Cause & Effect Essay

by Alan Basmayor-2011

What is a cause and effect essay?
 Cause and effect essays are concerned with why things happen (causes) and what happens as a result (effects).

 The aim of this essay is to explain the causes (reasons) or the effects (results) of an event or situation.
e.g. Causes of air pollution (multiple factors leading to air pollution).
e.g. Effects of watching too much TV (many effects of a situation).

 Sometimes an event causes something to happen, and that situation leads to another event, and it causes another event to happen. This is called the causal chain or domino effect.
e.g. Use of deodorants will bring the end of the world.

 There may be several causes or effects of a situation. However, in a student essay, it is advisable to keep the number of major points to 2 or 3, which form separate developmental paragraphs.


Planning for a Cause and Effect Essay

 A simple and clear plan and outline can make you write a cause and effect essay more easily.
 Begin the plan



Outlining Guide

Using asterisks and dashes when writing your outline not only complicates your organization but it may also confuse you while on the process of writing the essay. Using the number-letter outline is highly recommended to organize things more clearly.

Planning the Essay

Your essay can be planned using various methods depending on the given task or topic. The focus of your essay (either cause/s or effect/s) dictate the model of writing the essay. You may have a particular model of choice but if it is not suitable to the task at hand, then it will only cause problems when you start writing the essay.

The following models can guide you in organizing your essay properly:

1. One cause to one effect or general cause to general effect

2. One effect to one cause

3. One cause to many effects

4. Many effects to one cause

5. Many causes to many effects

6. Many effects to many causes

7. Chain of causes and effects


Here are some graphic organizers to illustrate the models above:

One cause to one effect or general cause to general effect

One effect to one cause

One cause to many effects