How to Write Cause and Effect Essay: Structure Tips & Sample Essay & Topics

From a Cause and Effect Essay Outline to a Finished Paper!

Wondering What is a Cause and Effect Essay? We’ve Got All the Answers!

It’s enough to look around to see some cause and effect connections, since everything is a result of something else, and everything affects something else. The room you are sitting in is a result of an architect’s and builders’ work. The laptop you use to figure out how to write a cause and effect essay is a piece of technology that has had a great impact on humanity and the way we interact today. This could go on, but you probably get the idea.

Still, what is an A-worthy cause and effect essay? Answering this question takes more than a simple definition, stating that it’s an academic paper dedicated to exploring reasons for certain things happening and consequences they may cause. No, it will take some more explanation and a sample of cause and effect essay as a finishing touch. Luckily, we have it all for you, so just stick around (or don’t if you want to skip this guide and just order a paper to be written by one of our experienced academic experts).

A Cause and Effect Essay Outline Example

Skipping an outline is no way to learn how to write a cause and effect essay. Since this is the backbone of your paper, it’s much easier to build it once you have a framework. To get to an outline, brainstorm the major arguments, causes, and consequences for your topic and write them down. You will now have to consider which of them deserve to be in your cause and effect essay, and in what order they should be presented.

At this point, it’s enough to write in keywords, full sentences are not necessary. Organize these ideas into an outline to look like the following:

Introduction:

Cats are a popular choice for a pet

A cause and effect thesis statement:

Many people have cats in their houses without fully realizing what they keep them for

Body Paragraph 1

What were the causes: loneliness, desire to help, the Internet culture

Body Paragraph 2

What effects this has: the ability to care, good mood, discipline

Antithesis Paragraph

What are the possible arguments against: allergy, hygiene, lack of time

A cause and effect essay conclusion:

Many people adopt cats from shelters wanting to help and be less lonely, and as a result, they learn how to care about others, follow certain procedures, and get entertained by their pets as a reward.

Structure of Cause and Effect Essay

A Key to a Proper Cause and Effect Essay Introduction

Although the introduction will be the smallest part of your cause and effect paper, it is a definitive one, and further reading experience will depend on how well you introduce your topic and the connection you’ll be exploring. It’s usually one paragraph in which you need to grab your reader’s attention from the very first sentence, and after you introduce the cause and effect of your essay, a thesis statement ensues.

Essentials of a Thesis Statement

The last sentence of the introduction is known as a cause and effect thesis, and it has to be formulated in such a way as to present the main idea and the perspective you will be exploring. To write an impactful cause and effect essay thesis, take a good look at the topic and the title if you have one. It should be clear what are the roots or the results you want to discuss and why it’s important.

Organizing Body Paragraphs

If you examine enough cause and effect essay examples for college written by students, you will see that there are a few different approaches to how you list your causes and effects. You can either write about cause No.1, cause No.2, cause No.3, etc., and then start listing effects in the respective order. This is known as a block structure and is preferable for a short cause and effect essay when you have no more than 2-3 examples.

The second way is called a chain structure, and in this case, you would write cause No.1 followed by effect No.1, cause No.2 followed by effect No.2, etc. This approach should be used if you are wondering how to write a cause and effect essay with a larger number of body paragraphs so that it is still easy to follow.

What an Antithesis Paragraph Should Be Like

If you expect that there may be arguments against what you are suggesting, briefly address those to let the reader know that you’re aware of them. Provide counter-arguments to why you think this point of view is wrong or insignificant for your research.

A Cause and Effect Essay Conclusion

Finally, you have to summarize your essay by briefly listing your main points from the body paragraphs and providing an answer to cause and effect thesis statement. Don’t add any new information in this part, this is only for drawing the bottom line and perhaps outlining perspectives for future research of your topic.

Read an Example of a Cause and Effect Essay

Now that you’ve learned the basics, reading some cause and effect essay examples for college level students is the last step to having a clear understanding of what is expected of you. Since the size of such a paper is regulated by the requirements you get, your work may have to be longer than the cause and effect essay example below, but all the other principles remain the same.

Understanding the Roots of Low Self-Esteem Among Young People

Self-confidence is undoubtedly important, and so it is no surprise why it is widely promoted, even to the point where the notion of lacking confidence is seen as a weakness and a major flaw. Unfortunately, there are numerous reasons why young people may have low self-esteem, and the public celebration of confidence makes it even more difficult for such people to overcome their insecurity. We should try to understand what caused it and try to prevent it, as well as deal better with those who already suffer from the lack of confidence.

Many young people with low self-esteem who fell victims of certain conditions at even a younger age and have been insecure for many years. The major causes of insecurity at a young age are bullying, living in a dysfunctional family or simply not receiving enough attention and support from parents, or having gone through a traumatic event. If these cases are not recognized by anyone, children may not be able to overcome insecurity on their own. They often develop defense mechanisms and turn into troubled youth, which then leads to more shaming and reproachful talks from adults, who fail to see the initial reasons for such behavior.

The consequences may be even more tragic for those people who have been confident and receiving enough support from their peers and adults. The sudden drop in self-esteem usually comes with some great changes like going to college or trying to find a job after graduation. These people find themselves in a new place and surrounded by strangers, without the same support they are used to. If they fail to establish themselves as confident and successful, they start doubting themselves. Therefore, to dampen the consequences, proper support should be offered to these people, helping them to adjust their goals without losing faith in themselves.

Of course, there are many more scenarios causing young people to lose confidence, yet those are the most apparent reasons. It is crucial that parents, teachers, and other children and teens don’t worsen the situation by critiquing or ignoring those who don’t act with enough self-assurance. This can be achieved by careful assessment of the initial factors and attempts to encourage children by showing they are not alone in their crisis.

Where Can I Find Cause and Effect Essay Topics?

Unless you’ve been assigned a cause and effect essay topic by your teacher or professor, you may be clueless as to what you should write about. There are several simple solutions that will show you that this is really not a problem at all. Literally anything around you can give you an idea for a cause and effect essay, all you have to do is figure out the causal connection between certain objects and concepts.

News can become a good source for inspiration, as you can explore what led to certain events or how they may further unfold. Since it’s something that is currently important, such a subject will make your essay both exciting for you to write and for people to read.

Before resorting to these methods, however, you might want to check the list below. Perhaps, there will be a cause and effect essay topic that you’ll feel excited and passionate to work on.

An even simpler solution is, of course, to order a custom paper from our writers. You can just send in the instructions and perhaps some general direction of what you want your cause and effect paper to be about.

  1.   How popularity on social media affects one’s self-perception.
  2.   What makes women become radical feminists?
  3.   What can cause a third world war?
  4.   Are friendly jokes always harmless?
  5.   How having a pet can help raise a child.
  6.   Why people communicate differently on the Internet than in real life.
  7.   Does divorce affect children’s desire to become married when they grow up?
  8.   What consequences do streaming services with an abundance of content have on our lives?
  9.   How smartphones have transformed the world.
  10.   Why time travel should never be allowed.
  11.   Why weekends are an important part of a working schedule.
  12.   Are people who grew up as a single child different from those who have siblings?
  13.   Why not all slaves in history wanted to be freed.
  14.   How would the invention of a teleport influence the world?
  15.   What makes people feel patriotic about their countries?
  16.   How can a government control birth for the nation to prosper?
  17.   What makes a person develop a good taste in music, movies, and literature?
  18.   Why children who are labeled as “likely to succeed” often don’t.
  19.   How does official marriage influence a couple’s relationships?
  20.   How does the Internet affect our communication skills?
  21.   The pros and cons of working remotely from one’s home.
  22.   What makes people nowadays believe in witchcraft and magical practices?
  23.   How positive changes can be a cause of stress.
  24.   The lack of privacy can destroy relationships.
  25.   The benefits of learning foreign languages.
  26.   How reality shows influence human behavior in real life.
  27.   Consumerism is to blame for environmental problems.
  28.   Copyright prevents many people from creating the content they want.
  29.   Communist principles that our society could benefit from.
  30.   Positive sides of the Internet piracy.

Now that you have these topics to choose from and a cause and effect essay example, this task should no longer pose any difficulty to you. And if it does, you know who you should call!