Attempt
Part of speech: noun
Definition: The action of trying at something. An assault or attack.
Part of speech: verb
Definition: To try.
Example sentence: I could hardly sit through 'Frozen.' There was an attempt to craft a moral message and to build the story around that, instead of building the story and letting the moral message emerge. It was the subjugation of art to propaganda, in my estimation.
Effort
Part of speech: noun
Definition: The amount of work involved in performing an activity; exertion.An endeavour.
Example sentence: At the end of the day, you can't control the results; you can only control your effort level and your focus.