Cause and effect essay examples

Features of the cause-effect essay

Knowing the cause of some event, you can influence it in different ways and target the audience, social institutions to certain useful activity. How to achieve this result? The best way is to read the works of experienced essayists. Consideration of cause and effect essay examples for college will make it easier to understand the peculiarities of this dependence.

By definition of logic, it is about the paired phenomena, one of which generates another. The first phenomenon is called the cause, and the second is the effect. In the temporal plan, the cause always precedes the effect.

But, of course, the causal relationship cannot be limited to the usual sequence of events in time. For example, the bus starts moving after we get inside. But it does not mean that our appearance is the reason for the movement of the bus. In order for the preceding event to be defined as the cause of the next one, there should be an active material connection between them.

The presence of the first phenomenon always leads to the emergence of the second, and the elimination of the first factor leads to the elimination of the second. Characteristic features of causal relationships are certainty and uniqueness, that is, the same causes provoke the same consequences under the same conditions.

Perhaps, trying to distinguish the main push factor in a cause and effect essay example, you will notice that it often emerges on the background of other causes that give rise to phenomenon under consideration and impose imprint on it.

In order to establish a causal relationship, first of all, a student should isolate the set of phenomena he is interested in from a wide set of other factors. Next, it's worth paying attention to circumstances that preceded their emergence. Then, out of these circumstances, it is necessary to choose the determining factors that can be studied as the causes of the main effect.

Some students do not understand why it is necessary to study other authors' texts. After all, the purpose of the work seems to be quite obvious. But they ask this question until taking a pen and trying to write something on their own. After a failure, when it is not clear how to start a cause and effect essay, examples are considered as a rescue tool.

All this due to the fact that the mere enumeration of phenomena capable of causing subsequent events still does not eliminate the difficulties associated with determining the main cause.

Remember the following rules:

• the same effect can be caused by several factors, which can act either collectively or separately;
• collective factors can either strengthen or neutralize each other;
• the cause begins to act only under certain conditions;
• the cause may be reversely affected by its effect.

Logical methods of cause-effect analysis

For a professional writer, it is enough to look through the cause and effect essay conclusion examples to determine what analytical methods were used for the argumentation, because they are the basis of proof. Having thoroughly studied the below classification, you will skillfully operate facts and substantiate own point of view.

Exclusion method

The essence of this method is that, by studying a complex set of causal relationships, an author can discover the main cause by eliminating all the alleged circumstances capable of provoking similar events, except for one factor that is considered as the cause of the phenomenon being studied.

Similarity method

Writing a cause and effect essay examples, experienced authors use this method when several phenomena arise in a variety of circumstances, but always in the presence of the same factor. It is assumed that this factor is the cause of considered phenomenon.

Single difference method

This method consists in comparing the case when some event occurs with the case when it does not occur. In both situations, the same conditions must be preserved, except for one factor, which is absent in one case.

This technique is actively used, for example, when studying the effectiveness of the organization of various forms of labour. The author focuses not on what is repeated in these forms, but on clarifying the differences in them and the additional positive or negative consequences.

Unlike the similarity method, the single difference method is present in most reliable examples of a cause and effect essay. However, do not forget that applying the single difference method is connected with an organization of an experiment, since there are no absolutely identical social or natural conditions with only one difference. They must be created and organized artificially.

Most often, this method is used to test the results of applying the similarity method. In fact, most good cause and effect essay examples are based not on one but on several argumentation techniques.

Hypothetical method

By its logical nature, a hypothesis is an idea which has one or more unknown elements. It is quite easy to find a cause and effect essay introduction example in which the author puts forward a hypothesis based on analogy or inductive / deductive methods provoking focused research process. Most often, when clarifying the causes of the studied facts, the essayists initially resort to analogy or inductive generalizations and then turn to deduction.

When the hypothesis is stated, the author's idea follows from a known phenomenon to an unknown reason. The assumption has a problem character, a probabilistic nature. Its reliability should be confirmed further. Remember that the hypothesis can be considered proven only when at least one of the following results is achieved:

• it became possible to directly observe the cause of the phenomenon;
• the hypothesis was confirmed experimentally;
• the hypothesis was substantiated by deduction from reliable facts.

So, read the essay examples with different types of argumentation. After some time, you will develop your writing skills and learn how to delight teachers with perfect papers. Good luck!