opinion essay

1. 1) Introduction
 Paraphrase the question
 Give your opinion
 State two supporting reasons
2) Main body paragraph 1
 Topic sentence – outline 1st reason for supporting this view
 Explanation – explain this idea
 Example – give an example or expand the idea
3) Main body paragraph 2
 Topic sentence – outline 2nd reason for supporting this view
 Explanation – explain this idea
 Example – give an example or expand the idea
4) Conclusion
 Summarise opinion and key reasons
How To Plan IELTS OpinionEssays
# 1 Decide on your opinion
The questionI've chosentoworkon isquite straightforwardandeasytounderstandsowe don’t
needtospendtime analysingit.The firsttask,then,istodecide onour opinion.
Here’sthe questionagain:
A big salary is much more important than jobsatisfaction.
Do you agree or disagree?
For thisessay,I’mgoingto disagree withthe statementandargue thatjob satisfactionismore
importantthana bigsalary.

2. # 2 Generate ideas
The secondtask isto generate some ideastowrite about.
Since I‘mgoingto argue that jobsatisfactionismore importantthana large salary,I needideasto
supportthisview.
Withthisparticularquestion,Iimmediatelythoughtof acouple of examplesof situationswhere job
satisfactiondidprove tobe more importantthana highsalary,soI’m goingto use the ‘example
method’of generatingideas.
Once you’ve thoughtof an example ortwo,ideastoinclude inyouressayshouldcome toyoueasily.
You mightwantto try thisyourself before readingonformy ideas.
Here are my examplesandsome ideastheygenerated.
Both the examplesare partlytrue butI've adaptedthemtobetterfitthe essay.It's fine todo thisas
the examinerwon'tcheckyourfacts.
Examples:
 Uncle Barry – boastedabouthighsalarybut hatedhisjob.Nervousbreakdown –lostjob&
can’t work.
 Me – gave up teaching.Nowenjoymyworkandam much more relaxedandhappyeven
thoughI earnmuch lessmoney.
Ideas:
 High-salaryjobsare generallymore stressful
 Stressleadstoill health, bothmental andphysical
 40 hours a weekatwork – a thirdof the day
 Moneydoesn’tbringhappiness
 Betterqualityof life
 Sense of fulfilment
 Lessstressed – healthierandhappier
I’ve gotmore ideashere thanI needsoI’mgoingto picktwo to develop inthe essay –one for each
of the mainbodyparagraphs.
Idea 1 – High-salaryjobsare generallymore stressfulandcanleadto ill health.
Idea 2 – Job satisfactiongivesasense of fulfilment.

3. We’re almostreadyto start writingourIELTS opinionessay butfirst,we have one othersmall taskto
do.
# 3 Vocabulary
In an IELTS essay,it’simportanttobe able to say the same thingsindifferentways,eitherby
paraphrasingand/orusingsynonyms.Duringthe planningstage,quicklyjotdownafew synonymsof
keywordsyoucoulduse to save youhavingto stopand thinkof the right language whileyou’re
writing.
For example:
satisfaction– fulfilment,achievement,sense of accomplishment,content,senseof well-being
salary – income,wages,pay,earnings
important – significant,valued,hasmore meaning
job – work,employment,position
Withthat done,we can focuson the firstparagraph of the essay – the introduction.
How To Write an Introduction
A goodintroductionhasa simple 3part structure:
1) Paraphrased question
2) Thesisstatement
3) Outline statement
An introductionshould:
 Have 2-3 sentences
 Be 40-60 words long
 Take 5 minutesto write

4. 1) Paraphrase the question
Start your introductionbyparaphrasingthe question.
Question:A big salaryismuch more importantthanjob satisfaction.
Do you agree or disagree?
Paraphrased question:
It is argued that earninglots of moneyhas more significance to people thanbeingcontent in their
work.
Note that I’ve usedsome of the synonymsIlisted,althoughit’sfine torepeatone ortwowordsif
youneedto.Above all,yourlanguage mustsoundnatural.
2) Thesisstatement
In IELTS opinionessays,the thesisstatementiswhere youstate youropinion.Forexample,
Thesisstatement:
This essaytotally disagreeswith that statement.
That’s all youneedtosay.
If you decidedtoagree withthe statement,youwouldwrite:
'This essaycompletelyagreeswiththatstatement.'
3) Outline statement
Finallyinthe introduction,youmustoutline the twomainpoints(ideas1and2 above) thatyou’ll
coverin the restof the essay.Do itin one sentence,oryoucan addthemonto the endof the thesis
statementif appropriate.

5. Outline statement:
I believe thatpeople are increasinglyconcernedabout the risk ofstress-relatedill-health
frequentlyexperiencedbypeople inhighlypaid positionsand they care more about feeling
fulfilledatwork.
So,let’sbringthe three elementsof ourintroductiontogether.
Introduction
Thisintroductionachievesthree importantfunctions:
 It shows the examinerthat you understand the question.
 It acts as a guide to the examineras to what your essay isabout.
 It also helpsto keepyou focusedand on track as you write.
The two ideasinyourintroductionwill become yourtwomainbodyparagraphs.
Main body paragraph 1 – concernsabout the riskof stress-relatedill-health
Main body paragraph 2 – a sense of fulfilmentatwork
How To Write Main Body Paragraphs
The structure of a good mainbodyparagraph has 3 parts:
 Topic sentence
 Explanation
 Example
If you can’t thinkof an example,youcanaddfurthersupportingideasbutwe alreadyhave ourtwo
examplessothat’snotan issue here.

6. A commonproblemwhen writingmainbodyparagraphsforIELTS opinionessaysishavingtoomany
ideas.Again,we have alreadychosenthe twoideaswe are goingtodevelop,sowe are all setto start
writing.
You can see howimportantthe planningstage isandhow it makesthe actual writingof the essayfar
quickerandeasier.
Main Body Paragraph 1
The topic sentence summarisesthe mainideaof the paragraph.That’sall it needstodoso it doesn’t
have to be complicated.
It playsan importantrole inensuringthatyourideasflow logicallyfromone toanother.Itdoesthis
by actingas a signpostforwhatisto come next,that is,whatthe paragraph will be about.
If you maintainaclear developmentof ideasthroughoutyouressay,youwillgethighmarksfortask
achievementandcohesionandcoherence.
We’ll nowtake the ideaforour firstmainbodyparagraph and create our topicsentence.
Main idea1 – concernsaboutthe risk of stress-relatedill-health
Topic sentence:
Employeesearninga large income are generallyunder significantmental and emotional pressure
to perform well and achieve targets.
Next,we mustwrite an explanationsentence.Thisexplainstothe examinerwhatwe mean.It
expandsonour firstidea.
Explanation sentence:
This causes many individualstosufferhigh levelsofstress whichcan resultin both mental and
physical health problems.
Finally,we addan example to supportourmain point.Ithoughtof thisinthe planningstage soI
have it readyto use.
If you can’t thinkof a real example,it’sfine tomake one up,as longas it’sbelievable.The examiner
isn’tgoingto checkyour facts.
Example sentence:
This happenedto my uncle.He used to boast about his huge salary but the bosskept increasinghis
salestargets and in the end,the stress became too great and he had a nervousbreakdown. Now he
regretsbeingdriven by the money.

7. That’s the 3 partsof our firstmainbodyparagraph complete.Here’sthe finishedparagraph.
We nowfollowthe same processforoursecondmainbodyparagraph.
Main Body Paragraph 2
Main idea2 – Jobsatisfactiongivesasense of fulfilment.
First,we write the topic sentence tosummarise the mainidea.
Topic sentence:
Having a job that they enjoydoing,and inwhich they feel valued,isa major concern for most of
the modernworkforce.
Nowfor the explanationsentence toexplainthisidea.
Explanation sentence:
A significantnumberof people are givingup well-paidpositionstodo jobs which pay lessbut that
they findmore enjoyable andlessstressful.
Finally, anexample tosupportour mainpoint.Asbefore,Ithoughtof thisinthe planningstage so
justneedto formitinto a couple of sentences.
Example sentence:
I am an example of thismyself.A year ago I leftthe teachingprofessionbecause the workload had
become too great and I am now a gardener.I feel reallyfulfilledinthiswork and I am much more
relaxedand happy eventhough I earn far lessmoney.
That’s the 3 partsof our secondmainbodyparagraphcomplete.Here’sthe finishedparagraph.

8. How To Write a Conclusion
ConclusionstoIELTSopinionessaysshoulddotwothings:
 Summarise the main points
 State your opinion
Thiscan generallybe done inasingle sentence.
If you are belowthe minimum250 wordsafteryou’ve writtenyourconclusion,you canadd an
additional predictionorrecommendationstatement.
The conclusionisthe easiestsentence inthe essaytowrite butone of the mostimportant.
A goodconclusionwill:
 Neatlyend the essay
 Link all your ideastogether
 Sum up your argument or opinion
 Answerthe question
If you achieve this, you’llimproveyourscore forbothtask achievementandcohesionandcoherence
whichtogethermake up50% of the overall marks.Withoutaconclusion,you’ll score below band6
for taskachievement.
You can start almostany final paragraphof an IELTS opinionessaywiththe words:
 In conclusion
or
 To conclude
Nowall you needtodo isbrieflysummarise the mainideasintoone sentence.

9. Here’sa top tip. Go back and readthe introductiontothe essaybecause thisisalsoa summaryof the
essay.Itoutlineswhatyouare goingto write about.
To create a greatconclusion,yousimplyhave toparaphrase the introduction.Let’sgive itago.
Introduction:
Here is the same informationformedintoa conclusion:
FinishedIELTS opinionessay.