Writing a Cause and Effect Paragraph

Writing a Cause and Effect Paragraph Created by Dr Yang Ying

The focus of a cause & effect paragraph • Focus on cause(s)? • Focus on effect(s) • Explain a causal chain? Regardless of the focus, both the cause(s) and the effect(s) will be mentioned in the paragraph

Focus on_________? • Americans nowadays spend more time having fun and there are two underlying reasons for this trend. One obvious cause is that real income overall has risen. If Americans in general are richer, their consumption of entertainment goods is likely to be on the rise. Dora Costa, an economist at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology found out from her research that rising incomes are responsible for, half of the changing structures of leisure spending. The rest may be due to the fact that poorer Americans have more time off than they used to. In earlier years, low-wage workers faced extremely long hours and enjoyed few days off. But since the 1940s, the less skilled (and lower paid) have worked ever-fewer hours, giving them more time to enjoy leisure pursuits. Adapted from: Jakeman, V. & McDowell, C. (2001). IELTS Practice Tests: plus 1. Pearson Longman. (p122)

Paragraph Analysis (1) Focus on: Reasons Effect mentioned: Americans nowadays spend more time having fun Two reasons: 1. Rising income on the whole 2. More leisure time for poorer Americans Ending: linking the causes to the effect again

Focus on ________? • Africa provides enough proof that AIDS affects economics. The disease takes the lives of adults in their most productive working years. To train new workers and take care of sick ones can come at a high price. When tens of millions of working –age adults become sick and die, economic output suffers. Across the African continent, AIDS has cut deeply into productivity. In Zambia and South Africa, income in households of AIDS sufferers has declined by 66 to 80 percent. The International Monetary Fund predicts that AIDS may reduce economic growth by as much as 2 percent in sub-Saharan Africa. The World Bank cautions that South Africa’s economy could collapse in a few generations if the AIDS crisis isn’t averted.

Paragraph analysis (2) • Focus on: Effects: economy, economic output, productivity, reduction of economic growth, possible collapse of economy • Cause mentioned: AIDS

Water pollution comes in every form and has a direct effect on human health. “Even as the rain falls,” says Russell W. Peterson, former chairman of the United States Council on Environmental Quality, “it removes pollutants from the air. In fact, nearly all the pollutants the people of the world discharge into the air end up in our water systems.” Therefore, whether polluted by industrial waste, sewage or other pollution, water supplies can allow deadly water-borne diseases to develop when safety and purification methods are poor. Worldwide, the ugly fact remains that something like 250 million new cases of water-borne diseases are discovered every year – and 25,000 people die from them every day. Water pollution is thus a serious threat to our well-being. • Source: Materials adapted from past ES1000 handouts

Paragraph Analysis (3) • Focus on: Explain a causal chain: how water pollution affects human health Water pollution (cause) & negative effect on human health (effect)

More examples (1) One of the negative effects of smoking is that it can cause serious health problems. Smoking can increase the chance of getting lung cancer, as well as cancer of the mouth, throat, bladder, pancreas and kidneys. Heart disease and ulcers are also related to smoking. Further, pregnant women who smoke are more likely to have premature babies than women who do not smoke. Taken from Gillie, J. W., Ingle, S. & Mumford, H. (2001). Read to write. P244. Singapore: McGraw-Hill

More examples (2) • Procrastination keeps me one step behind in life and school as I try to catch up on what should already be done. While most students diligently do homework for tonight, I diligently do the homework from last night, or even last week. Because I can never seem to do a task when it is assigned, I never get that satisfied feeling that comes with getting things done, with being on top of everything. Rather, I always end up feeling as if I am at the bottom of a pit, trying to climb up—one late assignment at a time. But since I am always behind, catching up on my work is like trying to walk up the down escalator– very difficult and nearly impossible. Because of procrastination, I am never free to live in the present; instead, I always find myself trapped by unfinished business from the past. • Taken from Gillie, J. W., Ingle, S. & Mumford, H. (2001). Read to write. P242. Singapore: McGraw-Hill

Cause and effect expressions because, due to, one cause is, another is, since, for, first, second, the reason for, decrease, owing to the fact that, for this reason, … caused by… arise from, lead to, produce, give rise to, bring about consequently, as a result, thus, resulted in, one result is, another is, therefore, effect, change, consequence, thus, so, hence, with the result that

Writing a Cause and Effect Paragraph