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IELTS Writing Task 2: How to Write an Opinion Essay
Opinion essay is one of the most common types of essays in IELTS Writing Task 2 section. This question usually asks whether you agree or disagree with the statement. Therefore, you need take a side rather than simply staying in between. If you are not taking a clear position whether you agree or disagree with the statement, you are not answering the question properly.
Take a look at the question below:
"Globalization is harming people more, rather than doing good. For example, most of the contagious diseases are spreading at an unprecedented faster pace due to advanced global communication.
To what extent do you agree or disagree with this statement?"
Understand the Question
You are asked if you agree or disagree with the question statement. That means you must take a side. Remember, examiners will not see what you think or what you truly believe. They will only assess what you write in the essay. Therefore, after thinking on the question statement for a couple of minutes, choose the side that you have stronger points to talk about, even if you do not support that side in real life.
Pick the Points
You might have several points to talk about. But you cannot write all of them. Examiners did not ask for a list of features, rather they want you to express your clear position with supportive logic and examples.
In response to the example question stated above, our position is against the statement. That means we are going to write the essay arguing in favour of globalization. We will demonstrate how globalization is helping people more, rather than harming. Let's pick the following two major points to discuss our position:
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United global response against any adversity is one of the most important gifts of globalization.
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Global information exchange is another major blessing of globalization.
By now, we already have two major points that we are going to discuss. After taking a side and picking the major points, it is time to plan for the essay. Previously, we discussed in detail how important it is to have a plan before starting to write. If you have not gone through that article on planning strategy for a band 9 essay, we recommend you to check it now. It will pay off, we guarantee.
We are assuming that you have just completed planning for this essay. Now it is time to take a look at our IELTS Task 2 Magic Structure.
Magic Structure: Opinion Essay
If you can write just 14 sentences spread over 4 paragraphs, your IELTS Task 2 essay is complete. It is that simple. This is our 4/14 essay technique. It is very easy to remember and execute in the exam:
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Introduction
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Body Paragraph 1
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Body Paragraph 2
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Conclusion
On this page, we are going to show you step by step how to apply this magic strategy for an Opinion essay.
Well, we have developed a simple paragraphing style 3443 Approach. Remember it, practice it, apply it. It will make your IELTS Task 2 writing so easy that you cannot even imagine.
What we mean by 3443:
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3 Sentences for Introduction Paragraph
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4 Sentences for Body Paragraph 1
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4 Sentences for Body Paragraph 2
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3 Sentences for Conclusion Paragraph
These are the 3+4+4+3 = 14 sentences, quite simple. Now, let's distribute these sentences among the 4 paragraphs in an opinion essay.
Introduction
Sentence 1: Paraphrase the question sentence.
Sentence 2: Write a thesis statement.
Sentence 3: Write an outline sentence.
Body Paragraph 1
Sentence 1: Topic Sentence 1
Sentence 2: Explain the Topic Sentence 1.
Sentence 3: Present logic for the Topic Sentence 1, including drawbacks.
Sentence 4: Give a supportive example for the Topic Sentence 1.
Body Paragraph 2
Sentence 1: Topic Sentence 2
Sentence 2: Explain the Topic Sentence 2.
Sentence 3: Present logic for the Topic Sentence 2, including drawbacks.
Sentence 4: Give a supportive example for the Topic Sentence 2.
Conclusion
Sentence 1: Summarize the body paragraph 1.
Sentence 2: Summarize the body paragraph 2.
Sentence 3: Give a final remark summarizing the both body paragraphs.
This is pretty simple to remember. Addressing the question stated above, we are going to demonstrate you the beauty of this secret formula.
Before jumping to start the essay, we need to clarify one more thing. Looking at our structure above, you might be asking what is Topic Sentence. Let's clarify it:
Topic Sentence
Finding a Topic Sentence is pretty simple. Just state the major points that you want to discuss about. These points are the Topic Sentences. Look at the sentences below:
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United global response against any adversity is one of the most important gifts of globalization.
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Global information exchange is another major blessing of globalization.
To put it simply, these two sentences are our two Topic Sentences in this essay. The sentence 1 will be the Topic Sentence in Body Paragraph 1, and the sentence 2 will be the Topic Sentence in Body Paragraph 2.
After writing a topic sentence,
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we need to explain it in the second sentence.
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Present logic in the 3rd sentence where we also need to mention why the otherwise logic is not strong enough.
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In the 4th sentence, we will give an example supporting our discussion above.
This is how we will write each of the two body paragraphs for an opinion essay.
Addressing the question stated above, let's apply our magic strategy step by step to write the essay:
Introduction
This paragraph bears an overall picture of the essay, and conveys an impression to examiners. Therefore, we suggest you write this paragraph such a way that examiners can get a clear preview of the essay. Take a look how we construct this paragraph:
For an introduction paragraph, we recommend a Three Sentence Strategy for all types of IELTS Task 2 essay. The 3 sentences are,
Sentence 1: Paraphrase the question sentence.
Sentence 2: Write a thesis statement.
Sentence 3: Write an outline sentence.
(However, we have a complete guide on how to write a great introduction. We also have a full article on how to write a thesis statement. We suggest you check them now, if you haven't already.)
The 1st sentence is the paraphrase of the question statement. By reading this sentence, the examiner will get a perception whether you have properly understood the question or not.
Thesis statement is the 2nd sentence. This is the most important sentence in the whole essay. This sentence will demonstrate your reaction regarding the question statement, and it will also provide a concise summary of the essay.
Outlining sentence is the 3rd sentence of your introduction paragraph. This sentence will give a hint how the discussion is going to proceed, and how the following paragraphs are organized.
Addressing the question stated above, let's apply our paragraphing strategy for the introduction part:
Paraphrasing of the Question Sentence
"Argument goes that globalization made people worse off rather than making them better off; for instance, transmissible diseases can go global due to globalization."
Thesis Statement
"This essay disagrees with this argument, and it strongly states that globalization is not harming, rather it is helping us to form united global actions against different adversities."
Outline Sentence
"The following paragraphs are going to demonstrate how globalization is helping us more rather than harming."
The Complete Introduction
"Argument goes that globalization made people worse off rather than making them better off; for instance, transmissible diseases can go global due to globalization. This essay disagrees with this argument, and it strongly states that globalization is not harming, rather it is helping us to form united global actions against different adversities. The following paragraphs are going to demonstrate how globalization is helping us more rather than harming."
Body Paragraph 1
Remember, you are asked to write the essay with at least 250 words. Yes you can
write a few more like 270 - 300, but you should never exceed 300.
However, you might have a number of points to focus on. This is why you need to make a choice what to discuss, and what not to. Considering the word limit, we suggest you choose only 2 or three major points at most, and divide the points into two body paragraphs.
(We have a full article on our special strategy for IELTS Writing Task 2 Body Paragraphs. We suggest you check it now, if you haven't already.)
Look at the strategy below how we formed the body paragraphs addressing the question stated above:
Sentence 1: Topic Sentence 1.
Sentence 2: Explain the Topic Sentence 1.
Sentence 3: Present logic for the Topic Sentence 1, including drawbacks.
Sentence 4: Give a supportive example of the Topic Sentence 1.
Body Paragraph 1
Sentence 1 (Topic Sentence 1)
"United global response against any adversity is one of the most important gifts of globalization."
Sentence 2 (Explain the Topic Sentence 1)
"Countries around the world can easily send food, medical stuffs and other essentials to the affected regions with the blessing of advanced global communication."
Sentence 3 (Present logic for the Topic Sentence 1, including drawbacks)
"Though contagious diseases can spread faster due to global connectivity, it's very insignificant comparing the obvious blessings of global integration."
Sentence 4 (Give a supportive example for the Topic Sentence 1)
"For instance, advanced medically equipped countries shared their spontaneous emergency medical support to the nations that became badly affected by the epidemic disease COVID-19."
The Complete Body Paragraph 1
"United global response against any adversity is one of the most important gifts of globalization. Countries around the world can easily send food, medical stuffs and other essentials to the affected regions with the blessing of advanced global communication. Though contagious diseases can spread faster due to global connectivity, it's very insignificant comparing the obvious blessings of global integration. For instance, advanced medically equipped countries shared their spontaneous emergency medical support to the nations that became badly affected by the epidemic disease COVID-19."
Body Paragraph 2
If you have two major points, simply discuss one point in Body Paragraph 1, and the another one in Body Paragraph 2. If there are three points, use Body Paragraph 1 for the most important one, and explain the other two points in Body Paragraph 2.
However, we suggest you limit your number of points into two. If there are only 2 points, you can comfortably explain them individually in the two body paragraphs. Let's see our simple structure for Body Paragraph 2:
Body Paragraph 2
Sentence 1: Topic Sentence 2
Sentence 2: Explain the Topic Sentence 2.
Sentence 3: Present logic for the Topic Sentence 2, including drawbacks.
Sentence 4: Give a supportive example for the Topic Sentence 2.
Sentence 1(Topic Sentence 2)
"In addition, global information exchange is another major benefit of globalization."
Sentence 2(Explain the Topic Sentence 2)
"Using the information from affected regions, other countries can gain important idea about the possible causes and effects of the pandemic disease."
Sentence 3(Present logic for the Topic Sentence 2, including drawbacks)
"Though it might turn into a different scenario if many countries are affected together, still the global information sharing for the events can prevent the worse."
Sentence 4(Give a supportive example for the Topic Sentence 2)
"For example, most of the countries across the world rapidly shared information on coronavirus infection, which helped other nations take necessary preventive measures for themselves and remedial measures for the affected ones."
The Complete Body Paragraph 2
"In addition, global information exchange is another major benefit of globalization. Using the information from affected regions, other countries can gain important idea about the possible causes and effects of the pandemic disease. Though it might turn into a different scenario if many countries are affected together, still the global information sharing for the events can prevent the worse. For example, most of the countries across the world rapidly shared information on corona virus infection, which helped other nations take necessary preventive measures for themselves and remedial measures for the affected ones."
Conclusion
You must let the examiner know your final say. Though we don't recommend writing a conclusion paragraph for an IELTS Task 1 essay, we strongly suggest you add a conclusion paragraph for a Task 2 essay. Remember, even if you fear running out of time, still you need to write at least one sentence as a conclusion paragraph. A conclusion paragraph is that much important for an IELTS Task 2 essay.
Write the conclusion paragraph in such a way that it answers the question clearly. And remember, the answer has to be completely based on the discussion above. That means never bring any new idea in a conclusion paragraph. Moreover, you should also try to avoid the vocabulary that you have already used in the essay. These are the basic requirements for your conclusion paragraph.
Remember, you will lose marks if you fail to write a conclusion in an IELTS Task 2 essay. To put it simply, it resembles you worked all day together as a team, but at the end of the day, you just left workplace without saying 'bye' to anyone.
(We have a detailed guide on how to write a smart conclusion. We suggest you check this article now, if you haven't already.)
Take a look at our special structure for a conclusion paragraph:
Sentence 1: Summarize the body paragraph 1.
Sentence 2: Summarize the body paragraph 2.
Sentence 3: Give a final remark summarizing the both body paragraphs.
Sentence 1 (Summarize the body paragraph 1)
"In conclusion, this essay discusses how globalization can facilitate international response to any emergency issues such as contagious diseases."
Sentence 2 (Summarize the body paragraph 2)
"It also explains the importance of global information exchange which has become possible due to global connectivity."
Sentence 3 (Give a final remark summarizing the both body paragraphs)
"Regardless some drawbacks, this essay does not comply with the statement that argues against globalization, rather it illustrates how the global integration is a blessing for us."
The Complete Conclusion
"In conclusion, this essay discusses how globalization can facilitate international response to any emergency issues such as pandemic diseases. It also explains the importance of global information exchange which has become possible due to global connectivity. Regardless some drawbacks, this essay does not comply with the statement that argues against globalization, rather it illustrates how the global integration is a blessing for us."
A Complete Response to the IELTS Task 2 Opinion Essay Question
"Argument goes that globalization made people worse off rather than making them better off; for instance, transmissible diseases can go global due to globalization. This essay disagrees with this argument, and it strongly states that globalization is not harming, rather it is helping us to form united global actions against different adversities. The following paragraphs are going to demonstrate how globalization is helping us more rather than harming.
United global response against any adversity is one of the most important gifts of globalization. Countries around the world can easily send food, medical stuffs and other essentials to the affected regions with the blessing of advanced global communication. Though contagious diseases can spread faster due to global connectivity, it's very insignificant comparing the obvious blessings of global integration. For instance, advanced medically equipped countries shared their spontaneous emergency medical support to the nations that became badly affected by the epidemic disease COVID-19.
In addition, global information exchange is another major benefit of globalization. Using the information from affected regions, other countries can gain important idea about the possible causes and effects of the pandemic disease. Though it might turn into a different scenario if many countries are affected together, still the global information sharing for the events can prevent the worse. For example, most of the countries across the world rapidly shared information on corona virus infection, which helped other nations take necessary preventive measures for themselves and remedial measures for the affected ones.
In conclusion, this essay discusses how globalization can facilitate international response to any emergency issues such as pandemic diseases. It also explains the importance of global information exchange which has become possible due to global connectivity. Regardless some drawbacks, this essay does not comply with the statement that argues against globalization, rather it illustrates how the global integration is a blessing for us."
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