Writing assignments help teachers check your knowledge of a subject and the ability to think critically. Of course, it may be an exciting journey for a student, but sometimes such tasks turn into a mess. You don’t only have to conduct comprehensive research, compare the facts, and find the connection between different situations, but also take care of a text structure and its readability. A cause and effect essay is one of those assignments that make students get nervous and feel stressed. How to write this paper? In our article, you’ll find a complete guide on crafting it and special tricks that will help you get the highest scores in a class.
What is a Cause and Effect Essay?
Do you believe that there’s an invisible thread connecting all the events in your life? The purpose of this task is to make a student find the answers to the questions “Why it happened?”, “How it happened?”, and “What’s the result?”. You have to think logically and wake up your research skills to find a parallel between particular situations. This assignment is a great instrument that helps professors check the student’s ability to analyze information, evaluate the received facts, and understand the problem of a topic. Even if you’re afraid to write a paper like that, it’s still a nice chance to develop your skills and improve an academic picture. It’s not a complicated task to do, and with our guide, you’ll excellently cope with it.
Writing a Cause and Effect Essay Step By Step
Before starting crafting a paper, you have to brainstorm, collect the best thoughts, and write down the critical points of a subject. Besides, you may need to choose a great topic, if a teacher didn’t provide you with one. After this, follow our guide and begin working on a text.
1. Start with an outline
Some students think that writing an outline is a waste of time, but they are wrong. This tool helps you see the future picture, create a text structure, determine the key thoughts, and organize your ideas. Besides, it doesn’t matter you’re studying at high-school or college – even experienced writers create outlines before they start working on papers. It’s a draft, and you’re going to return to it over and over again while you’ll be crafting a text. A standard outline consists of 4 main sections:
1) Thesis statement;
2) Introduction;
3) Body text;
4) Conclusion.
These sections will contain 1 or 2 short phrases that explain what kind of information you’re going to include in your future text. Write about the core idea in a thesis statement, summarize key points in an introduction, use facts and arguments in a body part, and draw the line in a conclusion. Follow an outline when working on a cause and effect essay, and you’ll quickly cope with this assignment.
2. Craft a thesis statement
Once you’ve conducted comprehensive research, created an outline, and ideally know what you will write about, start working on a thesis statement. This section will tell the reader what the text is about and why you’ve chosen this topic. It should also display the importance of the idea or problem described in your paper.
3. Create an engaging introduction
You may have a brilliant idea, but it’s nothing if you can’t attract the reader’s attention with the first sentences of a paper. Of course, a professor won’t give you a bad grade right after he looks at the introduction part. He will get to the last word and do it later. That’s why you should do your best to create an engaging introduction that will raise interest in a reader. Use an attention magnet in this section – it’s also called a “hook.” For example, you can describe a reason explaining why some events happened and encourage the audience for further reading. Promise that your essay contains shocking information or previously unknown details. Of course, you should do it only in case you have these facts. Otherwise, a reader will be disappointed and think you only wanted to grab the attention but didn’t have any valuable data.
4. The body text
In this section, you’ll describe all the essential details you collected during research. If you don’t know what should go first, look at an outline – everything is right there in your plan. The main idea of this assignment is to connect the points of different stories and perform a logical statement. Use the checked facts that explain why a particular situation happened. This task is based on credible details and arguments, so you should spend some time while searching for supporting evidence. Besides, it’s important to link causes and effects in your body text logically – don’t make a reader get confused. You can divide this part by sections, and dedicate each one to a particular thought.
The reading process should be smooth and exciting. As a writer, you must help your audience enjoy the text and understand it clearly. We recommend using transition words and phrases to connect the lines in your cause and effect essay. For example, you can add the following ones:
- moreover;
- all in all;
- due to;
- however;
- as a result;
- because;
- therefore;
- as a result.
5. Draw a line
Finally, you’ve passed this way and ready to come up with the final words. Use the conclusion to make all the ends of your story meet. You can use the following tricks to create an excellent last section:
- collect all the core thoughts of a paper and come up with your verdict;
- repeat key ideas;
- summarize the represented details and explain why they are essential nowadays;
- describe your position towards the highlighted problem.
Tips on Writing Cause and Effect Essays
Now, when you know how to create a well-structured paper, we’d like to share some special writing secrets with you. They will help you grab the attention of an audience, craft persuasive texts, and get excellent grades at school or college. Use the following tips every time you need to write cause and effect essays:
- Freewriting. Once you’ve received an assignment and know what topic you’re going to work on, it’s better to start with reflection and observation. You have to relax and let the thoughts flow around you. Write down everything connected with a subject. This session will last only for 10-15 minutes, but you’ll see how useful this exercise is. When it’s over, read what you’ve just written. Highlight essential thoughts, and then divide them by columns. This draft will help you determine the fundamental ideas of a topic and remove the unnecessary ones;
- Look for the relevant information. After you’ve found the necessary arguments proving your point of view, check their credibility. Readers need real data – that’s why you should spend some time while searching for reliable sources. You can use Wikipedia, go to a library or ask for the interview – any method will work;
- Use attention magnets throughout a text. The first thing you must do is engaging the audience with the help of an introduction part. Ask questions, write relevant jokes, describe the cause, and promise to describe an unexpected consequence in a body text. These little tricks will help you grab the reader’s attention;
- Edit your paper. Even if you think that you excellently coped with this task, chances are grammar and spelling errors will spoil an essay. Use online checkers to get rid of mistakes and make your text look great;
- Let your paper take a rest from you. When a text is written, it’s important to concentrate on something else. Sometimes you work on a task for a long time, and it’s impossible to see different mistakes or sentences that don’t look natural. Go for a walk, meet with your friends, spend an hour with your family – do everything that allows you to be miles away. Then return to your text, look at it ones again, and decide if it’s well enough;
- Ask someone to read your essay. Two pairs of eyes are always better than one. Give a paper to a member of your family, friend, or classmate. This person will be able to notice mistakes that you missed, and show weak statements;
- Read your paper aloud. This practice will help you understand if all the sentences sound natural and have a proper rhythm.
Picking a Topic for a Cause and Effect Essay
If you don’t have an idea of which topic to choose, don’t worry! We’ll share a few interesting examples with you – use them whenever you need to complete a cause and effect essay. Don’t forget to follow our guide and you’ll come up with an excellent text:
- Why so many people feel lonely in a big city?
- Lack of communication ends up in an inability to feel empathy;
- Distance destroys relationships;
- People with high blood pressure become the victims of a heart attack more often than others;
- Mental disorders cause the weakening of the immune system;
- Social media develops self-doubt in people;
- Fitness improves health conditions;
- Video games boost attention;
- Volunteer social media communities help solve social problems;
- Parents’ behavior determine the kids’ future;
- Insomnia causes lack of concentration;
- Books change our way of thinking;
- The technological revolution improved our lives.
Writing a Cause and Effect Essay is Easy!
Now, you have all the instruments that will help you to complete the mission successfully. Even if you have doubts connected with your writing skills, there’s always a way out – never give up! Create a paper step by step – there’s no need to hurry up and make dozens of mistakes in one paragraph. It’s important to dedicate a few hours or days to this assignment because you must investigate a subject, analyze the information, check sources, collect facts, and select essential details. In the beginning, you may think that it’s impossible to process such a vast amount of data and write something valuable. But we guarantee that a professor will evaluate your efforts and notice how hard you tried to craft a meaningful paper. The lack of skills shouldn’t stand on your way to high grades – do your best to improve them, and everything will be alright.
We hope that our guide will help you craft flawless papers. The recipe for receiving excellent scores is simple – follow this step-by-step instruction. First of all, you must conduct research and create an outline. This plan will always be at your hand. Return to a draft when creating an introduction, body text, and conclusion as it’s the best way to organize your thoughts and tailor a well-structured paper. We promise you’ll realize that writing a cause and effect essay is an exciting process that makes you feel free. Relax and let this journey turn into a breathtaking adventure!