How to write a cause and effect essay?

CAUSE AND EFFECT ESSAY 

Before you start working on the paper, you must ask yourself – do you clearly understand what you’re dealing with? Like any other type of assignment, a cause and effect essay has its own special features and concepts. In particular, we should talk about causation as one of the key concepts while considering this type of paper. During their lives, people try to find the answers to thousands of ‘why and how’. For that reason, it’s so important to be able to clearly identify the cause and effect of any event, phenomenon or decision. A student is also expected to do the same in the paper. Cause and effect essays are concerned with why things happen (causes) and what happens as a result (effects). Cause and effect is a common method of organizing and discussing ideas.

Create your outline first

As soon as you gather basic information and you have decided on the topic, you need to create a detailed plan. The key point to a successful essay is having the right structure. You can believe this or not, but the time you spend on creating the outline will save time while writing the paper. A carefully crafted outline will help you concentrate on the main points and to describe all the ideas that you need to describe in your essay. There is no need to write full sentences on this step, as you only need to write ideas and structure them in the right order

 To understand how to write cause and effect essay outline, one should brainstorm, collect the best ideas related to the studied field, and use the chosen points to prepare an effective plan. Do not write out the completed sentences

    1-Introduction.

• What you will discuss. Some background data. An interesting fact, or maybe even an anecdote. Quotes won't be out of place.
• Your thesis statement. Something that happened regarding the field you're studying, or something that occurred after certain events took place.

     2-Main body paragraphs.

Each paragraph should include:

• Topic sentence. What are you talking about in this paragraph? How does it connect to your thesis?
• Elaborate on the reasoning and circumstances behind your topic sentence. Why did it happen?
• Short conclusion, establishing the results of your argument occurring in certain conditions.

  3-Conclusion.

• Did you prove your thesis? How? Don't repeat everything words for word. Summarize.
• Give a short point about each of your topic sentences. What helped you reach certain conclusions?
• Is your paper relevant to the field? How can it help further research?

THE INTRODUCTION 

In this part of the paper, your task is to show the reader what issues will be discussed in the next paragraphs of the paper and declare an appropriate thesis statement. First of all, the writer should catch readers on the hook and capture their attention. Ask a rhetorical question and, thus, awaken the ‘appetite’ of the reader. After that, it’s better to provide additional background information that somehow explains the cause or the effect. Please, make sure that it really fits and not just fills the blank lines. The following step is to offer a thesis statement that combines the essence of the argument in one sentence. Comment on your position in relation to the topic. In addition, you need to briefly characterize the general point of the essay. Keep in mind that you should prove the thesis in the body, that’s why the procedure of information presenting must comply with the plan.

 When you formulate a thesis statement,

 be sure it identifies the relationship among the specific causes or effects you will discuss. This thesis statement should tell your readers three things: the issues you plan to consider, the position you will take, and whether your emphasis is on causes, effects, or both. Your thesis statement may also indicate explicitly or implicitly the cause or effect you consider most important and the order in which you will present your points. 

THE BODY 

The body is a backbone of your essay, and this is a part where you often explain why your opinion on causes and effects is better than others. You have to convince readers that you’re right. To do it, you have to present a set of arguments supported by evidence. To do it well, follow a few rules:

• Present your arguments in a logical order. You can sort them in a climactic order (starting from less important ones and moving to the most important), or start from the key cause and then describe underlying causes that are not so important.

• Understand the difference between effects and causes. It’s obvious yet important advice: causes are what happened before, effects are what happens after.

• Surprise your audience. Any event may have less or more obvious causes. Of course, you need to mention predictable points, but don’t focus on them. A good approach is mentioning expected reasons at the beginning, and then explaining why these things are actually not the main reasons.

• Provide more evidence. Support your point by using everything that you have: examples, historical evidence, statistics, quotes, anecdotes, expert opinions, etc.

NOTE; At this point, it’s necessary to work with the structure of the paragraph too – include introductory and concluding sentences in every paragraph, everything between them depends on you.

THE CONCLUSION

If you don’t know how to conclude an essay than read further. This part of the essay is connected with the introduction, and the main focus is to influence the reader’s opinion. Firstly, you check whether the thesis statement is proven or not, and only after that you paraphrase the thesis and state it again. The next action is to summarize and simplify the data to 1-3 sentences and to finish this paragraph with a final statement. The student should emphasize the importance of this data – explain what reasons should be considered as serious ones.

NOTE; This part of your essay offers you more opportunities to demonstrate your creativity because here you don’t need to be dogmatic. Take a look at your issue from a different angle and explain why your opinion is the right one.

TIPS

• Take a look at other cause and effect essays even if they are not related to yours. You will have an opportunity to observe the typical structure and find out strong and weak points.

• Make the essay sound more powerful and persuasive with the help of supporting evidence grabbed form the collected primary sources.

• Looking at the mistakes of other people might help you avoid making your own.

• Review the paper several times and make big breaks between sessions.

• Use appropriate transitions. To blend details smoothly in cause and effect essays

• Edit a printed copy of the essay – it’s easier to find mistakes.

• Research and organize supporting details. Back up your thesis with relevant and sufficient details that are organized. You can organize details in the following ways:

• Chronological. Details are arranged in the order in which the events occurred.
• Order of importance. Details are arranged from least to most important or vice versa.
• Categorical. Details are arranged by dividing the topic into parts or categories.

THE FIRST ESSAY: Effects of Video Game Addiction

By Scott McLean

Video game addiction is a serious problem in many parts of the world today and deserves more attention. It is no secret that children and adults in many countries throughout the world, including Japan, China, and the United States, play video games every day. Most players are able to limit their usage in ways that do not interfere with their daily lives, but many others have developed an addiction to playing video games and suffer detrimental effects.

An addiction can be described in several ways, but generally speaking, addictions involve unhealthy attractions to substances or activities that ultimately disrupt the ability of a person to keep up with regular daily responsibilities. Video game addiction typically involves playing games uncontrollably for many hours at a time—some people will play only four hours at a time while others cannot stop for over twenty-four hours. Regardless of the severity of the addiction, many of the same effects will be experienced by all.

One common effect of video game addiction is isolation and withdrawal from social experiences. Video game players often hide in their homes or in Internet cafés for days at a time—only reemerging for the most pressing tasks and necessities. The effect of this isolation can lead to a breakdown of communication skills and often a loss in socialization. While it is true that many games, especially massively multiplayer online games, involve a very real form of e-based communication and coordination with others, and these virtual interactions often result in real communities that can be healthy for the players, these communities and forms of communication rarely translate to the types of valuable social interaction that humans need to maintain typical social functioning. As a result, social networking in these online games often gives the users the impression that they are interacting socially, while their true social lives and personal relations may suffer.

Another unfortunate product of the isolation that often accompanies video game addiction is the disruption of the user’s career. While many players manage to enjoy video games and still hold their jobs without problems, others experience challenges at their workplace. Some may only experience warnings or demerits as a result of poorer performance, or others may end up losing their jobs altogether. Playing video games for extended periods of time often involves sleep deprivation, and this tends to carry over to the workplace, reducing production and causing habitual tardiness.

Video game addiction may result in a decline in overall health and hygiene. Players who interact with video games for such significant amounts of time can go an entire day without eating and even longer without basic hygiene tasks, such as using the restroom or bathing. The effects of this behavior pose a significant danger to their overall health.

The causes of video game addiction are complex and can vary greatly, but the effects have the potential to be severe. Playing video games can and should be a fun activity for all to enjoy. But just like everything else, the amount of time one spends playing video games needs to be balanced with personal and social responsibilities.

THE SECOND ESSAY: Why teenagers try drugs

Teenagers are renowned for being curious about the world around them and wanting to discover new activities. It is not surprising that addictive and destructive substances such as drugs would attract teenagers’ attention. But why exactly do they strive to try these substances when they know it can be potentially harmful? Teenagers often try drugs due to stress, peer pressure, self-medication, misinformation, and easy access.

Everyone gets stressed to some degree, but being a teenager might be the most stress-inducing time in one’s life. In order to relieve this tension, teenagers often vie for the consumption of drugs. According to the Casa Palmera Treatment Center, “A recent study by the Partnership for a Drug-Free America showed that 73 percent of teens report the number-one reason for using drugs is to deal with the pressures and stress of school. Surprisingly, only 7 percent of parents believe that teens might use drugs to cope with stress, showing parents severely underestimate the impact of stress on their teens’ decision to use drugs” (Casa Palmera). It appears that parents and teachers often do not think that teenagers can be stressed enough to be prompted to take drugs. However, research has proven otherwise.

Peer pressure is more known than stress as a cause of teenagers taking drugs. It is usually thought of first between parents when trying to understand why their children consume strange substances. According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse, “The desire to impress your friends may override your fear of taking risks. This could also apply to decide whether to try drugs or alcohol—your decision might be influenced by who’s around and if you think they’d be impressed” (“Why Does Peer Pressure Influence Teens To Try Drugs?”). Wanting to fit in and show off to your friends are powerful drivers when it comes to taking drugs. Teenagers strive to find a place in their society, and doing drugs is seen as an avenue to achieve that.

Getting proper medical and psychiatric care for teenagers is not easy, and a lot of these individuals do not want to talk to their parents about their problems. Therefore, a lot of teenagers treat taking drugs as self-medication. According to ScienceDaily, “Research shows that some teens are using drugs to alleviate feelings of depression (“self-medicating”), when in fact, using marijuana can compound the problem. The report, released to coincide with May’s Mental Health Awareness Month, shows a staggering two million teens felt depressed at some point during the past year, and depressed teens are more than twice as likely as non-depressed teens to have used marijuana during that same period. Depressed teens are also almost twice as likely to have used illicit drugs as non-depressed teens” (“Teen ‘Self Medication’ For Depression Leads To More Serious Mental Illness, New Report Reveals”). So, teenagers with depression often are faced with the choice of confronting parents about their state or trying to self-medicate themselves through drugs. They often choose the more secretive way of dealing with their issues.

In addition to self-medicating themselves, teenagers see drugs in a brighter light than adults in general. They often do not understand or comprehend how dangerous drugs can be. According to the Casa Palmera Treatment Center, “Many teens, 41 percent to be exact, mistakenly believe that it’s safer to abuse a prescription drug than it is to use illegal drugs. Nearly 1 in 5 teens have already abused prescription medication or prescription painkiller in order to get high or deal with stress” (Casa Palmera). This misinformation leads to an increase in the likelihood of a teenager trying harmful substances.

With marijuana and other drugs become easier to obtain, the rate at which teenagers can get hold of these substances is higher. According to Heath24, “Overall, teens who had alcohol and illegal drugs available to them started drinking and using drugs at a younger age and used more alcohol and drugs in their 20s” (“Easy Access to Drugs and Booze Ups Teens’ Addiction Risk”). These statistics show a clear connection between ease of access and getting addicted to drugs.

Teenagers and drugs have a close relationship because of several factors. Stress, peer pressure, self-medication, misinformation, and easy access all make drugs appealing to this demographic. The only thing we can do is properly educate teenagers on the risks of drugs and have parental figures open themselves up to these individuals in order to increase communication.

IN THE END, the defining features of a "cause and effect" essay are causal chains that connect from a cause to an effect, careful language, and chronological or emphatic order. A writer using this rhetorical method must consider the subject, determine the purpose, consider the audience, think critically about different causes or consequences, consider a thesis statement, arrange the parts, consider the language, and decide on a conclusion.

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References

1. https://courses.lumenlearning.com/englishcomp1v2xmaster/chapter/writing-for-success-cause-and-effect
2. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Essay
3. https://www.affordable-papers.net/cause-effect-essay-writing-step-step/
4. https://academichelp.net/samples/academics/essays/cause-effect/teenagers-try-drugs.html