OPINION ESSAY

By: Ridwan Sa'at

You have learned what composes a good paragraph, however it is a good idea to refresh again from the very beginning what are in a paragraph. 

A paragraph consists of topic sentence, supporting sentences (two or more sentences) and concluding sentence. 

Similar to a paragraph, an essay also has parts that are called introduction, body and conclusion. In other words, an essay is a big picture of a paragraph. So, if you know how to make a good paragraph, then you should also be able to compose an essay. 

In an IELTS response to Writing Task 2 question, it is adviced that the candidate writes 4 good paragraphs. This is considered the time given is only 40 minutes which are just enough for planning, composing and reviewing. Thus, they are one introduction paragraph, two body paragraphs, and one concluding paragraph. 

An opinion essay is a very common essay the candidate faces during IELTS exam. The following is samples of questions of Writing Task 2 that require candidate to write an opinion essay: 

1. "School should prepare pupils for their future lives and the world of employment. Learning about history is not necessary and more emphasis should be placed on other school subjects."

To what extent do you agree or disagree with this opinion? Give reasons for your answer and include any relevant examples from your own knowledge and experience. 

2.  "Celebrities make a very good living out of media attention and have chosen to live in the public spotlight. They have no right to complain when they feel the media are intruding on their privacy." 

To what extent do you agree or disagree with this opinion? Give reasons for your answer and include any relevant examples from your own knowledge and experience.

Source: Mann, Malcolm (2009), Ielts for Academic Purposes, Mc Grow Hill, New York.

These two question rubrics are the examples of Writing Task 2 questions in IELTS that require a response of an opinion essay. 

So how to write opinion essay for those kinds of questions? Let's say we are answering the second question of the above. 

1. The introduction should have a paraphrase/re-written topic background and your thesis statement. 

Possible introduction:

"To be famous is dreamed by many people. This is of course for the reason of having a good living; owning most of the need of a human. One of the many ways of being famous is through media exposure. However, being famous is also risky in that the exposure by media most of the time is across the line of privacy. In my opinion, media cannot investigate and then expose any news as they like." 

2. From the thesis above (the last sentence of the introduction), we can know that the following body paragraphs will be about the reasons why you disagree. Therefore, the first body paragraph should be a place for your first reason to disagree with this topic. It may look like this: 
"Firstly, everyone has right to keep his personal life private; without anyone knowing or overseeing. In my opinion, something personal (your marriage problem, your financial crisis etc.) is only devoted to the person himself. This is usually true when the content of your personal life is the sad thing. So, if a celebrity figure wants to keep his marriage problem closed, it is his right. The reporters of media cannot interfere by investigating or pushing him for an answer. 

Secondly, the excessive reports on a celebrity life case sometimes can be a reason for sensation only. When this happens, the media can be considered responsible for this. There are many cases that the reporting of one case of a public figure is not ethical or appropriate but media makes it as a delicious cake for its business sensation. For example, the crash of Adam Air a few years ago attracted a lot of attention from public and media. When the leak of cockpit conversation fell to the public, the media kept asking the family members for comments and conversations. Meanwhile with the sorrow of the situations, they intended the memory of their lost loving ones for themselves. 

3. The Concluding Paragraph can be in the form of summary or conclusions. Here's an example the above topic question: 
"In conclusion, the public figure or celebrity has the right to refuse or complain to inappropriate and personal report of media. Everyone should be equally treated in the life of human kind; either as famous personalities or just an ordinary persons. 

Now you have read an answer to an opinion essay. If you would like to write an essay based on the following topic, please do it and I would be happy to post a comment for it. You may send your essay to the following address: ridonest@gmail.com

Topic: In this modern world, women should stay at home and take care of the children

Write your opinion essay by including your reason and personal experience.