How to Write Each Section of Your Essay

How to write each section of your Essay

How to write the introduction

What Are Examiners Looking For?

In the introduction, you need to communicate the message of your essay. Depending on the type of question, you need to:

Introduce the topic
Outline the agree or disagree side
Write your opinion
Outline your main points
Set the structure for your essay

It’s vital that the message remains consistent throughout your essay.

Key Things to Do

You must extend your introduction for the higher marks.
You must introduce the topic and present the context.
You must communicate the main points at the beginning of your essay to keep the message consistent.
You must justify your opinion.
You must write your opinion clearly.

Background (Sentence 1)

In the opening sentence of the essay, students should introduce the topic to the examiner.

Key Things to Do

Mention most of the key elements of the prompt.
Present the key themes and ideas before giving your opinion.
Be careful with paraphrasing and ensure your background sentence has the correct words.

Question

New technologies and ways of buying and selling are transforming the lives of consumers. To what extent do you agree or disagree with this opinion?

Good Examples

Example 1: New technologies, and in particular the Internet, are undoubtedly having a major impact on the way goods and services are retailed.

Example 2: As new technology continues to embed itself in more of our everyday lives, this is having an increasingly revolutionary impact on how we shop.

Example 3: Shopping is ever-evolving year on year as we develop more technology that makes it even easier and more convenient to buy what we desire.

Bad Examples

Example 1: The Internet is undoubtedly making a difference to the shopping. (Limited discussion, grammar errors, and imprecise language used.)

Example 2: The way of vending and the purchasing is having the biggest difference on the consciousness of ordinary citizens. (Trying to use synonyms but doesn’t make sense.)

Example 3: The hot topic for intrinsically liabilities of a hypothetical but ultimately fruitful display of emerging technological brilliance is a proposition worthy of the highest magnitude. (Language used out of context to impress the examiner but doesn’t make sense.)

Example 4: The importance of the shopping ways which was always highly debatable. (Template-like and reads poorly.)

Ideas Sentence 1 and 2

The second and third sentences are the ideas sentences. These sentences allow the reader to understand the direction of the arguments and the overall structure of the essay. Each body paragraph should have one main idea, and the main idea in each body paragraph should be listed in the order that it appears in the text.

Key Things

Must outline the main points in your essay.
The message must remain consistent throughout the essay.
Must match the type of question being written about.

Question

We are becoming increasingly dependent on computer-based technology. How do you think it will change in the future? Is it good for us to rely so much on computers?

Good Examples

Example 1: (Background) – New technologies, and in particular the Internet, are undoubtedly having a major impact on the way goods and services are retailed. (Ideas Sentence 1 + 2) – Some argue that they will bring a plethora of benefits, such as virtual reality which could herald new immersive entertainment options and lifesaving training for doctors. However, this essay concludes that technological overdependence is essentially a net negative.

Example 2: (Background) – As new technology continues to embed itself in more of our everyday lives, this is having an increasingly revolutionary impact on how we shop. (Ideas Sentence 1 + 2) – Future technology could help save lives by developing a new generation of medical diagnostic machines. However, this essay maintains that the dangers of relying on technology far outweigh any benefits gained.

Bad Examples

Example 1: (Background) – The Internet is undoubtedly making a difference to the shopping. (Ideas Sentence 1 + 2) – For some year the technology was more and more important and a many people have them. More and more people need the internet in their daily life. (Not a real answer to each question and limited use of language.)

Example 2: (Background) – The way of vending and the purchasing is having the biggest difference on the consciousness of ordinary citizens. (Ideas Sentence 1 + 2) – The conventional wisdom is that this change is for the good. However, others argue that the change will be a disastrous. (No real answer to the question and phrased like the outlining of your opinion for an opinion essay.)

Opinion

The final sentence in an introduction is a thesis statement. This is only needed for opinion essays. The language used is formal and uses the third person as is standard with essays written in an academic style.

Key Things

For opinion essays, you must state your opinion clearly.
It’s best to write this in the third person.

Question

New technologies and ways of buying and selling are transforming the lives of consumers. To what extent do you agree or disagree with this opinion?

Good Examples

Example 1: (Background) – New technologies, and in particular the Internet, are undoubtedly having a major impact on the way goods and services are retailed. (Ideas Sentence 1 + 2) – In many territories, purchasing products online has now become a mainstream activity. Some argue that this isn’t transformatory and merely an extension of what has already occurred. (Opinion) – This essay concludes that it is in fact a paradigm shift for two primary reasons.

Example 2: (Background) – As new technology continues to embed itself in more of our everyday lives, this is having an increasingly revolutionary impact on how we shop. (Ideas Sentence 1 + 2) – Critics maintain that these technological shifts haven’t had much impact on how we shop. However, others argue that this has led to profound changes in consumer behavior. (Opinion) – This essay argues that technology’s impact on shopping is marginal and doesn’t represent wholesale change.

Bad Examples

Example 1: (Background) – The Internet is undoubtedly making a difference to the shopping. (Ideas Sentence 1 + 2) – For some year the technology was more and more important and a many people have them. More and more people need the internet in their daily life. (Opinion) – I believe that we will see the big changes in shopping. (Use of first person and doesn’t answer the ‘transformatory’ part of the question.)

Example 2: (Background) – The way of vending and the purchasing is having the biggest difference on the consciousness of ordinary citizens. (Ideas Sentence 1 + 2) – The conventional wisdom is that this change is for the good. However, others argue that the change will be a disastrous. (Opinion) – The intrinsic liabilities of the retailing equation must be juxtaposed to our consumerist narrative. (Lots of use of precise language, but it doesn’t answer the question, and the words are used in the wrong context.)

Finished Example (Introduction)

Question: New technologies and ways of buying and selling are transforming the lives of consumers. To what extent do you agree or disagree with this opinion?

Finished Introduction (Good Example)

Background: New technologies, and in particular the Internet, are undoubtedly having a major impact on the way goods and services are retailed. Agree: In many territories, purchasing products online has now become a mainstream activity. Disagree: Some argue that this isn’t transformatory and merely an extension of what has already occurred. Opinion: However, this essay concludes that it is in fact a paradigm shift for two primary reasons.

Finished Introduction (Bad Example)

Background: The Internet is undoubtedly making a difference to the shopping. Agree: In many country, buying a products online has become very popular. Opinion: I think it is important for two reasons.

How to Write the Body Paragraphs

The body of the essay will usually contain two paragraphs. The key idea associated with each paragraph should be listed in the ideas sentence in the introduction. The order in which they are presented in the introduction should be the same as in the body of the essay to give the essay structure.

Key Things

Must contain one key idea.
This one key idea must be supported with explanation and an example.

Point

For opinion-type questions, the point you write here is one key reason for your opinion. This must be easy to understand and concise. For problem and solution-type questions, this can either be the problem being discussed or the solution being discussed.

Key Things

Generally, this is better if it is short and clear.
There needs to be one main idea.

Question

New technologies and ways of buying and selling are transforming the lives of consumers. To what extent do you agree or disagree with this opinion?

Good Examples

Reason: The development of online shopping has meant that the market for goods available to the individual has grown dramatically. (Clear reason given.)

Reason: In addition, the buyer can now get their groceries or products delivered. (Clear straightforward reasons for their opinion without any confusing or contradictory ideas.)

Bad Examples

Reason: This has made many change to the shopping. (Doesn’t give any clear reason but just says something in general about shopping.)

Reason: Another reason is that the customer can do more in the process and use a good customer service. (This doesn’t make any sense. How can they do more in the process? And use customer service? These ideas are both contradictory.)

Explanation

The following sentences should be related ideas and explanations, consequences, and/or implications of these ideas. In general, this means asking why you think something is important.

Key Things

Must explain the main point.
Give more information to explain the main point.

Question

New technologies and ways of buying and selling are transforming the lives of consumers. To what extent do you agree or disagree with this opinion?

Good Examples

Reason: The development of online shopping has meant that the market for goods available to the individual has grown dramatically. Explanation: It is possible to buy virtually anything from what has effectively become a world-wide retail market: exotic foods, art works, rare books, adventure holidays; the list is endless. Previously, accessing certain types of products was impossible for remote communities.

Bad Examples

Reason: This has made many change to the shopping. Explanation: Some people say that the shopping is a much easier nowadays because of this. (Reason doesn’t give a reason for their opinion but more of a general statement, and the explanation part doesn’t explain the reason.)

Reason: Another reason is that the customer can do more in the process and use a good customer service. Explanation: The customer service is the more important things for the customers experience. (This is now confusing because he has only explained one point in the reason sentence and not the other one.)

Example

The examples you use should be fairly general but also specific enough that they reinforce the main point of your paragraph. Avoid using precise numbers or anything else that might seem memorized.

Key Things

Avoid precise numbers. (These always seem made up or memorized.)
Give a general example but make it specific enough to prove the point.

Question

New technologies and ways of buying and selling are transforming the lives of consumers. To what extent do you agree or disagree with this opinion?

Good Examples

Reason: In addition, the buyer can now get their groceries or products delivered. Explanation: This has given many shoppers more hours in the day to do activities that they find meaningful. Going to bricks and mortar retail spaces on a regular basis used to take up significant periods of time. Example: Families, now no longer weighed down by the weekly shop, have more time for Sunday lunch or strolling in the park with their children.

Reason: The development of online shopping has meant that the market for goods available to the individual has grown dramatically. Explanation: It is possible to buy virtually anything from what has effectively become a world-wide retail market: exotic foods, art works, rare books, adventure holidays; the list is endless. Example: Previously, accessing certain types of products was impossible for remote communities, and many islanders would have to travel vast distances to purchase essential items such as life-saving medicine.

Bad Examples

Reason: This has made many change to the shopping. Explanation: Some people say that the shopping is a much easier nowadays because of this. Example: In Shanghai, 12% of every people say that the online shopping gives the most convenience to the people with the apps. (It’s not a good idea to mention a precise place and a precise number. Also, it mentions apps, which is something that hasn’t been mentioned before in the paragraph, and the example doesn’t really link with the point of this paragraph.)

Reason: Another reason is that the customer can do more in the process and use a good customer service. Explanation: The customer service is the more important things for the customers experience. Example: Customers find that they can do a many more things and buy more than before at a cheaper price. (This example doesn’t really link with the main point of this paragraph and introduces new ideas right at the end.)

Link

For some types of questions, it is a good idea to link your discussion either with the next paragraph or with your opinion.

Key Things

Make this sentence fairly short.
Adapt it depending on the question type.

Good Examples

Opinion-type question: New technologies and ways of buying and selling are transforming the lives of consumers. To what extent do you agree or disagree with this opinion? Reason: In addition, the buyer can now get their groceries or products delivered. Explanation: This has given many shoppers more hours in the day to do activities that they find meaningful. Going to bricks and mortar retail spaces on a regular basis used to take up significant periods of time. Example: Families, now no longer weighed down by the weekly shop, have more time for Sunday lunch or strolling in the park with their children. Link: Many parents have spoken about the profound positive change this has brought to their lives. (The candidate’s opinion for this essay was that these changes were transformatory. So he needed to show this in the final sentence of the paragraph. The use of the word ‘profound’ reinforces the opinion given at the beginning of the essay.)

Learn How to Write the Conclusion

Do a course designed by a former IELTS Examiner with hundreds of 5* reviews. Click here.