A Moment in Time

Suppose that one day the waters were so still that we couldn’t surf as planned. The most immediate explanation might be that there was simply no wind that day. We might then search for the reason why the winds didn’t come as expected that day. Perhaps the weather report expected the wind on the wrong day, and so the waters were still today. We might then think about deeper reasons for why the wind was nowhere to be found.

As humans, we search for explanations for why things happen as they do. To that end, people ask questions to make sense of the world around us. This is the foundation of scientific inquiry—using reason and questioning to reach answers about what might have once seemed unknowable. This is the foundation of the cause-effect essay.

A cause-effect paper is designed to explore a chain of events. In its simplest form, you might explore a single cause and its relationship to a single effect. The goal of this essay is to show a clear link between the proposed cause and its effect, and illustrate how the two are related. Why are they related events instead of coincidences? So the two events must be introduced, a link must be proposed between these events, and the writer must show evidence that proves the causal chain exists.

However, the cause-effect essay is one of the most difficult types of essays to write because it focuses primarily on time. Cause must precede effect, and the cause must be the reason the effect takes place. If the essay fails to prove that the two events are related, then essay doesn’t work. Consider events as a link in a chain, where all the links must be strong in order to hold the weight of the essay.

Cause-effect can be complicated enough with only a single cause and a single effect. This type of essay can be even more complex when considering multiple causes or effects. Even the nature of the time relationship can vary. Arguing that a single cause produces three direct effects is not the same as arguing that a single cause snowballs into a chain of effects. One chain of events is direct, even with multiple effects, while the second chain of events is indirect and layered. In the second case, the chain of events is linked, with the middle link holding the chain together at its center. While both are cause-effect relationships, one requires more evidence and concrete reasoning in order to work as a coherent whole.

In the end, a cause-effect paper relies on how well the chain of events is shown and documented. The chain of events must be shown clearly, whether you are exploring cause, effect, or both within your essay. Although writing about time can be complicated, cause-effect can be useful to establish a time relationship between any two events.

See you next time the breeze is cool, the sun is up, and the waves roll into view! ‘Til then, hang ten!