OPINION ESSAYS

Opinion essays are discursive essays in which you present your personal opinion on a particular topic. Your opinion must be stated clearly and supported by justifications. You should also present the opposin viewpoint!s" in a separate para raph. An opinion essay should consist of# a" an introduction$ in which you introduce the subject and state your opinion clearly% b" a main body$ consistin of two or more para raphs !each presentin a separate viewpoint supported by reasons&e'amples"$ includin a para raph ivin the opposin viewpoint supported by reasons&e'amples% and c" a conclusion$ in which you restate your opinion usin different words. You normally use present tenses in this type of writin $ and phrases such as I believe, In my opinion, I think, It seems to me that, I strongly disagree with, etc to e'press your opinion. You should list your viewpoints with Firstly, Furthermore, Moreover, Also, etc$ and introduce the opposin viewpoint usin However, On the other hand, etc. Opinion essays are normally written in a formal style$ therefore you should avoid usin collo(uial e'pressions$ short forms or personal e'amples. You can find this type of writin in the form of an article in newspapers$ ma a)ines$ etc.

Each main body para raph should start with a topic sentence which clearly states the main idea of the para raph. *his should be followed by appropriate supporting sentences which justify the main idea and&or ive e'amples.

Paragraphs

*he manner in which you present your material is vital. As you ,now$ an essay !or any academic te't" is built up around para raphs. *hey help the reader understand the or ani)ation of your essay and rasp its main points. A para raph is a series of sentences that are or ani)ed and coherent$ and are all related to a sin le topic. *he main rule is# One paragraph= one new point in your argument -urthermore$ each para raph typically contains a three.part structure# +. Introduction# includin a topic sentence and transition words /. Body# discussin the main thesis$ usin various forms of evidence 0. Conclusion# commentin and drawin connections Paragraphs principles Each para raph should contain one new point in your overall thesis

Each para raph should be able to stand on its own and have its own internal structure Each para raph should state its purpose early on$ in the form of a topic sentence

*ry e'tractin the first line from your essay para raphs and see if you can follow your main line of ar ument. If you can1t$ they your essay is not so easy to follow as you mi ht want it to be. !Of course$ not every ar ument has to be or ani)ed this way. 2ut try to loo, up a few articles in some 3serious4 newspapers# you will find this structure widely used5" *he reason why para raphs should be 3headlined4 with reference to the overall ar ument is to ,eep that ar ument in the reader1s mind$ thereby ma,in it easier for them to see the relevance of the rest of the para raph. *his way$ the reader doesn1t lose trac,$ and neither do you.

6et the thesis decide how your ar uments should be or ani)ed$ not chronolo y5 !Neither with literary te'ts nor 3real4 history".

Para raphs should be visually separated by either line shift or indents. Not both.

Connecting paragraphs Ideally$ para raphs should be well connected to each other. Order your para raphs so that each one follows lo ically on from the previous one. *o ma,e this lo ic more obvious$ you can use transition words !or 3connectors4"$ so that the para raphs flow better and the reader is always ,ept on trac,. *he easiest way of doin this is by usin words li,e similarly$ li,ewise$ by the same to,en$ yet$ nevertheless$ however$ etc. Or$ you may use lon er phrases such as 3It is ironic$ therefore$ that77.4 or 3Althou h less obvious$ an e(ually important point here is the fact that7..4

Useful expressions for giving opinions

I believe& thin,& feel !that"7 I stron ly believe 7 *he way I see it 7 It seems& appears to me !that" 7 *o my mind 7 I ! do not" a ree that& with 7 8y opinion is that 7 As far as I am concerned 7 I !completely" a ree that&with 7 I !stron ly" disa ree that& with 7 I am totally a ainst 7 I couldn1t a ree more that& with 7 I couldn1t disa ree more that& with

Lin ing !ords and Phrases

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Personal opinion#

In my opinion&view$ *o my mind$ *o my way of thin,in $ I am convinced that$ It stri,es me that$ It is my firm belief that$ I am inclined to believe that$ It seems to me that. "s far as I am concerned# I thin that the economic recession of the previous decade was foreseeable$

One advanta e of$ Another advanta e of$ One other advanta e of$ A further advanta e of$ *he main *o list advanta e of$ *he reatest advanta e of. %he first advanta es and advantage of riding a motorbi e in a large disadvanta es# metropolis is that of not getting caught in ma&or congestion. -irstly$ -irst of all$ In the first place$ Secondly$ *hirdly$ -inally. %o start'begin with# we have to address the inade(uacies within the education system before we can tac le unemployment fully$

*o list points#

9hat is more$ -urthermore$ Apart from this&that$ In addition !to this"$ 8oreover$ 2esides !this"$7 not to mention the fact that your choice of career is a *o add more fundamental decision which will influence the rest of points to the your life. Not only is your choice of career a same topic# fundamental decision$ but it is also one that will influence the rest of your life.Your choice of career is both a fundamental decision and somethin that will influence the rest of your life. 9ith reference to$ Accordin to the latest scientific *o refer to other research$ the use of mobile phones can be sources# dama in to one:s health in the lon run. Indeed$ Naturally$ ;learly$ Obviously$ Of course$ *o emphasise a Needless to say$ the scheme was hound to fail due point# to insufficient funds. *o e'amples# ive -or instance$ -or e'ample$ by establishin day.care centres across the country$ wor,in mothers can he encoura ed to resume their careers. 2y providin
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incentives such as$ li,e day.care centres wor,in mothers are encoura ed to resume their careers. If wor,in mothers are to resume their careers then the provision of incentives particularly$ in particular$ especially day.care centres is essential. It is popularly believed that$ People often claim that$ It is often alle ed that$ Some people ar ue that$ *o state other 8any ar ue that$ 8ost people feel that$ Some people:s people point out that wealth will brin happiness. opinion# ;ontrary to popular belief$ wealth does not necessarily brin happiness. -inally$ 6astly$ All in all$ *a,in everythin into account&consideration$ On the whole$ All thin s considered$ In conclusion$ On balance$ -or the above mentioned reasons$ *herefore I feel that$ *o sum up$ it is unli,ely that there will be peace in all the countries of the world concurrently. In short$ 2riefly. *o put it briefly$ his performance on sta e was fantastic5

*o conclude#

Summarisin #

Common )ssay *ista es

=sin collo(uial lan ua e You should not use# .short forms !e. . I:m$ It1s" e'cept when these are part of a (uotation .collo(uial expressions# phrasal verbs# idioms !e. . lots of$ put up with$ be over the moon about7" . simplistic vocabulary !e. . E'perts say they thin, this is bad7." . a series of short sentences !e. . 8any people thin, so. *hey are wron ." . simple lin ing words !e. . and$ but$ so" e'cept for variety . use very emotional language !e. . I absolutely detest people who7" . express personal opinions too strongly !e. . I ,now7"% instead$ use milder e'pressions !e. . It seems to me that7" . use over+generalisation !e. . All politicians are7"
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. refer blindly to statistics without accurate reference to their source !e. . ?A recent study showed7? . which study@" . use cliches !e. . Aome was not built in a day." . use personal examples !e. . In my school7"

9or,s consulted# Successful 9ritin Proficiency? by Bir inia Evans ?Academic 9ritin ? by 8acmillan Publishin