Cause and Effect essays can be organized in just the same way as Argument and Opinion essays. You need four paragraphs: an introduction, a body with at least two paragraphs, and a conclusion.

These two presentations show some ways to organize a Cause and Effect essay.

1. Traffic Congestion in Abu Dhabi How to write Introductions, Cause paragraphs, Effect paragraphs and Conclusions. (Right-click and save to your desktop. 146kb)
2. Destruction of the Rainforest. A Powerpoint presentation about Causes and Effects (Right-click and save to your desktop. 550kb)

Essay Models

1. Why is Fast Food so popular in the UAE? Outline and Full essay
2. Traffic in Abu Dhabi: a short essay, and a longer essay.
3. Obesity in the UAE
4. Telecommuting
5. Homework
6. The UAE Marriage Fund. Has it succeeded? Why was it set up?

Short Exercises

1. Adverb Clauses. Advanced. A graded multiple-choice quiz on adverb clauses from a4esl.org
2. A gapfill exercise on smoking.
3. Try this matching exercise.

Longer Exercises

• Worksheet for Cause and Effect essay on the Destruction of the Rainforest
• Try this activity on Causes of Hunger

Interactive Essays from publishers Holt Rinehart and Winston.

• Causes and Effects of Drought: An interactive essay. You can also download a printable version.
• Causes and Effects of Fire in Yellowstone National Park: activities and exercises. (PDF, 550 kb)
• A PDF file with the above reading on the causes and effects of fire in Yellowstone National Park and some questions. (PDF, 122kb)
• Causes and Effects: Students and Part-Time Work. You can also download a printable version.

Other essays and readings

1. The effects of living in a foreign country. A student’s cause and effect essay.
2. Smoking: Cause and Effect. From the publisher Houghton Mifflin.
3. A cause and effect essay about overcrowding in Mexico from eslbee.com.
4. Do television programs influence children? A student essay from the excellent EssayForum.com website.
5. Cause and effect of marine pollution – an essay by an Emirati student in the US.

More Difficult Essays

1. Fast Food: An advanced essay from Glasgow University about the reasons for the popularity of fast food in the UK. Here’s an an outline for the essay.
2. BBC article on the causes and effects of urbanization.

For Teachers

• OneStopEnglish.com cause and effect essay and activity on Cities and Overcrowding.
• Try this Google Search for links to cause and effect essay writing for EFL students

Try these Cause and Effect topics

1. In some countries, the government encourages the citizens to marry and have families. What are the reasons for this, and what have been some results?
2. Identify causes of water pollution and its consequences.
3. Many people prefer to work in the public sector, rather than in the private sector. What are the reasons for this, and what effects does it have on a country?
4. Diabetes and heart attacks are on the rise in many countries. What are the main causes of this, and what effects could this have for individuals and the government?
5. What are some of the causes of global warming? What could some of the effects be?