Mgr. Simona Sikorová Znojmo

Writing

Opinnion essay

What is an opinion essay?

• We write an opinion essay to say what we think about a subject. We only give our opinion, not others points of view.

OrganizationIntroduction1 paragraph

Introduce the problem and your opinion

Main bodya few paragraphs

•Arguments (1 paragraph = 1 argument)

•Begin the paragraphs with: Firstly/first and foremost; secondly/ what is more; thirdly and finally/sum up

•Give your reasons and add 1-2 arguments for the opposite view and explain it/ them

Conclusion1 paragraph

•A summary of what you write in the middle paragraphs in a different words•No new arguments

Style• Should be formal, neutral and without agressive tones• No colloquial language (children can get really naughty…)• No contractions ( haven´t, they´re…)• Do not write emotional expression and exclamation marks

(stupid commercials, totally magical , supercool toys!!…)

Example of bad essay about „Advertisement aimed at children should be banned.“

• „Kids watch all those stupid commercials on TV, in wchich trashy pink plastic toys looks supercool and totally magical, and they´re being used by great corporations to get their parents to spend their hard-earned money.

What´s more, when children start desiring the things they ses in the ads, they can get really naughty…“

Example of a good essay “There is too much football on TV. Do you agree?“

Every time I turn on the television, I am sure to find a football match on one of the channels. If I change channels, there will probably be football on other channels too, especially at the weekend. In my opinion there is definitely too much football on TV for the following reasons.

Firstly, if you compare football with other sports, football completely dominates. The only place where you can watch other sports is on special sports channels, which you usually have to pay for. This is not fair for people who like other sports, for example tennis, basketball, or athletics.

Secondly, the football matches on TV are not only the important matches. Every week they show boring matches from the second or third divisions.

Thirdly, I also believe that, at weekends, most people want to relax in front of the television. Many people, including me, do not like football and prefer to see good films or funny series.

Finally, I think that even on news programmes there is too much football. It is very annoying when they talk about football for hours every day, especially when there are more importatn things happening in the world.

Instead, I think TV should show fewer football matches and programmes about football, especially at the weekend.To conclude it should show other sports too, and more films. On news programmes they should talk about important

things that are happening

When you finish

Check your essay for mistakes in

• grammar• punctuation • spelling

Homework

´Advertisement aimed at children should be banned.´

Write an essay in which you give your opinion on the topic.

References

• Latham-Koenig,Ch., Oxenden,C., Selingson,P.: English File, Pre-intermediate Student´s Book 3rd Edition; Oxford 2012.ISBN 978-01-9459-8651

• Hastings,B., Umińska,M., Chandler,D. Exam Accelerator; Pearson Central Europe Sp.z o.o 2011.ISBN 978-83-7600-04