1. The Cause and Effect Essay
“That we find out
the cause of this effect.”
—William Shakespeare
The Cause and Effect Essay
Don Pogreba, Helena High School
*adjusted for freshman

2. Prewriting Cause and Effect
Start with brainstorming a series of potential causes and effects. Don’t just develop three, but come up with an extensive list.
Next, see if some can be combined into more effective arguments together, if some can be excluded, and if some need development.
Finally, decide the relative impact of each cause and effect so you can develop a meaningful structure.
The most important task in the pre-write is to make choices rather than just listing three causes/effects and beginning to write.

3. Prewriting Strategies
Think about the relationship between events. Are they really linked by cause and effect? Just because one event follows another in time doesn’t necessarily mean that the first event caused the second.
Explore causes and effects. Does a single cause have one effect or many? Is an effect the result of multiple causes or only one? Is there a causal chain in which a cause produces an effect, which becomes the cause of another effect, and so on?

4. Prewriting Strategies
Identify your audience. What do they already know about the events you’re describing? What background information or explanation of terms will you need to include in your essay?
4. Gather supporting information. What details will support your analysis of causes and effects? What sources of information can you draw on—observation, research, or your own imagination and reflection?

5. Two Basic Structures Focus on Effects Essay Focus on Causes Essay
Generally, not a great idea to mix the two as it will result in a confusing piece in a five- paragraph essay.

6. Sample Topics Focus On Causes Focus on Effects
The causes of Romeo’s death
The effects of Romeo’s rash behavior
The causes of low voter turnout
The effects of a disengaged public
The causes of low graduation rates
The outcomes for high school dropouts
The causes of angry English I teachers
The effects of climate change
The causes of the Bosnian genocide
The effects of icy Helena streets and no snow plows.

7. Focus on Effects Structure
Intro
Hook
Thesis
Body Paragraph 1: Effect 1
Body Paragraph 2: Effect 2
Body Paragraph 3: Effect 3
Conclusion

8. Thesis Statements for Focus on Effects
Watching television has enormous impacts on children’s family life, interpersonal skills, and school life.
Reading every night positively affects teenagers' sleep, comprehension, and writing abilities. 

9. Focus on Causes Structure
Intro
Hook
Thesis
Body Paragraph 1: Cause 1
Body Paragraph 2: Cause 2
Body Paragraph 3: Cause 3
Conclusion

10. Thesis Statements for Focus on Cause
Americans are choosing to shop online because it's easier, faster, and limits personal interactions. 
The increase in obesity in our country is due to food commercials, cheap fast food, and video games. 

11. Sample Essay Outline
Tentative Thesis: People choose to watch horror films for the thrill of being shocked, the twists and turns of the plot, and the pleasure of escapism. 
Body 1: The Thrill of Being Shocked/Scared
Body 2: The twists and turns of the plot
Body 3: The pleasure of escapism
—adapted from Patterns of Exposition (2004)

12. Ordering the Paragraphs
In general, for a persuasive essay, order the causes/effects so that the most compelling comes last in the paper. (this is what we are doing!)
In general, for an informative essay, focus on the relationships between causes/effects to determine order.
If the essay is a causal chain, put the causes in order of their occurrence.
Essays can also be organized chronologically or with some other compelling structure. Just make a choice!

13. Transitions
Transitions in a cause and effect essay need to establish the relative importance of causes/effects.
They should, if possible, show the relationship between various causes and effects, too.
In a cause and effect essay, transitions play a vital role inside paragraphs as well as in topic sentences.

14. Transitions

15. Cause and Effect Essay Outline

16. Introduction Hook: generate interest in the essay topic (STAMP)
Bridge: connect the hook to the broader topic of the essay
Thesis: Tell the reader both the specific topic and the focus of the paper, whether causes or effects.

17. Body Paragraph 1 Topic sentence: First cause/effect
Arrange details/support in order of significance.
Your analysis should explain WHY this is a cause or an effect. How do you know this?

18. Body Paragraph 2/3
Topic sentence: establish the second cause/effect and any relationship to the preceding cause. Transitions words are key here.
Arrange details/support in order of significance.
Your analysis should explain WHY this is a cause or an effect. How do you know this?

19. How to Avoid Summary
One of the easiest mistakes in a cause and effect essay is to offer mere summary.
To avoid this:
focus on causal relationships.
focus on evaluating relative impact of causes.
focus on providing evidence/analysis supporting how and why your causes and effects are legitimate.

20. More Sophisticated Structures
Develop a causal chain, showing how series of causes leads to a result.
Move past immediate causes to ultimate causes.
Example: The immediate cause of a warehouse fire might be faulty wiring, but that might have been caused by unwise corporate policy which, in turn, was caused by excessive focus on profits.
Argue that one thing is not the cause of or will not result in another. This is an interesting potential concession essay.

21. Logical Fallacies
Post Hoc Ergo Propter Hoc is a logical fallacy (of the questionable cause variety) which states, "Since that event followed this one, that event must have been caused by this one." Post hoc is a particularly tempting error because temporal sequence appears to be integral to causality.
Slippery Slope is an argument that posits the inevitability of the worst possible outcome from an initial action.
Complex Cause occurs when the speaker seeks to claim that one cause is responsible for an outcome, despite the fact that many causes are likely to have contributed to it.