Lesson 4

• The cause-and-effect essay opens with a general introduction to the topic, which then leads to a thesis that states the main cause, main effect, or various causes and effects of a condition or event.
• Causes are the reasons that something happened (Ex. the causes of pollution, divorce, heart disease, anorexia, etc.,) It can be identified and presented so that the reader gains a better knowledge of how the causes brought about certain results.
• When we think of Effects, we often think of benefits or advantages such as the benefits of exercise or the advantages of self-employment. Or we could look at the negative effects of a cause such as divorce, alcoholism, or global warming.
• The purpose of the cause-and-effect essay is to determine how various phenomena are related.
• The cause-and-effect essay can be organized in one of these two primary ways:

  1. Start with the cause and then talk about the effect.
  2. Start with the effect and then talk about the cause.
• Strong evidence is particularly important in the cause-and-effect essay due to the complexity of determining connections between phenomena.
• Phrases of causation are helpful in signaling links between various elements in the essay.