cause and effect essay activity

Cause and Effect Essay Topics

That’s why cause-and-effect essays are one of the most commonly assigned writing assignments in all of academia. They test a student’s ability to draw connections and make logical arguments as well as research abilities and writing skills. 

They can be very enjoyable to write if you know the fundamentals of essay writing, understand what this type of essay requires, and choose the right topic. In this article, you’ll get a brief overview of what a cause and effect essay is, tips on how to choose the right topic, and a list of over 150 topics to inspire you!

What is a Cause and Effect Essay?

A cause and effect essay is a writing assignment that asks you to explore the causes of certain events and link them to their outcomes. These types of essays can be focussed on the causes, the effects, or both. They can follow the typical 5 paragraph essay format, or they can have more body paragraphs than usual, depending on the complexity of the topic chosen. 

How to Choose a Cause and Effect Essay Topic

Since the entire paper will be about the causes and effects of your topic, choosing the right topic is vitally important for this type of essay. Sometimes teachers give a general theme to follow which makes it easier to choose a specific topic. Having the freedom to choose any topic you want can be daunting but as long as you keep the following points in mind, you’ll find an excellent topic to write about. 

• If you’ve been assigned a theme, spend time brainstorming several ideas to get a unique and interesting topic.
• Get ideas about what you want to write about from articles you’ve recently read. This will also give you a headstart on research.
• Take a broad topic and narrow it down to specific issues and relationships.
• The scope of your essay shouldn’t be too broad or too narrow. Think about your word count and choose a topic you can explore properly within that limit.
• You should always have facts and research to back up any claims you’re making, so choose a topic that has credible information available.
• Use personal conversations and experiences to narrow down the list of potential topics.
• Make sure there are a clear cause and effect relationship to explore in your topic. 
• Always try and choose a topic that you feel personally interested in. Passion will make the research more enjoyable, make your writing more interesting, and cut down on the amount of time you spend on the assignment.

Cause and Effect Essay Topics List for Students

Cause and effect essay topics for high school.

20 topics for cause and effect essay for high school students related to their experiences and chosen to match the level of complexity expected. 

Can student activism cause changes in the world?

What is the impact of growing up a child of divorce?

What are the main causes of anxiety in high school?

What are the effects of having very rich or famous parents?

How does having a messy room impact productivity?

What are the reasons that comic book movies rarely get Academy Awards?

Why is music better today, or why was it better in the past?

Why do students cheat?

What are the effects of playing group sports on social bonding?

What should people do to avoid getting sick?

Can online shopping cause shopping addiction?

Why are some video games more fun than others?

Why are oil spills so bad for marine ecosystems?

Why does weight have such a large impact on self-esteem?

What is the effect of family vacation on family relationships?

Why are people afraid of trying new things?

Why should humans protect endangered species?

How does theoretical physics affect the real world?

What are the long-term effects of vaping?

Is there a connection between bullying culture and school violence?

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Cause and Effect Essay Topics for College Students

Here’s a collection of 20 unique topics for college-level papers that will benefit from research and deep analytical skills.

Why do so many Americans still live in poverty?

What is the impact of underage drinking?

How does fasting impact your overall health?

What would be the difference if an asteroid impacted land or ocean?

Why do we buy so many things we don’t need?

What is the UN doing to combat modern-day slavery?

What is the impact of religious oppression in a country?

Why do sports and physical activity release endorphins?

Why is Japan more technologically advanced than many countries in the world?

How has the internet affected education in remote villages in developing nations?

How did Christianity shape colonialism?

Why is it dangerous not to finish a course of prescription medication?

What are the effects of picture and video apps on self-esteem?

Should standardized testing have such a large impact on a student’s future?

What is the impact of colonialism on modern-day Africa?

What is the impact of distance learning on mental health?

What are the benefits of studying in a group versus studying alone?

Is it possible to date and still be focused on academics?

Do violent movies and video games lead to real-life violence?

What is the impact of being raised in a multi-generational household?

Cause and Effect Essay Topics for Middle School

These 20 topics are perfect for teenagers to think about and should inspire them to write a fantastic essay. 

What is the effect of bullying on school culture and school spirit?

Why is it important to think about the environment?

What are the effects of spending time in nature?

What were the causes of World War II?

How has Covid-19 changed your daily routine?

What would happen if everybody did only what they wanted to?

What is the connection between music and mathematics?

How can social media and the internet reduce loneliness?

Why was the invention of the steam engine so important?

Describe a society where people learned to get along with each other.

Should famous people who say or do bad things lose their fans?

Why do countries close to the equator usually have spicy food?

What has been the effect of rap lyrics on poetry?

What are some of the benefits of colonizing Mars?

How do video games affect academic achievement?

What is the role of parental punishment on motivation?

What are the benefits of celebrating holidays from different religions?

What is the fallout from posting an unpopular story on Instagram?

How can you build a successful social media channel?

How does having a fun teacher affect student motivation?

Cause and Effect Essay Topics for Elementary Level

While these types of essays can become very complex, it is important for young children to start understanding the connection between things and exploring causes and effects at an early age. Here are 20 topics perfect for kids!

Why is it important to learn to share?

Why is it important to eat a good breakfast?

What have you learned from your favorite cartoon character?

How does the weather impact your mood?

Why should children get more time to play?

How do you feel after getting a good night’s sleep?

Why should Santa Claus bring you the toys you want?

What would you do if you saw an injured animal?

Why are birthdays important?

Why is riding a bike good for the environment?

How would having a smartphone improve your life?

How does being an older brother or sister make you different?

How does being a younger brother or sister make you different?

Why is it important to learn math?

Do having pets make you more responsible?

What are the effects of bullying on the bully?

What is the impact of your favorite Marvel superhero on the plot of the Marvel Cinematic Universe?

What are the causes and effects of being popular?

Why is littering bad for society?

Why is it important to eat vegetables?

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Cause and Effect Essay Topics Ideas

Fun cause and effect essay topics.

20 good cause and effect essay topics that are just plain fun to think about!

How are esports going to change the future?

What would it be like to give up all social media as a high school student?

Should people with more money be taxed at a higher rate?

Are periodic revolutions good for the progression of society?

How does smiling affect how long you live?

What are the benefits of owning a pet?

What started the domestication of animals by humans?

How has the use of cell phones affected in-person interaction?

What would be the impact on society if people could directly vote for every important issue?

What makes Elon Musk such a magnetic person?

What would the world be like if Facebook never existed?

Why are young people better at gaming than older people?

How is virtual reality going to change entertainment?

Why have science fiction movies become so popular over the last decade?

What responsibilities should social media influencers automatically be aware of?

What was the impact of Star Wars on the film industry?

How did YouTube change the way humans create and consume media?

Would Harry Potter have been less popular if the main character was a woman?

What effect does the language you speak have on the way you think?

What would the impact of raising the minimum wage be?

Easy Cause and Effect Essay Topics

You don’t have to write something too complicated to get a good grade! Here are 20 easy essay topic examples for your paper. 

What are the main causes of teenage smoking?

How do school uniforms improve cohesion and morale?

What is the impact of sweet fruit juices on health?

What role does the media have on public opinion?

What are the benefits of traveling abroad?

Do people feel better after crying?

Does using a smartphone right before sleeping negatively impact sleep quality?

Why is it more difficult for immigrants to find a job?

What are the effects of working out too much?

Does online dating make people have lower social skills?

How can improving time management reduce stress?

What is the impact of family stability on academic performance?

How does attending college impact lifelong earning potential?

Why is Google the most popular search engine?

How is carbon dioxide a greenhouse gas?

Why was the #Metoo movement so important?

What are the benefits of reading for pleasure as a child?

How has globalization impacted the role of women in societies?

What are the negative impacts of sound pollution?

How can a single species impact large ecosystems?

Personal Cause and Effect Essay Topics

Go over these 20 essay topics to write an essay that relies more on self reflection and personal growth. 

How has your favorite book impacted your life?

Is parenthood always a rewarding experience?

How does being selfish eventually impact oneself negatively?

What are the impacts of optimism on happiness?

How can a single individual make a significant change in the world?

How can meditation improve quality of life?

How has guilt affected your life personally?

How do people do bad things without realizing it?

Why are people afraid of commitment?

How does being in an abusive relationship impact both people?

What is the impact of being a minority on self-identity?

What is the connection between overthinking and depression?

How has the most significant relationship in your life shaped you?

How does getting older impact the ability to learn new things?

Why do people chase a feeling of control?

What are the impacts of living with someone with a mental disorder?

How long does it take to get over a serious breakup?

What are the reasons you want to be rich?

What would make you happy?

What is the best way of using social power?

Interesting Cause and Effect Essay Topics

20 interesting essay topics that will make your essay stand out amongst the crowd. 

What are some of the ways the world would have been different if the axis powers won WWII?

Do strikes and protests work effectively for different types of issues?

What would happen to coastal populations if ocean levels increased by 2 meters?

How much do tv shows and movies impact the way people think about other countries?

What has been the impact of rising internet penetration rates in developing countries?

What social care measures should countries implement in the face of catastrophes like Covid-19?

What is the connection between science and religion?

What would you do if you could become president of the world for 1 year?

How do phytoplankton in the ocean impact life on Earth?

Why is going to college an indicator of long-term happiness?

Why are certain video games popular amongst certain groups?

How does someone decide which music genre is their favorite?

How is artificial intelligence going to change the military and therefore the world?

What makes someone exceptional in their chosen field?

What are the most important characteristics of a good boss?

Can escapism be beneficial in situations such as trauma?

Does living together before marriage hurt or harm the long-term relationship?

What effect do different colors have on mood?

Is the continued growth of technology going to make people value in-person events more?

How has the first amendment impacted countries around the world?

Controversial Cause and Effect Essay Topics

Here are 20 controversial topics to think about. Be warned! You’ll have to do really solid research and make your point eloquently.

What was the impact of American foreign policy during the Cold War?

Does stem cell research have the potential to save millions of lives?

How do genetically modified crops impact the human body?

How do increasing temperatures impact rates of transmissible diseases?

How do oil-producing companies and their lobbies impact the search for renewable energy?

How do fashion companies end up employing children in sweatshops?

Can pizza now be considered an American food?

How do kings, queens, or any form of royalty impact the society of a country?

What are some of the negative outcomes of social Darwinism?

Why did the communism of the Soviet Union fail?

What has China’s one-child policy done to advance economic growth in the country?

How have sedition laws been used to censor free speech?

If artificial intelligence develops sentience, should they be given human rights?

How does a bad president impact that country's international reputation?

What are the roots of Russia’s aggressive international policies?

What are the negative impacts of the introduction of nonnative species?

What are the effects of gun regulation laws on murder rates around the world?

Are certain drugs beneficial for psychiatric treatment?

What was the root of the eugenics movement around the world in the early 1900s?

What has the impact of animal testing been on human health?

Final Thoughts

If you want to delve deep into a particular topic and analyze the causes and effects, a cause and effect essay is the perfect choice for you. It can be a fascinating process if you choose the right topic. This article has provided you with 180 topics to consider and guidelines on selecting a topic. If you need any help with coursework writing , research paper writing service , or custom essay writing , Studyfy's team of professional writers and dissertation writing services can guide you in the right direction. Additionally, their essay editing and proofreading services can help you improve your essay and make it stand out. Choose Studyfy, the best essay service , to help you achieve academic success.

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50 Cause and Effect Essay Topics

Cause and effect essay topics.

Forget the chicken and the egg — we’ve got 50 cause and effect essay topics that will give students an opportunity to create a logical essay. Our essay topics are designed to spark critical thinking and can be modified for students in elementary, middle and high school. They are grouped by topic for easy student and teacher reference. Feel free to print the entire list for plenty of inspiration for your next cause-and-effect essay assignment!

Politics and Culture Essay Topics

• Cause and Effect Essay Topics: How does political fundraising influence political decision making?
• Cause and Effect Essay Topics: What would be the impact of lowering the voting age?
• Cause and Effect Essay Topics: Choose a recent event in American history that involved another country. What was the cause of America’s actions, and what was the effect?
• Cause and Effect Essay Topics: What causes people to choose to vote or to abstain from voting?
• Cause and Effect Essay Topics: What would be the impact of allowing people to vote online instead of in person?
• Cause and Effect Essay Topics: What aspect of society has been influenced the most by social media and technology?
• Cause and Effect Essay Topics: What causes poverty in America?
• Cause and Effect Essay Topics: What causes homelessness?
• Cause and Effect Essay Topics: What are some of the effects of growing up in poverty for American children?
• Cause and Effect Essay Topics: What are some of the effects of growing up in a wealthy family for American children?
• Cause and Effect Essay Topics: What factors influence a person’s decision to attend or not attend college?
• Cause and Effect Essay Topics: What effect does choosing to attend college have on a person’s life?
• Cause and Effect Essay Topics: Does television affect society’s perception of social issues (for example, same-sex relationships)?
• Cause and Effect Essay Topics: Do protests and other social actions have an effect on social issues?
• Cause and Effect Essay Topics: Is using social media a valid way to protest or raise awareness about an issue?
• Cause and Effect Essay Topics: How has the increased use of cell phones affected our in-person social interactions?
• Cause and Effect Essay Topics: How does scientific research affect the way food is marketed to consumers?
• Cause and Effect Essay Topics: How does scientific research affect the way medicine is marketed to consumers?
• Cause and Effect Essay Topics: What causes one product to be more popular than another product?
• Cause and Effect Essay Topics: What is the greatest determining factor in a child’s life on whether he or she will be a successful adult?

Values and Ethics Essay Topics

• Cause and Effect Essay Topics: What impact does frequent violence (either from war or street violence) have on a community?
• Cause and Effect Essay Topics: What factors make certain communities more peaceful than other communities?
• Cause and Effect Essay Topics: How does the First Amendment affect the way people use social media?
• Cause and Effect Essay Topics: What causes divorce?
• Cause and Effect Essay Topics: What causes addiction?
• Cause and Effect Essay Topics: What impact does the term “broken families” have on children of divorced families?
• Cause and Effect Essay Topics: What causes children to be placed in foster care?
• Cause and Effect Essay Topics: Why do charitable organizations exist?
• Cause and Effect Essay Topics: Why do food pantries exist?
• Cause and Effect Essay Topics: Why do some people choose to bully others?
• Cause and Effect Essay Topics: What causes someone to become truly excellent in his or her career, in athletics, or in another field?
• Cause and Effect Essay Topics: How do music and art affect people?
• Cause and Effect Essay Topics: Is exercise necessary for all humans to maintain their health?
• Cause and Effect Essay Topics: How does a person’s diet affect his or her health?
• Cause and Effect Essay Topics: How does the place you choose to live affect your life?

Big Picture Questions

• Cause and Effect Essay Topics: Who has the greater effect on a person’s life: family or their friends?
• Cause and Effect Essay Topics: What has the greater effect on a person’s life: the country in which the person is born or the person’s gender?
• Cause and Effect Essay Topics: What has the greater effect on a person’s life: financial status or health?
• Cause and Effect Essay Topics: What is the single biggest factor that affects the environment today?
• Cause and Effect Essay Topics: What causes climate change?
• Cause and Effect Essay Topics: What actions need to be taken to make American a stronger country?
• Cause and Effect Essay Topics: What actions need to be taken to make the world a safer, healthier place?
• Cause and Effect Essay Topics: What created our planet?
• Cause and Effect Essay Topics: What is the single largest impact that you think humans will end up having on this planet?
• Cause and Effect Essay Topics: Why did people originally leave their home countries to explore the rest of the world?
• Cause and Effect Essay Topics: How has human curiosity driven human progress?
• Cause and Effect Essay Topics: Has human curiosity had an overall positive or negative effect on the planet?
• Cause and Effect Essay Topics: What caused humans to domesticate animals for labor and companionship?
• Cause and Effect Essay Topics: What are some of the factors that make the world feel smaller and more connected?
• Cause and Effect Essay Topics: What are some of the factors that make the world seem large and difficult to wrap your head around?

Looking for more essay topics? Compare and Contrast Essay Topics Descriptive Essay Topics Narrative Essay Topics Persuasive Essay and Speech Topics

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Warm-Up for Cause-Effect Essays

Everything that is going on around you right now has one or more causes that came before. And everything that will happen in the future is the effect of something that is happening now, sometimes resulting from choices you make! To understand what's going on, you can think about causes and effects.

What Is Cause-Effect Thinking?

Cause-effect thinking means considering how one thing leads to another. To discover causes, you will think about why something happens, for example, the sources of air pollution. To discover effects, you will think about the results of something that happens, for example, how air pollution impacts the environment.

In this unit you will write an essay that explores the cause-effect connections of a special event, action, or occurrence.

Thinking About Causes and Effects

Thinking about causes and effects will help you understand why things happen. Causes are the reasons something happens. Effects are the results of something happening. You can also think of effects as consequences.

The following cause-effect webs will help you better understand the relationship between causes and effects.

Cause-Effect Web

Think about causes and effects.

Use your imagination to fill in each missing space with a realistic cause or effect. The first row is done for you. Make a copy of this Google doc or download a Word template .

© 2024 Thoughtful Learning. Copying is permitted.

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Cause And Effect Essay Guide

Cause And Effect Essay Topics

230+ Cause and Effect Essay Topics to Boost Your Academic Writing

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Best Cause and Effect Essay Examples To Get Inspiration + Simple Tips

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How to Create a Cause and Effect Outline - An Easy Guide

Are you struggling to find that perfect cause and effect essay topic that will not only captivate your readers but also make your writing process a breeze?

It's a common challenge for students. 

The frustration of staring at a blank page and the fear of choosing a topic that doesn't resonate with your interests or requirements can be overwhelming. 

But fear not!

In this blog, we will help you by providing a number of cause and effect essay topics examples. 

We'll provide you with valuable guidance you need to turn your academic writing into a compelling and thought-provoking masterpiece. 

So, say goodbye to writer's block. Let's dive in!

Tough Essay Due? Hire Tough Writers!

• 1. Good Cause and Effect Essay Topics for Students
• 2. Unique Cause and Effect Topics
• 3. Fun Cause and Effect Essay Topics
• 4. Easy Cause and Effect Essay Topics 2023
• 5. Interesting Cause and Effect Essay Topics
• 6. Controversial Cause and Effect Essay Topics
• 7. Cause and Effect Essay Topics on Mental Health
• 8. Medical Cause and Effect Essay Topics
• 9. Cause and Effect Essay Topics on Sports
• 10. Cause and Effect Essay Topics on Social Media
• 11. Technology Cause and Effect Essay Topics
• 12. Environmental Cause and Effect Essay Topics
• 13. Cause and Effect Essay Topics - History
• 14. Personal Cause and Effect Essay Topics
• 15. Cause and Effect Essay Topics About Education
• 16. Cause And Effect Essay Topics About Animals 
• 17. Cause and Effect Essay Topics - IELTS
• 18. Cause And Effect Essay Topics For ESL Students
• 19. How to Choose a Cause and Effect Essay Topic?

Good Cause and Effect Essay Topics for Students

Choosing the right topic is often the first and most crucial step to crafting a compelling essay. 

Below is a list of cause and effect essay topics for students to write a perfect essay.

Cause and Effect Essay Topics for Elementary Students

• What are the effects of not getting up early in the morning?
• The effects of eating healthy foods on growing strong.
• Explain the adverse effects of terrorism on education.
• What are the causes of the success of Disney cartoons and movies?
• What are the effects of playing violent video games?
• The consequences of cleaning up our environment.
• Explain the effects of keeping a pet at home.
• Discuss why some teachers are favorites for students.
• Why do kids love their parents?
• Why do girls enjoy playing with their fathers?

Cause and Effect Essay Topics for Middle School Students

• The effects of bullying on mental health and self-esteem
• How academic pressure affects students' stress levels
• Causes and effects of peer pressure in middle school
• The impact of social media on teenagers' relationships
• Why eating junk food leads to health issues
• The consequences of lack of physical activity on well-being
• How parental involvement influences academic success
• The effects of video games on cognitive development
• Causes and effects of climate change on our environment
• The impact of cyberbullying on emotional health

Get an in-depth view on how to write a cause and effect topic by watching this video

Cause and Effect Topics for High School Students

• Why substance abuse leads to health and social problems
• The impact of technology on communication skills
• Causes and effects of high school dropouts
• How relationships with parents affect teenagers' emotional well-being
• The effects of college preparation programs on future success
• Why environmental awareness leads to sustainable practices
• The consequences of gender inequality in high school sports
• The impact of music education on cognitive development
• Causes and effects of cybersecurity threats on personal privacy
• How volunteering enhances leadership and empathy skills

Cause and Effect Essay Topics for College Students

Here are some cause and effect essay topics for college:

• How cell phones impact communication among people?
• What are the causes of using a tablet over the computer for browsing the web?
• Discuss the effects of retirement age on baby boomers.
• What are the effects of online shopping and does it motivate people to shop more?
• Effects of increased usage of mobile phones in businesses. Discuss.
• What are the causes of a video game to be popular among a specific community?
• Explain the causes for purchases of phone plans or unlimited data.
• Effects of social media on relationships. Elaborate.
• Discuss the effects of tablets on young children.
• What are the effects of mobile phone usage in classrooms and institutes?

Cause and Effect Essay Topics Psychology

• How does the media influence our self-esteem?
• The influence of social support on coping with grief and loss.
• How can alcohol consumption lead to depression? 
• What is the effect of family dynamics on a child's emotional development? 
• Does social media have an effect on mental health issues?
• How does religion impact mental health? 
• What are the causes and effects of eating disorders? 
• How does poverty affect cognitive development in children? 
• Does environmental stress have an effect on mental health? 
• How do gender roles influence behavior?

Cause and Effect Essay Topics Business

• How does the global economy affect businesses? 
• What causes companies to restructure their organization? 
• What are the impacts of employee downsizing on a business’s productivity? 
• How can entrepreneurial skills lead to success in business? 
• Does technology have an effect on how businesses interact with customers? 
• What are the effects of globalization on businesses? 
• How do employee benefits affect job satisfaction? 
• Does knowledge management have an effect on corporate culture? 
• Does outsourcing lead to increased job opportunities for workers in other countries? 
• How can multiculturalism influence success in the business world?

Cause and Effect Essay Topics on Health Care

• How does the healthcare system affect patient outcomes?
• What are the effects of inadequate access to health care in low-income communities? 
• How does increasing prescription drug prices impact patients' ability to receive treatment? 
• What are the effects of not having preventive mental health services available? 
• Does the availability of telemedicine improve access to medical care?
• Does health insurance have an effect on a patient's decision-making process?
• How does the quality of healthcare impact public health? 
• What are the effects of not having affordable healthcare available? 
• Does increasing the number of medical professionals lead to better patient outcomes?
• How does technology influence the delivery of healthcare services?

Paper Due? Why Suffer? That's our Job!

Unique Cause and Effect Topics

• Causes and effects of the "fear of missing out" (FOMO) in the digital age.
• The consequences of virtual reality and augmented reality on human perception.
• The effects of online dating on traditional relationships.
• The impact of eco-anxiety on environmental conservation.
• Causes and effects of the "minimalist lifestyle" trend.
• How the perception of time influences decision-making?
• The consequences of "cancel culture" on freedom of speech.
• The effects of eco-friendly practices on business profitability.
• Causes and effects of the "helicopter parenting" phenomenon.
• How the #MeToo movement shapes workplace dynamics?

Fun Cause and Effect Essay Topics

• What are the causes and effects of making a laugh at the brand’s drummers?
• Uploading the wrong photograph to Instagram. Discuss the consequences.
• What are the causes of Harry Potter replacing Lord of the Rings?
• The influence of funny memes on internet culture.
• Is having a larger social circle on Facebook an indication of being famous?
• Enlist the things to ease the pain when the battery gets low outside
• How to become a successful entrepreneur by selling funny items?
• Describe things to make a student laugh out loud.
• Causes and effects of puns and wordplay in language development.
• Why would you mix Coke and Pepsi at breakfast?

Easy Cause and Effect Essay Topics 2023

• Discuss the causes and effects of the popularity of junk food and fast-food restaurants.
• Discuss the influence of the internet on kids.
• Elaborate on the popularity of sports in the United States.
• Discuss the effects of sports on children
• What are the effects of bullying on school children?
• Describe the politics of Putin against the neighboring states.
• Why must dating in schools be banned?
• What is the cause of women engaging in destructive relationships?
• Discuss the dangers of earthquakes.
• Describe the impacts of stress on mental health.

Need to make sure your essay stands out? Check out this read on how to create the perfect cause and effect outline for your essay!

Interesting Cause and Effect Essay Topics

• What are the causes of a significant fall in the number of students in college libraries?
• How can institutes produce better A–level students?
• What is the effect of a physical education program on college students?
• How can a civil war occur in modern society?
• What is causing college students to feel anxiety?
• Discuss the causes and effects of telling lies.
• What are the causes of divorce?
• What is the impact of genetically engineered food?
• What causes racism?
• What causes a person to act politely with others?

Controversial Cause and Effect Essay Topics

• Why do living together before marriage makes the relationship much better?
• Why wives always hate their husbands’ relationships with other females?
• Discuss sexism’s role in modern society.
• Is homeschooling proving to be more productive than charter schools?
• People who play popular video games are smarter. How?
• Why is it hard to grow up with a single parent?
• Can social media cause extremism?
• Homelessness is mostly caused by low morale. Explain.
• Explain the causes and effects of media violence.
• What are the negative effects of the generation gap?

Cause and Effect Essay Topics on Mental Health

• Explain the causes of post-traumatic stress disorder in the armed forces.
• Discuss the causes of anxiety in young teens.
• What are the effects of divorce on the mental health of minors?
• Emotional problems can affect the immune system. How?
• Why can broken relationships cause mental stress?
• Discuss how continuous mental stress can affect the sleeping pattern.
• Unemployment can cause psychological issues. Elaborate on the concept.
• How is social anxiety affecting youth?
• How does troubled family relationships lead to suicide among youngsters?
• How can excessive academic assignments cause depression?

Medical Cause and Effect Essay Topics

• Why eating excessive fast food can influence the energy levels of an individual.
• Explain how junk food can cause the risk of child obesity.
• How does a lack of food affect our physical health?
• How can acne affect a teenager’s life?
• Discuss the effects of poor diet on health.
• Describe how smoking causes approximately 90% of all breast and lung cancer incidents.
• Explain the effects of exercise on physical health.
• What are the causes of chickenpox?
• What causes depression among elders?
• What are the effects of avoiding vaccines?

Cause and Effect Essay Topics on Sports

Some sports cause and effect essay topics are given below:

• How can playing team sports develop social skills?
• Extensive workouts can damage the physical health of an individual. Explain how?
• Why does playing sports help to release hormones from the human body?
• How can technology impact sports events?
• How have the Olympics affected the overall international relations?
• What caused the Olympics to begin?
• What caused some sports to be more popular among children than others?
• What causes violence in sports?
• What causes a lack of interest in sports?
• Can sports cause character development?

Cause and Effect Essay Topics on Social Media

• What are the impacts of social media on youth?
• Explain the impacts of social media on business.
• Discuss the positive and negative effects of using social media.
• What are the effects of social media on education?
• What causes Google to be the most popular search engine?
• Explain the effects of social media on cyberbullying.
• How can social media influence kids?
• What are the effects of online dating?
• How excessive use of cell phones affects teenagers?
• What causes social media to lose popularity?

Technology Cause and Effect Essay Topics

• Discuss the effects of video games on young children in a narrative essay.
• Explain the causes and effects of playing candy crush.
• Explain the effect of technology on family time.
• How smartphones affect business practices?
• What are the positive and negative aspects of wireless technology?
• Discuss the effects of technology in surgery?
• What are the effects of using tablets in schools and colleges?
• How has technology encouraged people to shop online more often?
• How cellphones affect the ways people communicate with each other?
• What causes data protection?

Want to ace your cause and effect essay? View these cause and effect essay examples to write a striking one on any topic!

Environmental Cause and Effect Essay Topics

• What are the impacts of pollution?
• Discuss the causes of rapid changes in oceans.
• Discuss the natural causes of global warming.
• Explain how water vapor causes the greenhouse effect?
• The increase in global temperature leads to growing malaria. Discuss.
• Discuss why is it essential to manage forest fires?
• What are the leading causes of natural disasters?
• Why is it important to conserve water?
• Discuss the harmful effects of animal hunting on the ecosystem.
• How is noise pollution affecting the ozone layer?

Cause and Effect Essay Topics - History

• Discuss the causes of the Civil War.
• Explain the effects of WWI.
• Discuss the major reason behind the increasing crime rates in Europe.
• Discuss the effects of the Civil Rights movement.
• What are the effects of war in Syria on the United States?
• Describe the main causes and consequences of the Arab Spring.
• How did Christianity affect the Roman empire?
• Discuss the effects of globalization on the position of women.
• What are the major causes of the drug wars in Columbia?
• Discuss the effects of WWII on Jewish people.

Personal Cause and Effect Essay Topics

• The Impact of Social Media on Personal Relationships.
• Discuss causes of breakups in couples, especially in long-distance relationships..
• What are the causes and effects of men's commitment phobia?
• The impact of a life-changing travel experience on personal growth.
• Effects of maintaining a daily journal for self-reflection.
• The influence of a role model on personal values and aspirations.
• Effects of a significant childhood memory on shaping personality.
• What are the effects of the family structure on the personality of an individual?
• Explain the causes of the common conflicts and stress within your family.
• Discuss the effects of teachers on a student’s life.

Cause and Effect Essay Topics About Education

• What makes an educational policy successful? How can you tell if it is successful and what is causing the success?
• Causes and effects of standardized testing on educational outcomes.
• What is the impact of charter school initiatives?
• How do federal decisions affect the school systems in states and municipalities?
• How do student-teacher relationships affect education?
• Impact of online learning on students’ skills.
• The effect of poverty on higher education in developed countries.
• How the quality of school facilities and resources affects learning.
• Describe the causes and effects behind educational gender parity.
• Describe the causes and effects of online education.

Cause And Effect Essay Topics About Animals 

• The Impact of Deforestation on Wildlife Extinction
• Effects of Pollution on Aquatic Life
• The Relationship between Climate Change and Animal Migration Patterns
• How Overfishing Affects Ocean Ecosystems
• The Consequences of Illegal Wildlife Trade on Endangered Species
• Domestication of Animals and Its Effects on Behavior and Genetics
• The Role of Pesticides in Declining Bee Populations
• Impact of Plastic Pollution on Marine Life
• Human-Induced Habitat Destruction and Its Effects on Biodiversity
• The Connection between Global Warming and Changes in Animal Habitats

Cause and Effect Essay Topics - IELTS

• Explain the effects of smoking refusal.
• Elucidate the causes and effects of legal abortion.
• Discuss the impact of low social status on basic health facilities.
• Write about the causes and effects of constitutional changes.
• What is the impact of being the only child on one’s personality?
• What caused Hitler to become a dictator?
• What are the major drivers of a social revolution?
• Discuss the causes and effects of sexual promiscuity.
• Why are people opting for working from home more?
• How do siblings affect life learnings?

Cause And Effect Essay Topics For ESL Students

• Causes and effects of using translation tools in language learning.
• The influence of cultural immersion on language proficiency.
• The impact of bilingualism on career opportunities.
• Causes and effects of learning English for global communication.
• How language learning affects one's understanding of other cultures.
• The consequences of language proficiency on academic success.
• The effects of accent and pronunciation on effective communication.
• Causes and effects of language schools and courses on language skills.
• The influence of subtitles in movies on language acquisition.
• The impact of English proficiency on international travel and job opportunities.

How to Choose a Cause and Effect Essay Topic?

Choosing a topic for your cause and effect essay can sometimes be a challenging task, but it's a crucial step in crafting an engaging and informative essay. 

Here are some guidelines to help you select the perfect topic:

• Identify Your Interests: Start by considering your own interests and passions. An essay is often more compelling when you're genuinely interested in the subject matter.
• Consider Your Audience: Think about your target audience. What topics would resonate with them? Is there a particular issue or subject that's relevant to their lives or interests?
• Research and Brainstorm: Spend some time researching and brainstorming potential topics. Explore current events, personal experiences, or academic subjects.
• Narrow Down Your Focus: Once you have a list of potential topics, narrow it down to a manageable few. Consider the depth and breadth of available information on each topic. 
• Evaluate Significance: Assess the importance and relevance of the topic. Does it address a pertinent issue or question? Will it provide valuable insights to your readers?
• Personal Connection: If possible, choose a topic that you can personally connect with. Your own experiences and insights can add depth to your essay.

All in all, choosing the right causal essay topics can be a daunting task for most students. So, you can get help from the above-mentioned list of topics for the cause and effect essay. 

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30 Cause-and-Effect Lesson Plans and Activities Students Love

Teach students that there is a reason for everything.

Why did the dog run away? Because the owner left the gate open. Why did the boy cry? Because he fell off his bike. Cause and effect can be a challenging concept for kids especially when it requires them to use information from earlier in a novel or when it requires students to infer. But don’t worry, we’ve got you. Here are cause-and-effect lesson plans, starter ideas, and classroom activities that are simple but effective to help your students master this reading concept.

Scroll through these cause-and-effect lesson plans to get inspiration and grab some freebies too!

1. Use anchor charts

As you introduce cause-and-effect, an anchor chart can help reinforce the concept. They’re great to refer back to when reviewing and are helpful for kids to look at when working independently.

Use an anchor chart to emphasize is that the cause is why something happened. The cause always happens first, even if it isn’t mentioned first. The effect is what happened, and it occurs after the cause.

Check out 15 cause and effect anchor charts for inspiration.

2. Give concrete examples

Students are causing effects all day long. Use real life examples, like dominos, light switches, toy cars on a ramp, and so on. As you (or, even better, a student) demonstrate these examples, ask your kids about the cause and the effect for each.

3. Play a board game

Create our own board game using our free templates. You can print the board and write on it to gamify your cause-and-effect lesson. Just grab some dice and you are ready to roll!

4. Discuss real life examples

Give your class real scenarios and ask what would happen. You might say, If I poke this balloon with a pencil, what would happen? Then have students determine the cause and effect.

Continue asking similar questions, using the same frame of if (the cause) and what (the effect). For example, if you ate too much candy at one time, what would happen? If you practiced playing the piano every day, what would happen? If you never brushed your teeth, what would happen? To add some fun, you might even make it silly. Maybe, If an elephant jumped into a tiny pool, what would happen? Or If you saw an alien, what would happen?

5. Use an interactive anchor chart

Interactive anchor charts are a fun way to get students involved by building the anchor chart together! As you teach the lesson, fill in the anchor chart with your students. They can even write their own sticky notes to add, or write on the chart itself.

6. Use role plays

Prepare slips of paper ahead of time with ideas for students to act out. Tell the kids that they may make sound effects but may not use words. You can call for volunteers right away or, better yet, put the actors into small groups and give them 5 to 10 minutes to practice before showing the class.

The situations you include could be: You’re playing baseball, and a window breaks. You’re blowing a big chewing gum bubble, and it pops on your face. A football team makes a touchdown and the crowd cheers. You jump on the bed and get scolded. You run fast and earn a trophy. And so on. After every scenario is performed, the class identifies the cause and the effect.

7. Use sentence strips

Write causes on sentence strips and matching effects on other sentence strips. Make sure there are enough for your whole class. Pass out a sentence strip to each child with either a cause or an effect.

When you say “go,” have the kids walk around until they find a match. When they’re done, they can quickly share out their answers. This cause-and-effect lesson is a great way to get kids moving.

8. Create a cause-and-effect chain

To link multiple causes and effects, create a chain. This is a great way to show the many causes and effects that occur during a novel or longer story. Use different colored papers to code cause-and-effect so students can see whether there is a balance of the two across a story.

9. Cause-and-Effect match

Cut 3-by-4-inch cards from two different colors of construction paper. Once kids are in pairs, give each child two cards of each color. One color is for the causes (write a “C” on the back of these to help kids remember), and the other color cards are for the effects (write an “E” on the back of these).

Next, the pairs work together to come up with four different cause-and-effect events to record on their cards. For example, on one cause card, it might say: The mother bird sat on her nest. The effect card that matches it might say: The baby birds hatched out of their eggs. Once the pair has finished their cards, they mix them up, place them in an envelope, and write their names on the front.

The next day, set the envelopes around the room, like you’re having a scavenger hunt. Have pairs travel around the room with their partners to open envelopes, match causes and effects, mix the cards back up, put them back in the envelope, and move to the next open set.

10. Make flip books

These little books can be used in cause-and-effect lesson plans and much more! You might want to prep them for little ones, but older kids can usually make their own. Fold a 9-by-12-inch paper lengthwise (hot dog–style). Keep it folded and use a ruler to mark off the 3-, 6-, and 9-inch spots near the top and bottom.

Draw a line from the top to the bottom at each marked spot. Unfold the page and cut on the three lines from the bottom to the fold. Once the flip-book is created, kids draw four causes on the front and then lift each flap and draw four effects underneath. Need enrichment for higher-level kids? Have them draw or write several effects for each cause.

11. Fill out Mad Libs

Use fill-in-the-blank worksheets where the blank spaces are either the cause or effect of an action. Students can make up their own story while determining the cause and effect of their creation.

Check out these downloadable Mad Lib worksheets to get started.

12. Make comics

Take 9 x 12 construction paper (landscape format) and have kids fold it in half and then unfold it. Write “Cause” at the top of the left side and “Effect” at the top of the right side. Kids use crayons, markers, Sharpies, or watercolors to create a picture that shows a cause-and-effect relationship, in this case, with Pete the Cat.

13. Create cause-an-effect cards

Similar to the above cause-and-effect lesson plan, but instead of unfolding the paper, just leave it folded like a greeting card. I actually like to make the cards fairly small, then they can be grouped together in a little cause-and-effect museum for a fun display. The cards just have to be big enough for the kids to draw or write on them.

14. Call on Mother Goose

Have students pick out cause-and-effect scenarios from nursery rhymes. Nursery rhymes are short and have clear cause-and-effect to identify.

For more practice with cause-and-effect, have students rewrite the nursery rhyme to include a clearer or additional cause-and-effect using the same characters. For example, what might happen to the spider after Miss Muffet runs away? Or, what might Miss Muffet do next time she wants to eat her curds and whey?

15. Use photos

This cause-and-effect lesson plan could be done after kids have mastered the basics. Gather some interesting pictures from classroom magazines ( Scholastic , Weekly Reader , etc.) and regular magazines, or find them online on free-to-use sites like Pixabay . Look for pictures that have a lot going on in them because kids are going to be looking for several causes and effects, not just one. I would suggest NOT letting the kids search for pictures. Not everything is classroom friendly, and even if it were, it could be a distraction.

Glue the picture to the top of a piece of construction paper (portrait format) or a piece of chart paper. Underneath the picture, divide the space in half and write “Cause” at the top of the left side and “Effect” at the top of the right side. Kids brainstorm and write down lots of different causes and effects for the same picture by looking at it in many ways.

16. Use a graphic organizer

Graphic organizers are a fantastic tool for students to use to organize information, like cause-and-effect. Grab this free cause-and-effect graphic organizer template to get you started. It’s a great way to add extra practice and reinforce the topic.

17. Teach students to locate clues

Teach upper elementary students that certain words like because ,  since ,  due to , and if … then , or words that help sequence events like first and  then , are signals that can help them find the cause or effect as they read.

Use this handout to help them and then have them practice by making up their own cause-and-effect sentences or by doing a version of the sentence-strips activity outlined above.

18. Play a game

Games are a great tool to use for cause-and-effect lesson plans. As an added bonus, games can be played independently. When a student finishes early or has some free time, have them test their mastery of cause-and-effect by having them play free online games that will both challenge them and reiterate what you taught. Ice cream lovers in your class?

Group students in teams and have them test their mettle in this game of cause-and-effect Jeopardy!

19. Get a digital worksheet

Once students are familiar with cause-and-effect graphic organizers, switch it up a bit! Grab this free digital worksheet template to add a new way of teaching cause-and-effect. It’ll pair perfectly with whatever you have planned for your cause-and-effect lesson.

20. Use sticky notes

Printing on sticky notes is so fun! Check our our how-to video here. Your students will love using them to learn. Plus, they can easily be pasted into their notebooks or stay on desks as a reminder.

21. Use interactive notebooks

Make your students’ notebooks come to life! Interactive notebooks help students study and retain information with foldable flaps and more. You can get the template of the one pictured here .

22. Do a scavenger hunt

Scavenger hunts make cause-and-effect lesson plans fun! The idea here is that student have to work together to find the cause of each clue. This will lead them to find the next scavenger hunt clue to keep going.

23. Create centers

Choose a handful of cause-and-effect lesson plans from this list and build centers. Students will enjoy learning the concept in a variety of ways. Plus, it ensures that there are multiple ways to learn and grasp this concept.

24. Experiment

Perhaps nothing exemplifies fun and exciting cause-and-effect lesson plans better than an experiment. Come up with a list of quick, simple experiments to do, such as putting lots of air in a balloon or putting pennies on the wings of a paper airplane. Then, as a class or in small groups, work together to come up with a simple hypothesis, using the words highlighted above. For example: The plant will grow  because we watered it consistently.  Or: If we mix the colors yellow and blue , then we will make green . Help students see that the setup of the experiment is the cause and what happens (the result) is the effect.

25. Use picture books

Picture books are great tools for cause-and-effect. The images on each page support students’ ability to infer details and connect one event to another.

While you’re reading, pause at each page turn to talk about what effect could happen next. And, have students identify the causes and effect that move a character through the story.

26. Create an adventure

Either read books that have students choose the next step, like this four-set of Oregon Trail books, or write your own. At each point in the story, talk about what could happen based on what has happened, and what might happen next. You decided not to visit the trading post, what might happen as you enter the desert?

• Buy it: The Oregon Trail adventures for less than $20 at Amazon.

27. Create another type of cause and effect chain

Create another type of cause-and-effect chain to show how events connect and build off of one another. You can use this format to model real life cause-and-effect, or to work out the causes and effects in a story or novel.

• Get it: cause-and-effect chains at The Owl Teacher.

28. Task box

For students who need additional practice, use this task box idea. Include pictures and phrases with clear a cause-and-effect, and have students match each one. A task box should be self-checking so include a way for students to check their work.

• Get it: cause-and-effect task box at Teaching Autism.

29. Tree diagram

As students advance from linking one cause to its effect, they’ll learn that sometimes causes build to create an overall effect. Use this tree diagram to show how that works in a story or informational text.

30. Cause-and-effect maze

Help students connect cause-and-effect, and see how an effect can become a cause, use a maze format. Write events in a story on a grid and create a path that students create by coloring in the causes and effects.

• Get it: Cause-and-effect maze at Teaching Made Practical.

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Teaching Cause and Effect in Reading and Writing

What is Cause and Effect?

Understanding how cause and effect inform the organisation of a text enhances a student’s ability to fully comprehend what they have read. But, what exactly do we mean when we speak of cause and effect in relation to reading?

Cause is the driving force in the text. It is the reason that things happen. In essence, cause is the thing that makes other things happen. Effect refers to what results. It is what happened next in the text that results from a preceding cause.

To put it concisely, cause is the why something happened, and effect is the what happened. Cause and effect are important elements of a text that help the reader to follow a writer’s line of thought, regardless of whether that text is fiction or nonfiction.

The concept of cause-and-effect relationships is so prevalent in our everyday lives that students are usually quick to pick up on them. They may already display a good implicit understanding of the concepts in their reading and writing. However, the purpose of this article is to make that understanding explicit; to offer a range of strategies that will help students clearly identify the causes and effects that are woven throughout the fabric of the texts they will read.

A Word on Affect and Effect…

When teaching cause and effect, be sure to take the chance to reinforce the difference between the noun ‘effect’ and the verb ‘affect’. No matter how many times students are exposed to this distinction, a few will always manage to avoid learning it. Don’t allow your students to be affected by ignorance of the difference any longer!

WHY TEACH CAUSE AND EFFECT?

Cause and effect in a piece of writing help the reader follow a coherent thread through the material. It also helps the writer engage in the writing process to organize and structure the information into a logical form, such as a cause-and-effect essay.

In fiction, cause and effect help maintain plausibility in plotlines. While things may appear to happen ‘out of a clear blue sky’ in real life, in fiction, there is almost always a reason (the cause) for the things that happen (the effect).

Whether fiction or nonfiction, cause and effect are arranged in such a manner as to show the connections between a result and the events that preceded it. It can be thought of as the ‘problem – solution’ order. It is not merely the staple of the English classroom either but has applications in areas as diverse as science, social studies, history, movies, and computer games etc.

A COMPLETE PREMIUM UNIT FOR TEACHING CAUSE AND EFFECT

This  CAUSE AND EFFECT UNIT  incorporates several essential  ELA SKILLS  into an  ENGAGING, NO PREP  sequence of reading lessons. Covering…

Signal Words and Phrases

Signal words, or transitions, are signposts that help guide the reader through the terrain of the writer’s thoughts. They help connect the ideas in a text or the events in a story. Often they do this by answering implicit questions. In the case of cause and effect, these are the What? of the effect and the Why? of the cause. Different signal words can be used to indicate each. For example:

Cause (The Why)

• As a result of
• As a consequence of
• Now that    

Effect (The What)

• This resulted in
• Consequently
• Accordingly

USING CAUSE AND EFFECT GRAPHIC ORGANIZERS

Graphic organizers can be a helpful tool to help students record the cause and effect of a reading passage. Displaying this information visually aides students in identifying and analysing the underlying causes and effects of a series of events or processes.

Two graphic organiser forms can be particularly useful in this role: The Cause and Effect Column Organizer and The Cause and Effect Chain. READ OUR GUIDE TO LITERACY GRAPHIC ORGANIZERS HERE

The Cause and Effect Column Organizer

This simple graphic organizer consists of two columns labelled cause and effect, respectively. Students can record the cause in the left-hand column and the corresponding effect opposite in the right-hand column. This allows students to see the cause and related effects quickly and can serve as a useful study tool to review material.

THE CAUSE AND EFFECT CHAIN

The Cause and Effect Chain is a simple graphic organizer consisting of a series of sequential boxes joined by arrows. Students record events in the boxes to display the relationships between them. As one event occurs we can trace the subsequent event it causes easily. In this way, students can also visually comprehend how effects themselves become causes.

Graphic Organizers for Complex Events

Graphic organizers can also be useful to display complex relationships between events where an event has more than one cause or effect. Students simply add more arrows and boxes to display the relationships between different events. As students become more experienced and sophisticated in their approach, they will be able to tailor individual graphic organizers to meet the needs of the specific reading material they are engaged with.

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what is a cause and effect? And how to teach it.

Teaching cause and effect begins with defining both terms clearly for the students. Once that is done, students should then be offered ample opportunity to practice this strategy in discrete lessons. These practice sessions should utilize a wide range of reading material in a variety of genres and of various complexities.

The following is a useful template to follow when planning cause and effect focussed lessons in a whole class context.

• First, provide students with an overview of the story detailing the main events. Then, introduce the appropriate graphic organizer for the reading material chosen.
• While reading a text with the class, have students identify the key events or actions in the story.
• Next, students work to determine whether each event or action is a cause or an effect.
• Finally, students record each event or action on the graphic organizer.

Depending on the student’s ability and the text’s sophistication, you may find it appropriate to make links with inference strategies here too.

As a post-reading activity, you may also wish the students to form smaller groups to compare their findings and discuss the reasons for their decisions.

If X, Then Y: Some More Activities for Teaching Cause and Effect

As with all the various reading comprehension strategies, becoming skilled in this area takes time and practice – lots of practice! The following activities will help students practice their cause-and-effect chops. While it is important to provide opportunities for students to learn about cause and effect in discrete lessons, further opportunities to reinforce their understanding will arise in all sorts of lessons. Be sure to take advantage of those opportunities too.

Cause & Effect Cards Activity

Write a series of causes and their related effects on playing-card-sized paper. You can select the causes and effects you use for this activity from a recent story you have worked on together or a process students have been studying in class, reinforcing that learning and the cause and effect reading comprehension strategy itself.

Shuffle the deck of cause and effect cards and then, in groups, have the students play the popular card game ‘Snap’ where a student wins a hand by recognising a matching pair of cause and effect cards and claims them by shouting “Snap!” This simple activity will help students recognize the relationships between events quickly and can be easily differentiated for the varying abilities in the class too. To save on prep time, why not ask students to fill out the cause and effect cards from the information they recorded on their graphic organizers from a previous activity?

Signalling Cause and Effect Activity

This activity works very well for identifying the cause and effect within a single sentence or a few connected sentences. Students find the cause and the effect within a sentence in a reading passage or from a list of example sentences provided by the teacher. Students then record each sentence’s cause and effect onto a worksheet (or underline them in the text). They can also identify signal words and phrases that connect the two and record those on their worksheet.

This activity is effective in helping students recognize the patterns of cause and effect as they are displayed in various sentence structures. It offers students opportunities to familiarize themselves with the various possible transitions in cause-and-effect sentences. This activity can be easily adapted for use with paragraphs and longer extracts too.

In Effect…

There is no doubt that students must develop their skills in applying this essential reading comprehension strategy to a wide variety of reading material if they are to become effective readers. To do this, they must clearly understand how the concepts of cause and effect are defined in a range of contexts. This can only be achieved through practice. Students should gain experience in identifying the events in a story and then learn to categorize them as either cause or effect. This will not always be a straightforward classification and may require students to draw on other reading strategies to perform this successfully, particularly the skill of inference.

Students should also be encouraged to further understand how cause and effect not only enhance our understanding of a text but allows for information to be organized strategically in a coherent manner that will help with later recall. This understanding can be leveraged as a useful study skill that will reap considerable benefits for the student in all other areas of their studies and beyond. Now, that’s an attractive side-effect for sure!

cause and effect anchor charts and cause and effect diagrams like this are great classroom resources to tap into before writing a how to write a cause and effect essay and understanding a cause-and-effect relationship.

CAUSE AND EFFECT TUTORIAL VIDEO

OTHER GREAT ARTICLES RELATED TO CAUSE AND EFFECT

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15.9 Cause-and-Effect Essay

Learning objective.

• Read an example of the cause-and-effect rhetorical mode.

Effects of Video Game Addiction

Video game addition is a serious problem in many parts of the world today and deserves more attention. It is no secret that children and adults in many countries throughout the world, including Japan, China, and the United States, play video games every day. Most players are able to limit their usage in ways that do not interfere with their daily lives, but many others have developed an addiction to playing video games and suffer detrimental effects.

An addiction can be described in several ways, but generally speaking, addictions involve unhealthy attractions to substances or activities that ultimately disrupt the ability of a person to keep up with regular daily responsibilities. Video game addiction typically involves playing games uncontrollably for many hours at a time—some people will play only four hours at a time while others cannot stop for over twenty-four hours. Regardless of the severity of the addiction, many of the same effects will be experienced by all.

One common effect of video game addiction is isolation and withdrawal from social experiences. Video game players often hide in their homes or in Internet cafés for days at a time—only reemerging for the most pressing tasks and necessities. The effect of this isolation can lead to a breakdown of communication skills and often a loss in socialization. While it is true that many games, especially massive multiplayer online games, involve a very real form of e-based communication and coordination with others, and these virtual interactions often result in real communities that can be healthy for the players, these communities and forms of communication rarely translate to the types of valuable social interaction that humans need to maintain typical social functioning. As a result, the social networking in these online games often gives the users the impression that they are interacting socially, while their true social lives and personal relations may suffer.

Another unfortunate product of the isolation that often accompanies video game addiction is the disruption of the user’s career. While many players manage to enjoy video games and still hold their jobs without problems, others experience challenges at their workplace. Some may only experience warnings or demerits as a result of poorer performance, or others may end up losing their jobs altogether. Playing video games for extended periods of time often involves sleep deprivation, and this tends to carry over to the workplace, reducing production and causing habitual tardiness.

Video game addiction may result in a decline in overall health and hygiene. Players who interact with video games for such significant amounts of time can go an entire day without eating and even longer without basic hygiene tasks, such as using the restroom or bathing. The effects of this behavior pose significant danger to their overall health.

The causes of video game addiction are complex and can vary greatly, but the effects have the potential to be severe. Playing video games can and should be a fun activity for all to enjoy. But just like everything else, the amount of time one spends playing video games needs to be balanced with personal and social responsibilities.

Online Cause-and-Effective Essay Alternatives

Lawrence Otis Graham examines racism, and whether it has changed since the 1970s, in The “Black Table” Is Still There :

• http://scremeens.googlepages.com/TheBlackTableessay.rtf

Robin Tolmach Lakoff discusses the power of language to dehumanize in From Ancient Greece to Iraq: The Power of Words in Wartime :

• http://www.nytimes.com/2004/05/18/science/essay-from-ancient-greece-to-iraq-the-power-of-words-in-wartime.html

Alan Weisman examines the human impact on the planet and its effects in Earth without People :

• http://discovermagazine.com/2005/feb/earth-without-people

Writing for Success Copyright © 2015 by University of Minnesota is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License , except where otherwise noted.

Writing an Essay Showing Cause and Effect Pattern

LESSON Cause and effect essays An essay that covers why and/or how something happened. This type of essay requires that an event or action led to one or more consequences. will be among the most common writing assignments you come across in college. You may be asked to examine a cause, in other words, a thing or person that is the source or origin of certain effects. For instance, you may be asked to write an essay A short piece of writing that focuses on at least one main idea. Some essays are also focused on the author's unique point of view, making them personal or autobiographical, while others are focused on a particular literary, scientific, or political subject. describing how World War II affected the stature of the United States as a world leader in the twentieth century.

Effects can take the form of actions A thing that is done, or the process of doing it. , phenomena Happenings or facts that can be observed. , states The condition that something is in. , problems, illnesses, environments, and so forth. Cause and effect essays are important examinations To observe closely and carefully. of what are often complex issues. They can challenge preconceived notions An opinion formed ahead of time, without benefit of facts and experiences. about ideas A thought, opinion, or impression. and opinions Point of view that shows a personal belief or bias and cannot be proven to be completely true. . Cause and effect essays also help the writer and the reader better understand the "whys" and "hows" behind their thinking.

Further, these assignments require you to closely examine the relationship(s) between cause(s) and effect(s). What is "cause" and what is "effect" is not always obvious. Keep in mind causal chains A series of events, each triggered by the one before. Causal chains have three parts: the initial cause, the final consequence, and all the steps that link the cause to the effect. Also called "the domino effect." , where what may begin as a cause becomes one of many further effects, and that what starts out as an effect may cause additional effects.

For example, showing how driving a car increases global warming is an example of a causal chain:

• Driving a car has the effect of releasing carbon dioxide.
• Carbon dioxide has the effect of trapping the sun's energy.
• The energy of the sun has the effect of raising the average global temperature.

So, driving a car leads to an increase in global warming.

In this lesson, you will learn eight steps to writing a cause and effect essay:

• Understand your assignment.
• Gather ideas.
• Create a working thesis.
• Develop an outline.
• Develop paragraphs that support your thesis.
• Write a conclusion.
• Write an introduction.
• Revise your essay.

Step 1: Understand your assignment.

When approaching an assignment, it is essential to understand what you are being asked to write. It is helpful to read any guidelines and instructions provided to you. Examine the essay prompt Instructions for a writing assignment given by an instructor. carefully. Do you need to address causes or effects? Are you being asked to write an essay in which you are looking at an issue where many effects stem from one cause ? Or are you tasked with writing about a situation where many causes lead to one effect ? Keywords Words that are important to understanding the meaning of a passage or reading. , also called signal words Words or phrases that connect ideas and alert a reader to important relationships between subjects. For example, signal words in a cause and effect essay could include first , second , then , next , later , because , after , and due to . Signal words in a compare/contrast essay could include also , but , similarly , in contrast , unlike , in the same way , as well as , or on the other hand . , such as why , factors , causes , effects , results , reasons , influences , consequences , and outcomes indicate that you need to write a cause and effect essay.

Cause: childhood obesity

Effects: A number of immediate and long-term health and psychosocial effects.

Effect: childhood obesity

Causes: cost and availability of healthy foods, changes in the education system (increased seat time and decreased recess/gym), changes in family structure, and perception of decreased safety.

Step 2: Gather ideas.

There are a number of idea-gathering strategies that may be helpful to you here. For example, a cause and effect graphic organizer Pictorial tools used to brainstorm and arrange ideas before writing, such as webbing diagrams, flow charts, story maps, and Venn diagrams. could work. Draw a circle. Place the one cause in that circle. Then put all of the effects around it. It essentially becomes a webbing A prewriting technique where the author creates an informal visual layout of possible ideas and then draws lines to connect them into a type of "web." The objective is to see connections between events and characters. or cluster A prewriting technique where the author creates an informal visual layout of possible ideas, grouping them together. The objective is to create visual clusters of information on which to base a writing. .

Conversely, you could place the effect in the circle and put all of the causes around it.

Other ideas could include creating a brainstorming A prewriting technique where the author lists multiple ideas as he or she thinks of them, not considering one more than another until all ideas are captured. The objective is to create one great idea, or many ideas, on which to base a writing. list. If you are working with a many causes lead to one effect essay, begin by writing the effect at the top of a piece of paper. Then spend some time freewriting A prewriting technique where the author begins writing without regard to spelling or grammar about ideas, topics, or even characters, descriptions of events, and settings. Often the writer will freewrite for a set period of time. The objective is to develop a storyline through the writing process itself. ideas about potential causes. You may find that additional causes branch off of other causes. The same can be done for a many effects stem from one cause essay.

Step 3: Create a working thesis.

Creating a working or tentative thesis statement An early form of a thesis statement that can be developed into a more formal thesis statement by creating supporting details. is vital to the development and organization of your ideas and your essay. Your thesis An overall argument, idea, or belief that a writer uses as the basis for a work. is what you are setting out to demonstrate through your writing. A working thesis is one that may need to be revised somewhat later as you develop the sound reasoning, examples, and illustrations to support it.

Your working thesis should fit the characteristics of a good thesis in general: it must be specific, clearly state your main idea The most important or central thought of a reading selection. It also includes what the author wants the reader to understand about the topic he or she has chosen to write about. , and demonstrate for your reader why the topic is important. For a cause and effect essay, your thesis also needs to alert your reader that he or she will learn about the causes OR the effects.

Many effects stem from one cause :

Thesis statement: Today's parents have an obligation to help their children maintain a healthy weight because childhood obesity presents a number of negative health and psychosocial effects, both immediately and in the future.

Many causes lead to one effect :

Thesis statement: While many are quick to blame fast food and television for juvenile obesity, the actual causes are more varied and complex.

Step 4: Develop an outline.

Sometimes it is useful to simply sketch a rough outline A preliminary plan for a piece of a writing, often in the form of a list. It should include a topic, audience, purpose, thesis statement, and main and supporting points. listing the causes or effects you plan on incorporating into your essay and create a more detailed outline after you have written the rough draft The first version of a writing that will undergo rewriting, additions, and editing before it becomes the final draft. . This allows the outline to be used as a way of developing your essay and organizing your ideas as well as a revision tool that helps you check whether or not your organizational strategy makes sense.

Here is an example of a rough outline developed for this purpose on the topic of childhood obesity.

Cause: Childhood obesity

Effects: A number of immediate and long-term health and psychosocial effects

• Thesis statement A brief statement that identifies a writer's thoughts, opinions, or conclusions about a topic. Thesis statements bring unity to a piece of writing, giving it a focus and a purpose. You can use three questions to help form a thesis statement: What is my topic? What am I trying to say about that topic? Why is this important to me or my reader? : Today’s parents have an obligation to help their children maintain a healthy weight because childhood obesity presents a number of negative health and psychosocial effects, both immediately and in the future.
• High blood pressure
• Heart disease and stroke
• Depression and loneliness
• Childhood obesity contributes to a number of dangerous, damaging, and potentially unavoidable short- and long-term physical and psychosocial effects. Parents have the opportunity to encourage and foster healthful eating and exercise habits in their children so they can avoid the devastating consequences of childhood obesity.

If you choose to organize your essay in this manner, it is important to clarify for your reader that while there could be multiple causes for the topic, in this case, childhood obesity, your essay is focused on the effects of that condition.

Step 5: Develop paragraphs that support your thesis

Once you have developed your thesis and sketched an outline, you can begin writing body paragraphs The part of an essay that comes after the introduction and before the conclusion. Body paragraphs lay out the main ideas of an argument and provide the support for the thesis. All body paragraphs should include these elements: a topic sentence, major and minor details, and a concluding statement. Each body paragraph should stand on its own but also fit into the context of the entire essay, as well as support the thesis and work with the other supporting paragraphs. that support your thesis. Paragraphs should adhere to the MEAL concept An acronym that describes a method of organizing the paragraphs in an essay. Under this plan, each paragraph should have a M ain point, E vidence, A nalysis, and a L ink to the next paragraph. :

Main Idea The most important or central thought of a reading selection. It also includes what the author wants the reader to understand about the topic he or she has chosen to write about. :  your topic sentence, identifying one of the many causes (or effects) supporting the thesis.

Evidence Facts, statistics, or expert testimony that supports a claim. :  facts, expert opinion, or anecdotal evidence proving the causal relationship described in the topic sentence.

Analysis To analyze is to make a thoughtful and detailed study of something. An analysis is the end result of analyzing. :  explaining how the evidence supports the topic sentence.

Link To connect ideas together within a paragraph or to create a transition from one paragraph to the next, as well as back to the thesis. :  a transition Tying two events, passages, or pieces of information together in a smooth way. In writing, transitions are sometimes called links. from one paragraph to the next, as well as back to the thesis.

Step 6: Write a conclusion

The conclusion The end portion of a writing that contains a summary or synthesis of the idea in the work. This includes a recap of key points and reminders of the author's purpose and thesis statement. needs to summarize To give a short version of the main points of a text. and synthesize To combine ideas, as in the writing at the end of an essay that ties all the discussion and evidence together into a unified concept. , or bring together, the most important details Individual items or ideas that are part of a larger whole. of your essay. It should also give your reader a new way of looking at your main idea. It reminds the reader of your thesis and reinforces the main points you have made.

Step 7: Write an introduction

There are four elements of an effective introduction The first paragraph of an essay. It must engage the reader, set the tone, provide background information, and present the thesis. :

• Hook In writing, a device used to grab a readers' attention, often in the form of interesting, surprising, or provocative information.
• Tone The feeling or attitude that a writer expresses toward a topic. The words the writer chooses express this tone. Examples of tones can include: objective, biased, humorous, optimistic, and cynical, among many others.
• Background Information that describes the history or circumstances of a topic.
• Thesis An overall argument, idea, or belief that a writer uses as the basis for a work.

An effective introduction hooks the reader with a compelling idea, sets the tone for the rest of the essay, provides any necessary background or context for the reader, and presents the thesis.

Step 8: Revise your essay.

When you have a draft of your essay, revise The process of making changes to a work by editing and proofreading it to improve, correct, and increase clarity. it by asking yourself these questions:

• Have I followed the assignment?
• Is this a many effects stem from one cause essay or a many causes lead to one effect essay? What is my main cause or what is my main effect?
• Do my body paragraphs support my thesis?
• Is all my support relevant?
• Do I need more or less support?
• Have I included the transitions necessary to guide the reader from point to point?
• Does my conclusion summarize and synthesize the most important details?
• Does my introduction hook the reader and provide adequate background/introduction to my topic?

This is also where developing a more formal outline An outline that is traditional and structured, follows a set pattern, and uses a combination of Roman numerals, letters, and numbers to show a hierarchy of information based on the major and minor details or ideas. based on what you actually have written in the draft can help you discover weaknesses or areas in need of more detail and support.

A more detailed outline of this essay on childhood obesity might look something like this:

Formal Outline

• Thesis statement: Today’s parents have an obligation to help their children maintain a healthy weight because childhood obesity presents a number of negative health and psychosocial effects, both immediately and in the future.
• Obesity can result in the development of cardiovascular diseases, such as high cholesterol and high blood pressure.
• Obesity can put children in danger of pre-diabetes, a condition linked to increased potential for development of diabetes.
• Obesity is linked to sleep apnea, a condition that contributes to insomnia, fatigue, and mental illness.
• Obesity is known to negatively impact bones and joints.
• Obesity contributes to a child’s inability to participate in vital physical activities.
• Obesity has the potential to bring on sadness, low self-esteem, and depression.
• Obesity (and its related effects of hypertension and sleep apnea) can lead to anxiety.
• Obesity may influence and impact the forming of essential peer groups and a difficulty forming friendships.
• Obesity may give rise to feelings of isolation due to inability to participate in vital physical activities with schoolmates or peers.
• Obese children are more likely to be bullied by their schoolmates or peers.
• Obesity is associated with higher rates of heart disease later in life.
• Obese children are at an increased risk of developing type 2 diabetes as adults
• Obesity increases the likelihood of adult stroke.
• Obesity is linked to the adult development of osteoarthritis.
• Children who are obese are at greater risk for continued obesity as adults.
• Obesity increases the risk of long-term depression.
• Obesity increases the risk for long-term anxiety.
• Obese individuals experience increased loneliness due to difficulty in forming and sustaining long-term relationships.
• Obese individuals are more likely to experience social isolation.
• Obesity often invites criticism and judgment from peers, coworkers, family members, and communities at large.

Remember, you may need to add information, remove information, or reorganize your writing. Being a careful reviewer of your own work is key to a quality essay. When you have completed this step, be sure to go back one more time to verify that your grammar A set of rules about how words are used in a particular language. , spelling, and punctuation Marks such as such as a comma (,), period (.), question mark (?), and exclamation mark (!), among others, that help break a writing into phrases, clauses, and sentences. Different types of punctuation marks give the reader different impressions of the writer’s purpose in that sentence. are correct.

One of the most valuable skills you will learn in college and then continue to use throughout your career is the writing of a cause and effect essay. Crafting this particular kind of essay requires a keen eye for signal words, attention to detail, and the ability to decipher To figure out something confusing or complicated. and explain causal relationships, and then translate that all into a well-reasoned essay with a strong thesis. In your career, your boss may ask you to take a look at certain financial outcomes of the organization and determine causes and/or subsequent effects. Most actions or decisions in the workplace—and in life—should be done with consideration of their effects; knowing how to carefully examine and write about these relationships will help you in your decision-making.

Using the eight-step process described in this lesson, here is an example of how to create a cause and effect essay.

Essay prompt: In a four- to six-paragraph essay, describe in detail the multiple causes of widespread panic around contagious influenza.

Step 1. Understand your assignment.

The assignment is to write a four- to six-paragraph essay examining the multiple causes of the widespread panic associated with contagious influenza.

Step 2. Gather ideas.

In this example, the writer has used a cause and effect graphic organizer to gather ideas and organize thoughts.

Step 3. Create a working thesis.

Here is a tentative thesis based on the ideas gathered: While fear of catching pandemic flu is certainly frightening, there are additional causes for the panic effect often triggered by public knowledge of a new flu strain.

Step 4. Develop an outline.

This rough outline lists a number of causes in a linear fashion.

• Thesis statement: While fear of catching pandemic flu is certainly frightening, there are additional causes for the panic effect often triggered by public knowledge of a new flu strain.
• Doctors and first responders get them first.
• Some cities and hospitals have them while others don’t.
• Risks of recent "pandemics" overstated.
• Movies and TV shows portray quarantines and other drastic measures.
• When next faced with a pandemic situation, we should be mindful of these additional causes of potentially unreasonable panic.

Step 5. Develop paragraphs that support your thesis.

Using the framework of the outline and the MEAL concept, develop supporting paragraphs that make the body of your essay. Remember, you will write the conclusion and introduction later.

The dissemination of vaccinations is often a topic that causes not just fear, but anger. Typically, first responders, such as EMTs (emergency medical technicians), nurses, doctors, firefighters, police officers, military, and so forth, are also first in line for vaccinations. While it is a logical maneuver, as these are the people best suited to protect and treat individuals and provide large-scale public health initiatives, it often feels unfair to the average citizen. Furthermore, certain hospitals and cities get access to vaccines earlier than others, making people suspicious that those in charge are playing favorites. This perception of unfairness makes it difficult for people to trust the government to protect their interests. Neither of these issues is made better by the coverage they get in the media.

Public knowledge of an impending or current pandemic is often gained through the media, which does not do a very good job of sharing information without frightening people. Just the knowledge of the H1N1 flu strain and bird flu was enough to send some into panic mode, but the sensationalistic reporting on the two pandemics added fuel to the fire.

People also fear drastic measures often portrayed in films and television shows, giving the public the perception that they may be separated from their loved ones and never see them again. News media and popular entertainment do just as much as the actual pandemics to increase panic in populations facing the threat of a new flu strain.

Step 6. Write a conclusion.

Next, write the conclusion of your essay. Make sure it brings together your supporting points and reminds the reader of your thesis.

• Therefore, while pandemic flu is frightening in and of itself, there are many reasons other than fear of contagion why the public panics: miscommunication, lack of control in decision making, potential threat of quarantine, and the possibility of not having access to vaccinations. When next faced with a pandemic situation, the authorities should be mindful of these additional causes of the well-known reaction of public panic.

Step 7. Write an introduction.

Finally, write the introduction, keeping in mind the four-step approach of hook, tone, background, and thesis.

Pandemic influenza is a flu virus that has either a) not circulated in the population before or b) has not been seen among the general public in a very long time. It is a flu strain for which people have no preexisting immunity. One recent example would be a recent pandemic scare involving the H1N1 flu strain. While fear of catching pandemic flu is certainly frightening, there are additional causes for the panic effect often triggered by public knowledge of a new flu strain.

Step 8. Revise your essay.

A good technique for revising your essay is to create a more formal outline at this time to make sure there are no weaknesses, especially in terms of missing evidence and/or analysis.

• Hook: While popular media may portray widespread panic among populations in the event of a pandemic flu outbreak, there are, in fact, other causes for the alarm, fear, and anger that people feel.
• Tone: Persuasive/Informative
• Background: There have been several historically significant pandemic influenzas throughout history.
• Thesis: While fear of catching pandemic flu is certainly frightening, there are additional causes for the panic effect often triggered by public knowledge of a new flu strain.
• Doctors and first responders get them first, which can seem unfair.
• Some hospitals and cities get them before others, making it seem like government officials play favorites.
• Coverage of H1N1 and bird flu created panic.
• Public perception is skewed due to television and film.

Using the formal outline above, the revision below makes for a stronger draft of the essay.

Contagious Influenza and Widespread Panic

Even though popular media may portray that fear of getting sick is what causes widespread panic in the event of a pandemic flu outbreak, there are, in fact, other causes for the alarm, fear, and anger that people feel. This essay is focused on pandemic influenza, rather than the seasonal flu that most of us get at one time or another, and the media hysteria that accompanies these events. While fear of catching pandemic flu is certainly frightening, there are additional causes for the panic often experienced by people with the knowledge of a new flu strain.

The dissemination of vaccinations is often a topic that elicits not just fear, but anger. Typically, first responders, such as EMTs (emergency medical technicians), nurses, doctors, firefighters, police officers, military, and so forth, are also first in line for vaccinations. While it is a logical maneuver as these are the people best suited to protect and treat individuals and provide large-scale public health initiatives, it often feels unfair to the average citizen. Furthermore, certain hospitals and cities get access to vaccines earlier than others, making peoples suspicious that those in charge are playing favorites. This perception of unfairness makes it difficult for people to trust the government to protect their interests. Neither of these issues is made better by the coverage they get in the media.

Public knowledge of an impending or current pandemic is often gained through the media, which does not do a very good job of sharing information without frightening people. Just the knowledge of the H1N1 flu strain and bird flu was enough to send some into panic mode, but the sensationalistic reporting on the two pandemics added fuel to the fire. People also fear drastic measures often portrayed in films and television shows, giving the public the perception that they may be separated from their loved ones and never see them again. News media and popular entertainment do just as much as the actual pandemics to increase panic in populations facing the threat of a new flu strain.

Therefore, while pandemic flu is frightening in and of itself, there are many reasons other than fear of contagion that the public panics: miscommunication, lack of control of decision making, potential threat of quarantine, and the possibility of not having access to vaccinations. When next faced with a pandemic situation, the authorities should be mindful of these additional causes of the well-known reaction of public panic.

Follow the eight steps to write a cause and effect essay.

Essay Prompt:

Write a four- to six-paragraph essay on one of these topics:

A) Explain either the causes of the increased divorce rate in the United States or the effects of divorce on the children of divorced parents.

B) Describe the effects of an influential person in your life.

C) Describe either the causes of teens dropping out of high school or the effects of dropping out of high school on teens who choose to do so.

Sample Answer

The assignment is to write a four- to six-paragraph essay examining the multiple effects of an influential person in my life.

In this example, I used a cause and effect graphic organizer in order to gather ideas.

Many teachers had an impact on my education as I went through school, but my ninth grade social studies teacher had the greatest influence on my life, affecting everything from the type of student I was to the career I have chosen.

• Many teachers had an impact on my education as I went through school, but my ninth grade social studies teacher had the greatest influence on my life, affecting everything from the type of student I was to the career I have decided to pursue.
• I changed from being a "C" student to an "A" student.
• I moved from non-academic classes like shop to honors classes in English and physics.
• My confidence as a student influenced me to be first in my family to attend college.
• I am working hard to become a professor at a community college; I want to model my teaching style after his.
• Overall, the impact of one person changed the course of my life.

The immediate effect that Mr. Zola had on me was boosting my confidence as a student. This new confidence was apparent in my grades as I moved from being a "C" student to an "A" student. This was because I had always been somewhat disinterested in school up until I took his class, sometimes being engaged with a class or a topic, sometimes not. I didn't turn in all of my homework and didn't always participate in class discussions. After taking Mr. Zola's class, I learned that it wasn't the topic that made a class interesting, but my understanding and viewpoint on the topic. This immediately changed how I thought about homework assignments and participating in class. This increased confidence was also displayed in the types of classes I chose to take, moving from non-academic electives to eventually taking advanced placement (AP) classes in my senior year. Becoming an "A" student and taking AP classes were the direct result of Mr. Zola's influence on me as a student.

The more long-term effect that Mr. Zola had on me was in my career choice. I want to become a teacher, just like him. To do this, I became the first person in my family to attend college. This was an extension of the confidence he inspired in my ability to do well in education. And when I complete my degree, I eventually want to become a professor at a community college, teaching adult students instead of high school students, but still employing the same teaching strategies that he had modeled for me in my youth. In fact, his influence was so impactful on my career choice that I contacted him on Facebook to tell him what I was doing and why I had decided to become a professor.

Some influential people help change the course of your life in one particular moment, helping you through crisis and turmoil. Others transform your character, creating effects that last through the rest of your life. Mr. Zola had this latter impact on me. And even though there is always a certain individual fate involved in all of our lives, I feel fortunate to have had a teacher like Mr. Zola to help steer me in the direction my life is going.

School can be one of the most torturous experiences for many students, from being bullied and chastised for no reason to spending long hours in boring classes where the hands on the clock seem to move through molasses. Sometimes, though, a certain class or special teacher can come along and change that experience. That person can even inspire students to work harder in other classes, graduate high school, and even go on to college. For me, this person was my ninth grade social studies teacher, Mr. Zola. Many teachers had an impact on my education as I went through school, but Mr. Zola had the greatest influence on my life, affecting everything from the type of student I was to the career I have decided to pursue.

The Difference One Teacher Can Make

School can be one of the most torturous experiences for many students, from being bullied and chastised for no reason to spending long hours in boring classes where the hands on the clock seem to move through molasses. Unfortunately, this bad experience can have a lasting impact on people's lives, closing doors of opportunity that are typically only opened through education. Sometimes, though, a certain class or special teacher can come along and change that experience, making at least part of a day or part of a year more bearable and even enjoyable. That person can even inspire students to work harder in other classes, graduate high school, and even go on to greater success in college. For me, this person was my ninth grade social studies teacher, Mr. Zola. Many teachers had an impact on my education as I went through school, but Mr. Zola had the greatest influence on my life, affecting everything from the type of I student I was to the career I have decided to pursue.

The more long-term effect that Mr. Zola had on me was my career choice. I want to become a teacher, just like him. To do this, I became the first person in my family to attend college. This was an extension of the confidence he inspired in my ability to do well in education. And when I obtain my degree, I eventually want to become a professor at a community college, teaching adult students instead of high school students, but still employing the same teaching strategies that he had modeled for me in my youth. In fact, his influence was so impactful on this career choice that I contacted him on Facebook to tell him what I was doing and why I had decided to become a professor.

There are various things that will signal to me that I am being asked to write a cause and effect essay. For example, the language used in the question may spell out that the instructor is looking for an analysis of many effects stemming from one cause or many causes leading to one effect. In other examples, the language may not be so specific but it will present causal relationships and then ask for an explanation.

Copyright ©2022 The NROC Project

Creative and Cool Cause/Effect Writing Activities

Useful cause/effect writing and pre-writing activities can include brainstorming, outlining, vocabulary sorting, gap fill exercises and sentence writing activities with picture cues. Teaching cause/effect is pretty enjoyable as it can be applied easily to just about any topic including the environment, technology, social issues,  social trends and behaviour.

6th January 2024

1 Cause/effect language sorting exercises

These are cause/effect sorting exercises that can be used to introduce students to the vocabulary and construction of casue/effect sentences.

Cause/effect sorting (basic)

Cause/effect sorting (more advanced)

2 Causes-effects ideas

In this cause/effect sentence writing worksheet students use the pictures to write appropriate cause/effect ideas. They decide whether they want write the causes or effects for each pictures and try to think of 3 causes or 3 effects.

Causes-effects ideas  1 (PDF)

Causes-effects ideas 2 (PDF)

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3 Cause-effect sentence writing

In this cause/effect essay writing worksheet students use the pictures and their own ideas to write appropriate cause/effect sentences.

Cause-effect sentence writing 1 (PDF)

4 Writing a cause/effect paragraph

A quick and easy to follow lesson for writing a cause/effect paragraph.

Cause/effect paragraph (PDF)

5 Environmental issues  cause/effect worksheet (with audio and suggested answers)

         The listening/speaking exercise below is for discussing environmental issues in the classroom. Students have to try and describe the problem depicted in each picture and suggest  causes. effects and possible solutions to each problem. Students can listen to the audio before or after filling in the worksheet, depending on the level of their language skills.

Environmental issues  cause/effect worksheet)

(see the YouTube video)

6 If/so/when for cause/effect (bad situations)

This is a cause/effect lesson about causes and effects in bad situations. The format is a class discussion about the causes and effects of various situations shown in photos.

Download PDF

See the YouTube video

7 If/so/when for cause/effect (good situations)

This is a cause/effect lesson about causes and effects in good situations. The format is a class discussion about the causes and effects of various situations shown in photos.

Related Resources:

Conditionals for cause/effect listening speaking

10 opinion and argument writing worksheets

8 comparison/contrast templates and exercises

3 kinds of exercises for teaching transitions

6 memorable narrative essay writing practice exercises (PDF)

6 delightful descriptive paragraph and essay writing exercises  (PDF)

11 essential exercises for elementary writing students (PDF)

8 Cause-effect essay brainstorming and  outlining

This is an exercise to help students brainstorm and develop ideas and begin outlining a cause/effect paragraph or essay.

Cause-effect brainstorming and outlining (PDF)

9 Cause-effect transitions worksheet (with answers)

This worksheet is to help familiarize students with cause/effect transitions. Understanding and knowing how to use cause/effect transitions is essential for anyone who aims to be a good writer.

Cause-effect transitions 1 (PDF)

10  What effects has the computer had on our lives ? (Cause/effect transitions with answers)

This is a transitions and linking words exercise for a cause/effect essay. Well placed transitions help make essays easier to read and understand.

Cause-effect transitions 2 (PDF)

11  Cause/effect: complete the sentences

Students complete the sentences with their own ideas to demonstrate they understand the logic of cause and effect.

Cause-effect: complete the sentences (PDF)

12 Cause-effect for social issues

In this cause/effect worksheet students use the pictures to write their own ideas. They try and identify the social issues and think about causes, effects and solutions.

Causes-effects of social issues (PDF)

21 Replies to “Creative and cool cause/effect writing activities”

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7: Cause-and-Effect Essay

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• 7.1: Introduction to Cause-and-Effect Essay
• 7.2: “Cultural Baggage” by Barbara Ehrenreich
• 7.3: “Women in Science” by K.C. Cole
• 7.4: Writing for Success- Cause and Effect
• 7.5: Student Sample- Cause-and-Effect Essay