Structure of an essay

 

Structure of an essay

Structure of an essay 

tÍúTRODUCTION 

, about 4O words 

about 180 words 

What the writer is going to say -l- fs.--;;-l | | --f'"'' I 

coNcLustoN 

about 3O words 

Summary 

IV 

Topic sentence. 

+ t'Ñl 

Recommerrdation 

(optional: if asked for' 

advice, suggestion) 

^-'-^^-^^^

Introduction 

The int¡oduction: 

: g]:_"r 1 gelSrat starement abouthe topic 

. ' rlay state thewriter's posiiion if the'#riter is onry taking one side in the discussion 

. gives an indication of what the writer plans to say. 

Tl.g F"rylal statem.enr slls whafthe controlling idea of fhe essay wiil be; The controriing idea is the centrar idea áf the essay. 

Thq writer's position is imp-ortant in essays r¡¿here an opinion is sought or a suggestion is aiked for. ' - 

Studentsshou1drea9.ftuquestioncarefu1lyanduseittostartthe 

essay.but they should notsimply copy the question. ' 

Look at the exampre of how the information in a question can be úsed to start the essay. 

r t E xampte: 

Myry businesses fi1d ít tle difficult to assign enottgh time ancl 

resources to research and deaelopment: t lhai could i gorsernment 

do to eircourage more company s'tending'in tn¡r'"rri'Z 

Topic: 

'resourcesr and 'research and development,. 

Task words: 

'government ... do to encourage company spending,. 

The writer's. position: 

The writer r.vill make suggestrons 

General statement: - 

Research and de'elopment is expensíve; companies try to avoid 

spending on it. 

hfha! the writer plans to say: 

Governments could: offer tax advantages and research grants to 

companies. These incentives would heíp to:increase er..ploy*"nt and 

creativity. 

The introduction will thus read: 'Research and development is very expensive, so companies often try 

to avoid s¡end_1ng in this a¡ea. Goverfments could "r,iorr.ug",work ' 

in re¡e1ch and dévelePment by offering,tax advantages uná r.r"ur.h 

grants to companies. These incentives would help to increase . 

einployment ánd creativity.,r ,, , : l 

:;i : 

PREPARE FOR IELTS: The TELTS preparation Course 

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WrutÉng fhe €s-sap : The lntroduetion 

In many ways, your conclusion and inrroduction are very similar in that they both state your opínion The introduction is probably rhe shorresl section of a Task Z essay. ft might contain: 

€ a restatement of the quesrion 

e your opinion 

" what and how you are going to discuss the question. 

\Uhen you write your inrroducrion do not: 

" copy ihe question word for word 

c give a lor of background information. 

Pn¡crtce 

Look at the following three introductions to the question below and decide which you like berter and why. 

If countríes are serious about solving trffic problents, they should 

tax private cars very heavily and use the money to provide free or 

very cheap rail travel. 

To what extent do you agree with the above? 

Introduction 1 

M*y nations are facing massive traffic congestion in their cities. This both makes travel difficult and causes environmental damage. In order to solve this problem it is necessary to establish alternative transportation systems such as raitrways. In my opinion the besr way to finance the development of public transport is to tax car drivers. 

Introduction 2 : 

Motor cars were invented at the end of the last century and have developed $eatly over the last 100 years. In many countries families have two .ar, ánd sometimes even three. As there are so manv cars on the road there are often traffic jams on major roads. It can take many hours to complete a short joumey at peak times in some major cities. Many attempts have been made to solve the problems of bad raffic. These include limiting the times cars are 

allowed ro drive in certain areas and making carb carry a cerrain number of passengers. These schemes have met witl'r varying degrees of success. 

Introduction 3 

Many people say that if countries are serious about solving traffie problems, they should tax private cars very heavily and use the money to provide free rail travel.

EXERCISEzN . . ] I : 

Write anlintroduction for this Task 2 question. 

. 

A countrytls firs dury rc its c:itizens is to pt:atect them. Therefore it is logical that defence should take up a signtficant p:roportion of the national bui.dget. ' : Write a report for anr educated non-specialist audience,for lor, againstthe above. 

Remember to analyse the topic and the lócus of the questior¡ before you starti You might also f,rnd it useful to brainstorm the ideas you want to include before beginning to wnte. 

Timetarget-3minutes