When asked to write anything by an instructor at the college-level, you should be aware that the overall point of the assignment is for you to argue—or prove—the point of topic assigned. This means that you will not be writing a report on the topic. You will not be presenting an overview of world views on the topic. You will be arguing a solitary viewpoint on the topic, given the assigned essay style.
Rhetorical Devices and Strategies
For this sample, the cause and effect essay style has been assigned. You are required to prove that something causes something else—an effect—and therefore, persuasion, logic, and assertive reasoning should be at the forefront of your mind. What can you honestly prove about the topic—while remaining in 3rd person voice? What will be questioned? How much does your audience already know, and will they come to the paper with strongly held beliefs? Consider these issues early in the writing process so that your outline is not filled with content that seems weak and poorly argued.
When an instructor assigns a Cause and Effect essay, you are following the structure and flow to argue the relationship between A and B, thus producing an effect.
Cause and effect essays can be handled—topic-wise—in a variety of ways. If you instructor simply gives you a one-word topic (such as success), you can approach the Cause and Effect argument paper in two different ways:
Topic: Success
Strategy 1: Address Success—what causes success and what are the effects of success
Or
Strategy 2: Address Success—what causes the effect known as success in one’s life; success is caused by X, Y, and Z
If your instructor provides you with more details about your assignment—such as how to approach the overall topic, you might have more limitations set of your approach. However, you also have clarity on what is expected.
Topic: How social media has affected the American culture.
Address—Social media has caused X, Y, and Z in the American culture.
With an assignment prompt that is more specific—as shown above with social media—your instructor is looking for you to prove (argue logically) that A (social media) caused X, Y, and Z (effects on the American culture). Receiving an assignment with a focused writing prompt, such as above, can greatly assist you with your initial argument’s outline; after all, you know exactly what your instructor is looking for in your writing.
If you have received a single concept for your topic (success), you will need to make sure that you have your ideas perfectly matched to the flow of the cause/effect essay argument that you can find in your textbook since the direct focus for presenting the argument was left up to you by your instructor. Below, you can find a sample outline that was written given the concept of success, as a cause and effect argument essay. While students in ENGL101 will not receive such a vague topic assignment, it will still provide you with an overview of some basics for an outline.
Writing an outline for your cause and effect essay will help you understand better what you are going to write about. Read the article to learn more.
Cause and effect essays are popular ways of helping students understand the relationship between various events. They’re extremely popular in history classes, although students are certainly going to encounter them in English and [general] writing classes as well. English and [general] writing classes are often geared towards helping students be better at critical thinking in general, and cause and effect essays can serve as excellent critical thinking exercises in general.
HOW TO WRITE A CAUSE AND EFFECT OUTLINE
When writing a cause and effect essay which generally requires the writer to illustrate a scenario in which one or more actions or events ultimately cause or caused certain effects to occur, the student should create and follow an outline.
To illustrate an essay of this sort, below is an outline for a cause and effect essay for a fairly simple topic that pertains to a general writing composition course – “Success”:
Causes of Success: Diligence; talent or intelligence; high level of education; networking and making good, intelligent choices in life.
Effects of Success: Wealth and a potential increase in one’s quality of life; happiness and fulfillment.
The writer can focus on just one cause and one effect, or a combination of the two. Every cause and effect essay should consist of no less than five paragraphs:
· Introduction paragraph
· At least three body paragraphs—one of which will address any volatile counter-arguments
· Conclusion paragraph
Outline: Cause and Effect Essay on the Topic “Success”
INTRODUCTION PARAGRAPH
The first paragraph of the essay introducing the subject and informing the reader what the paper is essentially about (5-7 sentences):
“Hook” Topic Sentence – the purpose of the “hook” topic sentence is to simply introduce [in a captivating way to grab the reader] the topic or subject being examined.
Thesis Statement – the main idea or purpose of the essay.
Your first paragraph may sound like this:
Although it is a rather ambiguous term, “Success” has specific causes and effects. For one, it is caused by one’s persistent diligence on a project or occupation, etc. In turn, success has certain effects, or consequences, as well: one is financial wealth.
3 BODY PARAGRAPHS
Illustration of causes and effects. In this section of the essay, the student will show how diligence causes success and illustrate the effects of success on the individual – ultimately explaining at length their Thesis Statement from the first paragraph.
· To better convey the argument, the student may begin with explaining the topic being examined – perhaps including a definition, a source providing additional perspectives, etc. In this case:
What is the success? What does it look like? How is it identified? What does it mean? What are its social, emotion and spiritual implications?
· Next, once the reader understands the context in which the term is being examined, the student should transition to a paragraph showing how diligence causes success. Perhaps a famous example (like a self-made millionaire) would suffice, or even some other scenario. But the writer should explain how a person could work hard to achieve personal success.
· This part is for demonstrating and explaining the effects of success – like it leads to financial wealth, or it leads to a better quality of life because a person is fulfilled in their accomplishment and is happy.
CONCLUSION PARAGRAPH
In this section, the student not only summarizes the essay – its topic’s causes and effects – but can also help the reader better understand the [argument supporting the cause and effect by leaving the reader with something to reflect upon or to consider as an equally important cause/effect relationship in something else.]
Sample outline flow retrieved from An
Ultimate Guide to Writing a Cause and Effect Essay Outline. This is just an overview for an outline.
Be certain to follow the exact outline provided by
your instructor for proper content placement.
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