Ielts Writing Strategies.

Note:

TOEFL 300 WORDS 3O MINUTES.

IELTS 250 WORDS 40 MINUTES.

The most difficult skill for language students is to construct their own ideas in the strange language.

An essay is perhaps the highest expression of this it requires well organised ideas linked together with good grammar and vocabulary. It is more difficult than speech because you need to join ideas together so the whole essay is clear and easy to understand for a reader. Although we mostly do not write essays in everyday life we do for exams and trying to write a good essay will also vastly/immensely improve your speaking skills as the thinking process is the same but at a much higher level.

The first stage is to analyse and clarify the question. This is done in the first paragraph.

For Example, look at this question:

TELEVISION ,NEWSPAPERS, MAGAZINES AND OTHER (MEDIA) PAY (TOO MUCH ATTENTION )TO THE PERSONAL LIVES OF (FAMOUS PEOPLE) SUCH AS PUBLIC FIGURES AND CELEBRITIES. DO YOU AGREE OR DISAGREE WITH THIS STATEMENT? USE SPECIFIC REASONS AND DETAILS TO SUPPORT YOUR OPINION.

Stage 1.

Your first task is to underline the important words in the question (I have put them in brackets). Then re-phrase the question in your own words as simply as possible. So the question now becomes:

DOES THE MEDIA PAY TOO MUCH ATTENTION TO FAMOUS PEOPLE?

Now compare your question with the original does your wording of the question miss out anything important? What about PERSONAL LIVES if this is not included could we be answering the wrong question?

The point of the question is that the media maybe pays a lot of attention to what these people do in their free time not their professional lives! A politician for example might have news published in regard to either his political views or his family life. If we answer the question talking about how important it is for people to know about his political views we are ANSWERING THE WRONG QUESTION.

This will lead you to get a much reduced grade as it shows you did not fully understand the question!

So the question should be:

DOES THE MEDIA PAY TOO MUCH ATTENTION TO THE PERSONAL LIVES OF FAMOUS PEOPLE?

Again we check this new question to make sure it includes all relevant points in the original question.

So now we have correctly understood the question and put it in its simplest form we can go on to answer it!

PART TWO:

In the first paragraph our task is to describe the question in more detail. We may also offer our opinion.

The purpose of describing the question in more detail is to make the question clearer and show the direction in which we are going to answer it. It is not, however, the answer to the question.

We look at the important points in the question (which in this case are PERSONAL LIVES AND FAMOUS PEOPLE) and then describe them in more detail. So, what do we mean by PERSONAL LIVES/FAMOUS PEOPLE?

So we should begin something like this:

Famous people such as movie stars, sports stars, the very rich and high society members are constantly the subject of gossip in the media. Who they are dating, what restaurants they eat at, their children and free-time activities and business ventures are under constant scrutiny/observation.

Then if you want to give your opinion at this stage you could say for example:

In my opinion the media should not show so much interest in the trivia of these peoples personal lives and I will show why in the following paragraphs.

SO NOW YOU HAVE COMPLETED YOUR FIRST PARAGRAPH THE NEXT 2/3 PARAGRAPHS ARE TO GIVE A DETAILED ANSWER TO THE QUESTION.

BUT REMEMBER TO FREQUENTLY LOOK BACK AT THE ORIGINAL QUESTION TO CHECK THAT YOU ARE STILL `ON TRACK`!

PART THREE.

So the next stage is to answer the main question which we do in the middle 2 or 3 paragraphs.

The first thing is to list ideas for/in support of and against/contrary to the point of view (the media pays too much attention.....)

For/In support of...

1. Right to privacy.

2. Not important/serious news.

3. Can damage/harm their lives.

Against/Contrary to...

1. Freedom of media.

2. Entertaining/fun.

The ideas you can think of here will help you to decide how to answer the question. You are looking for the easiest way to answer so your answer should focus on the ideas you can think of. If you cannot for example think of ideas contrary to the point of view then you should write an opinion/thesis led approach to the question.

Generally speaking , though, a balanced/neutral approach is safer because it is usually easier to write. The ideas are more general and this is usually easier vocabulary.

You should generally try to find at least 2 ideas for and against the topic. It is usually easier to write about many ideas generally rather than one or two in great detail. Each point should also have some supporting detail or an example.

So you might begin......

The first reason is I think everyone has a right to privacy they should not have to put up with/tolerate reporters and cameramen intruding on every part of their lives.

Secondly/another reason is this is not important/serious news. The media should be telling us about useful topics like economics,politics and social issues rather than titillating us with silly gossip.

Lastly, this constant prying into their personal lives can damage/harm them. I once heard a movie star say the pressure from the media caused the break up of his marriage.

On the other hand I do understand/appreciate not everyone will agree with this.

Some people feel the media should be completely free. They think it is fundamental to democracy.

Others also think this kind of news is fun/entertaining.It is amusing to know what the movie stars like to eat or do in their spare time.

THE LAST PARAGRAPH IS THE CONCLUSION WHERE WE SUMMARISE OUR OVERALL VIEW. This paragraph should not be adding new information and should try not to repeat things.

To summarise I do think the media should spend less time pursuing the trivia of famous peoples lives but I also understand it is entertaining. Perhaps the government should consider making some laws to reduce this intrusion.

To summarise then, the stages in an essay are:

1. Re-write and simplify the question.

2. Describe the question in more detail.

3. List points for and against the viewpoint.

4. Write your middle paragraphs answering the question using supporting reasons and examples.

5. Conclusion- summarise your point of view.

Remember to occasionally check back with the original question to make sure you are still on track re-read and check for grammar and spelling mistakes and check you have written the required number of words.

Good luck!

JOHN