to follow the word count or page limit for the essay. There are different ways to organize the body paragraphs of essays. You can discuss every cause in different sections and then provide each effect after that. In case there is only one cause, provide only one single section for it. Alternatively, you can discuss each cause with its pair individually, provided each pair has its section. The best structure of any essay depends on some major factors:
• Number of causes you are including in your essay
• Humber of effects you are including in your essay
• The length requirement of the essay, in case it is applicable
• How closely are the causes and effects related to each other? 
• For instance, If the essay has a single effect with multiple causes, then it is logical to discuss all the causes at the beginning and then provide a section for their shared efficiency. Or, if the effects and the causes are very much isolated from each other, then you will be required to explain how they fit into the bigger picture. Therefore, the logical method would be to give each cause and its effect a separate section and then tie them all together in the conclusion of the essay. 
• As in other academic essays, the most logical easy is considered the best approach, however, in case you are not sure about the structure of the essay then in that case ask for help from the instructor. 
• After completing the body paragraphs, write the conclusion of the essay. The section will summarize the points provided in the body paragraphs, underscore the thesis, and bring the essay to a logical conclusion.

Steps for writing a cause and effect essay

• When writing a cause-and-effect essay, follow the same steps that you are practicing when writing any other type of essay. Start by brainstorming the topic and preparing your insights regarding the topic. Prepare the questions you want to answer, an association that will help in joining the topics, and facts you want to provide with correct references. 
• After the process of brainstorming, take notes and prepare an outline. Outlining in the essay is very important, and it acts as a guide for what you are willing to write in the essay, not the final script. List the different sections in the form of headers in the outline and then write the points in the form of bullet points that will be provided in that section. Outlining helps in visualizing the final look of the essay, and helps in deciding that each body paragraph fits logically in the structure of the essay.   
• After completing the online test it is time to write the essay. But before writing the final draft it is important to prepare the thesis statement. This thesis statement is a concise and informative statement that provides the reader with an idea regarding what they can expect in the essay. The thesis statement is generally provided in the introductory paragraph, and each body paragraph should support the thesis statement. 
• After preparing the thesis statement, start writing the body paragraphs from the notes prepared during the brainstorming activity. The body paragraphs should be framed as per the requirement of the essay. For instance, if the supporting paragraph does not show how the subject is a cause and is leading to a specific effect, then refrain from the paragraph to fit the format. It is important to note that you are working on the first draft, and you have time to review and rewrite it later. 
• After completing the essay writing process, give time to the essay to cool off. Take around 24 Hours before you start editing your essay. As you start editing your essay, pay close attention to how you have shown the cause-and-effect relation. When editing the essay, ask yourself the following questions:

1. Is the relationship between each cause and associated effect clear?
2. Are the causes and effects presented in a logical, coherent manner?
3. Does this essay make my position clear?
4. Does the essay leave the reader room to draw their conclusion, or does it attempt to persuade or convince them of my position?

• After answering these questions, revise the essay to make sure that the content is presented in the most logical, and clearest way possible. Also, ensure that the tone of the essay is appropriate, and the essay is free from any type of spelling or grammatical error. These can also be checked again during the time of proofreading. The editing stage is mainly for revising the content of the essay. With a clean second draft of the essay, provide another proofread the essay for any type of grammatical or spelling errors. Applications such as Grammarly can help you with spelling and grammatical checking. After cleaning up the essay, you are ready to submit the essay. 

Outline examples of Cause and effect essay

As mentioned above, there are different ways of structuring the cause-and-effect essay. For instance,

• Introduction
• Cause 1
• Cause 2
• Effect 1
• Effect 2
• Conclusion

The format is not ideal for every essay, although in some cases, a format like this can help make the content clear.

• Introduction
• Cause 1
• Effect 1
• Cause 2
• Effect 2
• Conclusion

Conclusion

Hope this article will help in clearing any type of doubt regarding the cause-and-effect essay. However, it is important to remember to feel free to consider different kinds of formats and analyze which format is best for your requirements and fits the information you are providing. However, if you have any difficulty writing a cause-and-effect essay, you can ask for help from our experts in The Assignment Ninjas. We have a team of experienced writers who can provide you with the exact cause-and-effect essay you are willing to write on any topic of your choice.