Cause/Effect Essay Assignment Sheet
For this essay, you will write about either the causes or the effects of something, not both.
Choose one of these topics:
 Causes of Peace
 Causes of Patience
 Causes of Suffering
 Causes of Love




Effects of Having friends
Effects of Attending a boarding school
Effects of Christianity
Effects of Anger
Thesis: you must state the topic, your previews, and why it’s important to recognize those causes or
effects.
This essay will be organized much like your previous essays, with body paragraphs, topic sentences,
explanation, and evidence.
**When you are writing about causes and effects, make sure that you actually are identifying true
causes and effects. Sometimes, things happen before or after an event, but they are not necessarily
causes or effects.
For example, the school bell may ring and immediately afterward someone may sneeze. This
does not mean the bell causes that person to sneeze. They just coincidentally happened one
after the other.
For this essay, I am not requiring both an outline and a brainstorm; you may choose which you want
to do.
Portfolio:
 (top) Final draft of cause effect essay
 Rubric (this assignment sheet)
 Second rough draft with teacher comments
 First rough draft with peer review
 Outline
 Brainstorm
 Final draft of Compare/contrast essay with rubric stapled to the back
 Final draft of Classification essay with rubric stapled to the back
 Final draft of Process-analysis essay with rubric stapled to the back (bottom)
Essay assignment:_____________________________________________
Student name:________________________________________________
/30 1. Unity
a. Essay is driven by a thesis: clear, arguable, has previews
b. Demonstrates quality analysis and thought; fulfills word count
c. Point of view remains consistent throughout essay; everything relates
to and supports thesis
/30 2. Support
a. Topic sentences connect to and support thesis
b. Clear explanation of topic sentences; no questions unanswered; no
holes in logic
c. Evidence is clear, strong, and supports topic sentences
/20 3. Organization
a. Division of ideas into sentences and paragraphs makes sense
b. Sentence and/or paragraph order is logical, as shown by transitions
c. Introduction follows format and sets up essay well
d. Conclusion provides a clear wrap-up to the essay
/10 4. Style
a. Word choice is academic, clear, and vivid; no wrong words used
b. Features the author’s personality and own writing voice; variety of
sentence structure
c. Variety of sentence structure
/10 5. Mechanics
a. Follows spelling, punctuation, grammar, usage, and/or MLA
guidelines
__________/100 = Adjusted Score:_________