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Cause and effect essays

A cause and effect essays is a type of descriptive essay. In cause and effect essays, you either talk about the causes which lead a phenomenon to occur or the effects which are resulted from that phenomenon.

Imagine that a huge fire happened in a forest near a town. Such a happening certainly had some reasons (causes) and it would have some results (effects). Let’s mention some possible causes and effects of a fire in a forest near a town.

Event: A forest near a small town burned in a huge fire.

Causes:

* The weather was hot.
* There had been no rainfalls during the past three weeks.
* Some hikers forgot to put off the fire the day before.
* Some people intentionally set fire in the forest for some reasons.

Effects:

* A lot of wild life was lost.
* The town was evacuated for three days.
* Many farms and some houses in the town burned down.
* A few firefighters were injured.
* The governor resigned because he could not control the fire well.

When writing your essay, keep the following suggestions in mind:

* Remember your purpose. Decide if your are writing to inform or persuade.
* Focus on immediate and direct causes (or effects.) Limit yourself to causes that are close in time and related, as opposed to remote and indirect causes, which occur later and are related indirectly.
* Strengthen your essay by using supporting evidence. Define terms, offer facts and statistics, or provide examples, anecdotes, or personal observations that support your ideas.
* Qualify or limit your statements about cause and effect. Unless there is clear evidence that one event is related to another, qualify your statements with phrases such as “It appears that the cause was” or “It seems likely” or “The evidence may indicate” or “Available evidence suggests.”