Lesson 3: Parts of Cause/Effect Essay
Estimated Time: 30 minutes
Lesson Objective: At the end of this lesson, you will be able to name and organise each part of a Cause/Effect essay
Parts of the Essay
The introduction to a cause and effect essay is similar to other essay formats as it starts with an attention-grabbing hook statement. This can come in the form of a sentence, an anecdote, a fact or even a rhetorical question. Once you hook the reader you will need to provide general information and context to give a clearer picture of your topic. This ensures that your reader understands the problem you’re addressing and is connected with your main argument. The last sentence of the introductory paragraph should always be the thesis statement. For a cause and effect essay, a strong thesis statement will always indicate whether the essay will be focusing on the causes or the effects.
Next up are the body paragraphs. This is where you will provide details and facts about the causes that led to the effects. Make sure that each body paragraph discusses a single cause and effect and that you organise the information in either chronological or reverse order. Finally, make sure that all of your content relates to the thesis statement and the overall topic.
The conclusion paragraph provides a brief summary of your essay and should leave the audience feeling like they completely understand all of the topic’s causes and effects. Start the paragraph by restating your thesis statement and describe your general outline in strong and precise sentences. Here is an example on how to restate a thesis statement:
Thesis statement: “Children’s drawings are not just simple doodles; they show kids’ psychological state and concerns.”
Now let’s see we might restate the thesis: “Drawings that children create provide insight into their emotional condition.”
Another important element of a concluding paragraph is a summary of the essay’s main points. This is where you list all of your main findings and compile them in a logical and persuasive way.
Introduction
The cause and effect essay introduction, similarly to other essay formats, starts with an attention grabbing hook statement. The main purpose of the attention getter is to attract the reader’s attention, and it can be a form of a sentence, an anecdote, a fact, a rhetorical question. To provide a clearer picture to your reader, mention some background information on the topic, so they can understand more about the cause and effect relationship you will write about, and they also can get connected with the main argument. The last sentence of the introduction paragraph will be the thesis statement. A strong thesis statement for a cause-effect essay indicates whether the essay focuses on causes or on effects. Do not leave it to your reader to find out the casual relationship. Sometimes the thesis statement uses the words cause(s) or effects(s), but this is not necessary if either the cause or the effect is implied in the statement. In addition, a thesis statement sometimes includes a number, such as three causes or two effects, but this is also optional.
Example:
Bullying is a pressing issue in the modern world. According to the National Center for Educational Statistics, more than one out of every five students reports being bullied. This essay discovers the causes and effects of bullying.
Now, let’s get more specific on how to organize the ideas in this type of essay. There are three common ways: Multiple Causes One Effect, One Cause Multiple Effects, and the Domino Pattern.
Let’s look at all three patterns with examples on the same topic about the causes and effects of bullying.
Organizing Ideas in a Cause and Effect Essay
Now, let’s get more specific on how to organize the ideas in this type of essay. There are three common ways: Multiple Causes One Effect, One Cause Multiple Effects, and the Domino Pattern.
Let’s look at all three patterns with examples on the same topic about the causes and effects of bullying.
This pattern works best when you have a topic that implies multiple reasons come together to create a single result.
Example Outline:
- Introduction
- Bullies are lonely and misunderstood
- Main Body
- Cause #1: Child is screamed at by his dad
- Cause #2: Child performs poorly at school, gets low grades and lots of detention
- Cause #3: Child is attracted to kids like him, becoming a bully
- Conclusion
- The bully takes his anger and pain out others
In this way introduce and talk about the effect of an event or phenomenon in the introduction. The thesis implies the causes of the event. Then the topic sentence of each body paragraph defines a specific cause to support the thesis. And the supporting details in the body paragraphs will support the topic sentence by stating examples, facts, explanations. Similarly to other essay formats, restate the thesis statement in the conclusion. describe your general outline in strong and precise sentences, and avoid adding new information.
The other pattern has one cause and multiple effects. This pattern is the right choice for topics that discover how one cause sparks a chain reaction of effects.
Example Outline:
- Introduction
- A bully takes his anger and pain out others
- Main Body
- Effect #1: The child who was bullied gets physically abused
- Effect #2: That child starts hating other kids and staying away from parties, etc.
- Effect #3: That child invests time into working on their dream
- Conclusion
- The victim of bullying ends up succeeding later on in life as a result of their early adopted work ethic
When you use this pattern, write about the cause of the event or phenomenon in the introduction and in your thesis indicate the effects that you will write about later in the body paragraphs. The topic sentence of each body paragraph will define a specific effect that supports your thesis. Provide details and facts about the effect stated in the topic sentence in the supporting sentences.
This last way to organize a cause and effect essay is your best bet if you have a chain of events that leads to other things. This is the most fast-paced pattern. Thus, it is a wise choice if you want to create an engaging and dynamic essay.
Example Outline:
- Introduction
- Bully is shouted at by his father
- Main Body
- Causal link #1: Bully goes to school sad and does poorly in class
- Causal link #2: Bully’s bad performance puts him in detention
- Causal link #3: After the detention, he sees the another child on the playground having fun, making him angry
- Causal link #4: Bully makes fun of the the other child and feels better afterward, having released some tension
- Causal link #5: Bully goes back to his depressing home, the cycle repeats the next day
- Conclusion
- Bad parenting can turn good kids into bullies, harming the community
As we discussed before, in this pattern the cause leads to an effect which leads to another effect, and so on. The thesis only mentions the first and last parts of the chain. When you use this pattern, be sure to describe everything in detail and don’t forget to add some examples every time you mention a cause and its effect.
Conclusion
Similarly to other essay formats, the conclusion paragraph aims to provide a brief summary of your essay, thus, it should leave the audience with the feeling of completeness and make a final emphasis on the major ideas. Start the paragraph by restating your thesis statement and describe your general outline in strong and precise sentences. Remember, it is important that you not add any new information at this stage of your essay! Whatever your cause, you should include a call to action and suggest what necessary steps need to be taken to overcome the issue.