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This is a cause/effects essay I wrote for my writing class. I hope you enjoy it! 3nodding

There are hundreds of causes and effects in the world. For example, if you read too long in the bright sunlight, then walk into a dim room, everything will appear to have a green tint to it. Or if you read too many books by Lemony Snicket, then go to write an English paper, you might find that your writing sounds a lot like Snicket’s. However, these topics may not appeal to you at all. If, after looking and listening to all these ideas, you still do not know what to write: Beware! Not having any idea what to write can have some nasty consequences.

A blank word document can tease without relent. Without any idea of a topic, a writer may be tempted to write down anything at all, as long as it relieves them of the constant bombardment of white. There’s only one problem with this: it can lead to a completely random paper that has nothing to do with the subject. Instead of writing a well-thought out essay on the effects of something or other, you may find that you’ve written the recipe for last night’s dinner. While a good recipe is always appreciated, it is not what the teacher asked for; so, upon turning it in, it wouldn’t be a surprise to find a large, red “F” written on your paper.

If, like most people, you do not like seeing an “F” on your paper, no matter how beautifully written, it would be best to bear the blank stares of the document as you brainstorm an essay topic a little closer to the teacher’s expectations. Grudgingly, your brain will have to come up with several ideas in a desperate attempt to relieve itself of the document’s teasing gaze. Eventually, you will come up with a topic that you find satisfactory and begin to write. Unfortunately, you may find that your brainstorming has not left you enough time to finish your essay before it is due. As a result you may find that while your paper is not an “F;” its grade is not as good as it might have been if it had been turned in on time.

Now you might be one of those people that can and will stay up all night before an essay is due to finish it. This habit is great if you would like to prevent turning your essay in late, but can have several negative repercussions. To start with, while your paper may have been turned in on time, writing while tired can cause a person to make many spelling and punctuation mistakes that they might not have made otherwise. You could accidentally place a comma at the end of a sentence instead of a period or a one instead of an exclamation point. May bee you where tipping two fast or spell check gave you the wong word. Also, in school the next day, you may find yourself too tired to work in your other classes causing you to get unusually low grades on several assignments in different classes rather than on just the essay.

This leaves you, the idealess writer, with only one option: to ignore the document’s teasing gaze just long enough to come up with an idea that, though it might not be the best, at least involves cause and effect. Hence a completely random cause and effect essay is born. While the paper will be of the format requested, it could end up with a topic as off-the-wall as “The Effects of Dyeing a Llama Purple,” “The Effects of Staring Too Long at a Blank Word Document,” or “The Effects of Not Knowing What to Write for a Cause and Effect Essay.” Though it may be possible to avoid the negative effect of a bad grade, a lame or random topic will most likely result from not knowing what to write for a cause and effect essay. With this in mind, teachers and experienced students alike all highly recommend having an idea of what to write, before you have to actually start writing it.