Cause and Effect Essay

‘Cause’, as we know, is about ‘Why things happen or what are the factors which bring upon the occurrence of an event?’. ‘Effect’ suggests consequences or the after results of an action, which occurs due to a cause. A simple example would be, ‘The battery of your cell phone is out of charge’. So, ‘Your phone won’t switch on’. So, the former was the cause and the latter happens to be the effect.

How To Compose A Cause and Effect Essay



What should begin as the initial point while writing a cause and effect essay, should be the listing of the event, phenomenon, trend or condition you want to address. This should be the starting point of the essay and the cause as well. Doing additional research on the topic would help you frame a background of the cause and thus would keep the reader from being aloof of the subject.



An establishment of a relationship between the cause and effect is the most vital part of an essay. This can be done by maintaining a constant link between the cause and effect. Apart from this, putting a broad explanation regarding the effect of the condition is also important.



Before you come up with the actual content of this kind of essay, it is advisable to form a rough draft of the same. So, if you can come up with diagrams or demonstration in order to relate the cause and the effect, it will make things easier. This helps in yielding an appropriate conclusion to the essay. A faulty conclusion signifies that there is something amiss in the connection between the cause and effect of the condition.



While determining cause of the topic that you are presenting, you must be able to identify the type of cause; whether it is a necessary cause, a sufficient cause or a contributory one. A necessary cause is one which has to be present for the effect to occur. By sufficient cause, it signifies that it can produce the effect, though there might be other causes to the effect as well. The last cause is about helping to bring about the effect. These examples will make the idea simpler.

• Food is necessary for living things to survive – a necessary cause.


• A dead battery can keep a watch from working – a sufficient cause, as there might be other causes such as faulty mechanisms, etc., which might also produce the same effect.


• Breaking traffic rules might aid to the cause of an accident – a contributory cause, as other factors such as other cars and pedestrians have to be present.

One more important consideration while writing a cause and effect essay is to realize, if there is only one cause which has produced the effect or are there any multiple causes. Determining this, would help give a completeness to the composition.



It is a good practice is to use a thesis statement that presents the condition or the event at the beginning of the essay. Conclude your essay by summarizing the cause(s) and effect(s) which have been described in the essay. The summary should also present a revisit to the overall idea and the theme of the essay, so that the reader can form a logical connection between the different thoughts, which you have tried to show case.



Here are some general cause and effect topics which you can prepare.

• Why do you think you are an average/above average/below average student?


• What are the effects of Global Warming on the world as a whole?


• What could be the causes of poor academic career of some students?


• What are the major effects of racism?


• What causes a man to lead a successful life and for another a not so successful one?


• Depict about a fictional character bearing a strange behavior. What caused his/her behavior?


• What were the effects of the behavior? And so on…

Writing a cause and effect essay could be a bit more complex than the normal ones. This kind of essay requires appropriate and solid connections between the cause and effect. So, one must begin with light and simple topics, which might include one cause and one effect. Thereafter, a gradual increase in the intensity and depth of the topics could be presented, which might involve multiple causes and their effects.

Cause and Effect Essay