Cause and Effect Essay Examples: A General Outline

  • Eduhelphub,
  • Sep 01, 2020

A cause and effect essay are one where one event (cause) leads to another event (effect). It is a type of expository essay where one or more paragraphs explain the different causes and effects that took place. These essays are often termed as reason and result essays as here you discuss the reasons as to why a certain event takes place and its outcome or result.

Cause and effect essays are often assigned in colleges, universities, and schools to test the problem-solving as well as the analytical skills of an individual. So, it is essential for you to master writing this type of essay.

In this article, we will cover different types of cause and effect essays, some popular essay topics along with cause and effect essay examples.

Different Types of Cause and Effect Essays:

A cause and effect essay is generally classified into three categories, all of which have been discussed here with appropriate examples:

1. Cause-Focused

The approach applied here is to analyze various causes that jointly lead to a single outcome. For example,

“You use to like Business Studies in your high school; the remuneration in this field is also high. You are also good with numbers and have an aunt who is an accountant. As a result, you choose to pursue Bachelors in Commerce.”

Here there are numerous causes that all together lead to a single effect.

The structure of a cause-focused essay looks like:

  1. Introduction
  2. Body
  3. Cause 1
  4. Cause 2
  5. Cause 3 (and so on)
  6. Effect
  7. Conclusion

2. Effect-Focused

As the name suggests, the approach applied here is how a single event or cause can lead to many effects. Here you need to briefly analyze the effects that will be the outcome of a single action. For example, 

“Cigarette smoking causes various health hazards including pneumonia, lung cancer, cold, cough, asthma, coronary heart diseases, etc.”

In this essay example, you will see that a single cause can lead to several effects.

The effect-focused essay follows this essay format

  1. Introduction
  2. Body
  3. Cause 1
  4. Effect 1
  5. Effect 2
  6. Effect 3 (and so on)
  7. Conclusion

3. Causes and Effects-Focused

These types of essays can be characterized by a chain of causes and effects, that is to say, multiple causes will lead to multiple effects. For example,

“Petroleum products lead to the release of harmful gases and synthetic substances into the environment. A portion of these gases, including methane (Marsh gas) and carbon dioxide, intensify the temperature of the Earth. A sudden increase in the temperature of the Earth leads to the smog formation, eventually leading to amplify the ultraviolet radiation.”

Here you will get to see a cluster of causes and effects.

The structure of this type of essay will look like:

  1. Introduction
  2. Cause 1
  3. Effect 1 ——> Cause 2
  4. Effect 2 ——> Cause 3
  5. Effect 3 ——> Cause 4
  6. Conclusion

Some Interesting Cause and Effect Essay Examples

If you are confused about how to write an essay, then take a look at these cause and effect examples. It will provide you an insight into different formats of writing essays.

A Cause and Effect Essay Outline: Sample Analyzed in Detail

Below we have presented an example of cause and effect essay by properly outlining each and every section so that the readers get a clear idea on how to structure your essay. The example stated here is cause-focused, i.e., it has many causes and one effect.

Introduction

Hook: The United States is the nation with the maximum number of homeless people, where about 700,000 people are suffering from homelessness.

Thesis Statement: Many people suffer from homelessness because of several factors that include joblessness, absence of adequate social assistance, and faulty legislative policies. 

Body 

Paragraph 1 (Cause 1) 

As per the Merriam Webster dictionary, a homeless individual is someone who neither has a home nor a persistent place of residence. These people search for a temporary place to live in buildings under construction, garages, or in void trucks on the city streets. 

However, if some lodgings at a reasonable cost or adequate shelters can be possibly made accessible for them, then these individuals might have a place to stay. These individuals who have undergone troublesome circumstances would finally have a spot to call home.

Paragraph 2 (Cause 2) 

If private or public firms and agencies provide sufficient funding as social support to these homeless individuals, then they would have been able to handle numerous difficulties and challenges that they had to face for seeking a home.

Paragraph 3 (Cause 3) 

Different people who are inhibited by these hazardous and critical circumstances have their individual stories as to what caused their homelessness. This could possibly be an after-effect of any particular event or a sequence of events. An individual may lose his/her position unpredictably, that might lead to emotional insecurity and might also prompt to family issues.

Paragraph 4 (Effect 1) 

Homelessness comes with numerous unfavorable effects and it can be identical representations for some generic causes. An individual suffering from homelessness feels somewhat emotionally or psychologically unstable, and this may prompt them to find a way of discovering comfort from this torment by taking part in the assault, drug intake, rape, etc. 

Paragraph 5 (Effect 2) 

The negative effects influence the person as well as society and country on the run. A homeless individual might often take part in blue-collar crimes, burglary, or a group of social brutality because they do not have adequate cash to cater to their essential needs. This gradually influences the general public as well as the society to such an extent that organizations decide to close their businesses because of ongoing robbery.

Conclusion

Many communities confront the challenge of homelessness, which could be a consequence of unfitting social services or an aftereffect of an individual’s helpless decisions. However, with great legislative policies and satisfactory provision of social services, homelessness might become a historical event.

This essay depicts how deficient social services, poor legislative approaches, and joblessness can prompt homelessness and how these issues should be handled.

Cause and Effect Essay Example 1

Effects of Professional Sports on Children

A professional sport is a worthwhile profession chosen by many children nowadays. Like every coin has two sides, this has too positive as well as negative impacts. Generally, many kids take participation in sports just for fun or for experiencing positive health benefits. But it has been found that when they engaged themselves in professional sports, they face competition and pressurize themselves to win the match.

According to the University of Florida, children who involve themselves in sports are less likely to consume drugs and alcohol and smoke than those who are not involved in sports. Playing sports also releases endorphins in the brain that helps in relieving depression and anxiety. Those children who are active in sports not only provide them a healthier body image but also boost their mental health with improved self-confidence and self-esteem.

However, when children take up sports as a profession, they often get frustrated with their competitive nature. But sometimes it serves as an unnatural dread of disappointment due to the implementation of adverse strategies or by pitching adolescents on a serious level from such a youthful age. Apart from this, all sports carry a risk of injury and danger.

So, before choosing it professionally as a career, it is important to evaluate your requirements and then accordingly choose the type of sports you want to engage in. Discouragement and uneasiness issues should be kept under control and a feeling of health should overrun.

Analysis

This cause and effect essay is written following the Effect-focused method. In the essay introduction, the concept or main idea is clear which is thoroughly described throughout the body of the essay. The concluding note is far more suggestive.

What Makes This Cause and Effect Essay Example Worthy Enough?

  • In the body paragraph, the first paragraph discusses the positive effects while the second paragraph discusses the negative effects.
  • The essay outline is based upon a research fact that makes it more evident and successful.

Improvements That Can Be Made in The Essay

  • The body paragraphs are not organized following a proper essay structure.
  • The essay should be written in a broader context, keeping professionalism in mind.

Cause and Effect Essay Example 2:

Cause and Effects of Popularity of Fast Food Restaurants

In current society, fast food restaurants are expanding to a great extent. Though on the one hand, it has managed to gain the attraction of the food-lovers and added delicious tastes to their life, on the other hand, it has its potential impacts too.

The main cause that leads to an increase in these junk food restaurants is the popularity among the customers and enhancements in its products and services. Nowadays, in most of the families, both a couple is engaged in work, so they hardly get time to cook for themselves or for their kids. And that is when; they opt for any prepared feast food at KFC or Mc’s Donald or any other brand of junk food providers.

To add more attraction to it, what these fast food restaurants do is they build up their food quality of various tastes that cannot be easily found anywhere else and also offers free conveyance online for customers. But side by side, it comes with negative impacts. It promotes health issues and leads to an inactive way of life. The different additives and calories from refined sugar and fats that it contains might effortlessly prompt you to eat more, thus leading to obesity, heart problems, diabetes, and much more.

Thus, the individuals also felt no need to cook fresh food for themselves, without the intake of which can cause severe health issues. So, fast foods should be consumed in lesser quantity.

Analysis

Particularly, this cause and effect essay is written following the Cause Effect-focused method. Here in the introduction part, the thesis statement is very clear. The body paragraphs deal with the causes as well as the effects of increasing fast-food restaurants and ultimately lead to a concise and strong concluding line.

What Makes This Cause and Effect Essay Example Worthy Enough?

  • The thesis is clearly stated in the essay introduction and is well-explained throughout the essay.
  • The essay is more specifically written focused upon the central idea, which makes it interesting for the readers.

Improvements That Can Be Made in The Essay

  • Some statistical data and information can be added to make this essay look more relevant.
  • The essay is too short to discuss both the causes and effects, so it should be extended to a considerable length.

Cause and Effect Essay Example 3:

The Influence of the Internet on Kids

Being living in an era of IT revolution, the imperativeness of PCs and the internet cannot be ignored. Internet and PCs have assumed control over every single field, so kids and youngsters left with no other alternatives.

Whether it’s a field of education, telecom, finance, teaching, medicine, entertainment, media accounting, defense, learning, it has dominated almost every field. Not only the introduction of PC and internet has made this world advanced but these are so skillfully proficient in handling information and data storage. While the use of PC and the internet makes the instructions and learning information efficient, gazing at the screen for a longer time might affect their eyesight. Thus, it has made a significant contribution to making the life of humans more deliberate, bright, and awesome.

But, the uncontrolled working of PCs and the internet can often be destructive. Youngsters sitting before PC screens for a considerable length of time watching improper contents and sites, playing vicious computer games with no reason can unfavorably impact their receptive minds. This squanders the most precious TIME and also affects their physical and emotional well-being. Sitting before PCs for a long time also prompts medical problems in kids.

Therefore, the need of the hour is to stay alert while the kids use the internet. The parents and teachers must show their kids how to use the internet wisely. Neglecting to do so is without a doubt going to have its negative consequences.

Analysis

This essay again obeys the Effect-focused method. The introduction of the essay begins with a hook statement and then proceeds to discuss the different positive and negative influences of the internet on kids in the body of the essay. At last, the essay is concluded with an impactful suggestion to use the internet wisely.

What Makes This Cause and Effect Essay Example Worthy Enough?

  • Logical bridges seem to found between the introduction, body paragraphs, and the essay conclusion.
  • Though the essay is concise, it well discusses both the positive and negatives influences of the internet on the kids.

Improvements That Can Be Made in The Essay

  • The essay can be expanded to a certain length so the ideas can be more explicitly discussed here.
  • In the introduction paragraph, the central theme of the essay is not clear, neither the thesis statement justifies.

List of Some Good Cause and Effect Essay Topics

Are you having a tough time choosing a perfect topic for your cause and effect essay? Well, you can check out some good cause and effect essay topics shared below. Feel free to pick a topic of your choice from the list and explore it.

  • Big Bang Theory: Causes and Outcomes
  • Effects of Social Media Addiction on a Student’s life
  • Impact of school bullying upon its victims
  • How domestic violence affects the life of an individual?
  • Forced marriages and their consequences.
  • Effect of junk foods on children
  • How divorce influences a child’s mental health?
  • Impact of natural disasters on the wildlife population
  • How modern-day movies are influencing teens’ behaviors?
  • How playing video games can result in an increased IQ level?
  • Making YouTube videos for gaining popularity: Causes and Consequences
  • Effects of sleep deprivation.

Key Points to Remember

While writing a cause and effect essay, there are some key points that you should keep in mind:

  • Make sure to state all ideas (both causes and effects) in chronological order.
  • Try that ideas never overlap each other.
  • Ensure to use transitional words and phrases
  • Use vocabulary that is purpose-specific
  • Use supporting pieces of evidence to strengthen your essay
  • Focus upon your purpose of writing

After following all these points, don’t forget to evaluate the efficiency of the essay.

Hope that the cause and effect examples and its related information have helped you in writing a unique and interesting essay with ease.

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