ESSAYS

An essay is the first part of the writing and it is obligatory.You need to answer the question with
between 140-190 words. In the text you need to analyse a question using different points of view. It is a
semi-formal text and should be impartial until the conclusion.

DEFINITION:a piece of writing written for a teacher to give your opinion and arguments to support it
(reasons).

PURPOSE: An essay is a piece of writing in which you are asked to discuss a topic that might be
controversial or relevant somehow. It usually follows a class discussion.

FUNCTIONS: Agreeing and/or disagreeing/ Giving information/explanations/Exemplifying/Comparing &

contrasting ideas/Drawing a conclusion

LANGUAGE:The language of an essay should be formal. Also, make sure that you justify all your ideas
and that you use appropriate connectors to link your sentences and paragraphs.

● Useful phrases for FCE (Cambridge First Certificate) Writing Part One essays brainstorming and
key words:
Background to the topic (why it is important etc)
It is widely believed that… … is a common talking point.
It is a common view that…
It is commonly thought that…
There is a common opinion that…
There has been a change in… …is a controversial topic./ is very controversial.
Over the last few years/ decades…
There has been a lot of discussion of…There has been a lot of debate over…/ There has been a lot of
controversy over…
The majority of people (who I know) seem to think that…
In modern life,… … has been getting a lot of newspaper coverage recently./ … has been in the news a lot
recently. .
For people nowadays,…
(In my country) many (older/ younger) people (think/ say that)...
It is often said that…
In today’s society,…
There are two very different points of view on the topic of…
In our globalised world,…
Explaining the structure of your essay
I will examine both sides below and then give my own opinion.
After looking at this matter from both sides, I will…
I have divided my essay into three parts. I will give three reasons for that below.
I will look at/ write about/ examine/ consider/ discuss … and then …
Giving strong opinions
I’m absolutely certain that…
I’m absolutely positive that…
I’m absolutely convinced that…
There can be absolutely no doubt that…
I have absolutely no doubt that… I am certain that…
I certainly don't believe that ... It seems clear to me that…
It is clear to me that…
I would definitely say that…
I have (absolutely) no doubt that…
There can be (absolutely) no doubt that…/ I don’t think anyone can doubt that…/ Without (the shadow of) a
doubt…
In my honest opinion,…
It seems obvious to me that…/ It is obvious to me that…/ Obviously… I really think that… I strongly believe
that…/ I strongly object to (the idea that)…
Giving weak opinions
Although the arguments for/ against are also quite convincing,…/ Although there are also arguments for/
against…
Although there are both advantages and disadvantages,… I don’t have much experience of this, but…/ In my
limited experience,… I’m no expert on this, but… In my humble opinion,… As far as I know,…/ I don’t know
(very) much about this topic, but…/ To the best of my knowledge,… In my personal opinion,…/ I personally
feel that ... I would guess that…/ I would imagine that…/ I would probably say that…
Strongly agreeing
I strongly/ totally/ wholeheartedly agree that… I couldn’t agree with… more. … is absolutely right. …makes
complete sense. … is exactly/ just what I think. Weakly agreeing I can probably accept that…/ I might be able
to accept that… I partially/ partly agree with… … seems to make sense.
Strongly disagreeing
There’s no way I can accept that… I can’t agree with the idea of…/ I don’t agree at all with…/ I really don’t
agree with… I can’t see any merit in… Weakly disagreeing/ Politely disagreeing I don’t really agree with…/ I
don’t think I agree with…/ I’m not sure that I agree with… I can see why some people might think that, but…/ I
can understand why people think that, but…
Supporting your opinions
Personal experience A relevant experience I had was…/ Although I don’t have (much) experience of this…,…./
Experience has shown me that…/ From personal experience, I would say…/ I (once) experienced this when…/
In my (personal/ limited/ own) experience,…/ This is supported by my own experience in that… I have
(generally) found that…
Giving examples
A (good) example of this is…/ An example from my own experience is…/ For example,…/ To give an example,
…/ One (typical/ well known) example of this is… For instance,... …, such as…
Giving reasons/ Cause and effect/ Consequences
This is caused by… As a consequence of this,…/ One consequence of this is… This is due to… … in order
to… For that reason,…/ The main reason for that is… As a result of that,…
Further explanation
In other words…/ To put that another way,… That is to say…
Looking at both sides/ Looking at the other side/ Contrasting
… but you could also say that… On the other hand,… It is also possible to argue the opposite point that…
Looking at the other side of the argument,… Despite (all) this…/ In spite of all this,… Turning to the opposing
argument,…/ Turning from the pros to the cons,…
Summarising/ Conclusion
As should be clear from the arguments above,…/ For (all) the reasons given above,…/ Taking (all) the things
above into account,… Overall,…/ All in all,… Although the arguments against are also quite convincing,…/
Although there are also arguments for (such as…)/ Although there are both advantages and disadvantages
above,… On balance, I would say that… I therefore conclude that…./ In conclusion,… Having considered (all)
the points above,…/ Having weighed up both sides of the argument,… The benefits of ... outweigh the
drawbacks. To restate the arguments above,… As I said in the introduction, I am convinced that… To sum up
what I have written above,…/ To summarise the points above,… On the whole,…
Recommending/ Giving advice/ Talking about solutions/ Adding a further point that leads on from your
conclusion
The best idea is to…/ The best solution is…/ The best thing to do would be… We have (absolutely) no choice
but to… The government should do something about/ find a solution for/ put more effort into/ work towards/
deal with/ take action on/ take care of/ try to solve… We really must…/ We really need to…/ We really have
to…/ We really should…
TO EXPRESS OPINION For example/ for instance,...
To express opinion TO ADD IDEAS
In my opinion, What is more,...
Personally, I think/ I believe (that Moreover/ furthermore/ in addition (to)
I strongly believe that.... Firstly,...
It is clear (to me) that First of all,...
I (completely) agree/disagree with ... Secondly,..
It seems to me that... Thirdly,...
As I see it, ... Lastly,...
In my view,... Finally,...
From my point of view, ... TO EXPRESS CONTRAST
As far I am concerned, ... Although
I am sure/ convinced that ... Despite ...
I (dis)agree with the statement, because ... In spite of ...
TO GIVE REASONS Whereas ...
My main reason is..../Another reason... However....
One reason for... is .... In contrast... /but...
Many people say/ believe that... On the one hand... /on the other hand...
Because... TO EXPRESS PURPOSE
Since... So (that)
Because of/ due to... In order to...
TO EXPRESS FACTS To...
It is widely known that... So as to...
It is a well-known fact that ... TO CONCLUDE
Research has shown that... To sum up,...
There are definitely... To conclude...
It is a fact that... In conclusion...
It is clear/ true that... It is clear that...

STRUCTURE: opinion essay

● Introduction
● Present and develop the essay question in your introduction 1st body paragraph
● State your 1st argument and give a reason. This should be your main point.2 nd body paragraph
● State your 2nd argument and give a reason.3 rd body paragraph (optional)
● State your 3d argument and give a reason.Conclusion-Give your opinion

FOR AND AGAINST ESSAY

Introduction:
what the text is going to be about. DO NOT MENTION STH THAT THEN YOU ARE NOT GOING TO
DEVELOP. Good topic sentence.
1P: 2 well-supported ideas FOR. Ideas do not explain themselves.
2P2 well-supported ideas AGAINST. Ideas do not explain themselves.
Conclusion: The introduction in other words. You can give your opinion here.

EXAMPLE OF A PLAN: In order to have an organised essay you need to plan before writing.

Technology and education

Introduction Impact on how sts study, access to info, classrooms

First paragraph idea 1: Free, quick, useful access to info

idea 2: classrooms/classes are more appealing to sts

Second paragraph idea 1: So many resources to consult can be confusing. Difficulty

in sifting through info.
idea 2: sts may get distracted

Conclusion Even though tech has facilitated…. it is also true that....

Introduction

First paragraph

Second paragraph

Conclusion