TOEFL iBT Independent Writing Computers can provide all the information that once could be found only in books, and therefore, it will not be long before electronic technology makes books unnecessary. - revised -

Writing Topic

Consider the following statement. Computers can provide all the information that once could be found only in books, and therefore, it will not be long before electronic technology makes books unnecessary. Do you agree or disagree with this idea? Support your response by including specific reasons and examples.

☆Let’s Think

1.    Can computers provide all the information that once could be found only in books?

2.    Is electronic technology making books unnecessary? Give examples.

3.    Do you think paper books will be obsolete?

☆Hints for Points

Agree

makes information search more efficient / thousands of books in an electronic reader / many functions that allow quicker and better learning

Disagree

more reliable information / deeper understanding on a specific subject / handier than electronic books / easy on the eyes / some information that cannot be digitized (copy right, when the book itself provides information)

☆Essay for Ideas and Expressions

The number of book stores and those of newspaper subscribers have declined dramatically since computers and the Internet became popular. It seems that books and papers are obsolete. However, I do not have the impression that books will soon become antiques that you seldom see in your daily lives, at least in lives of people who read.

Information technology has digitized contents of books and papers, and made reading paperless. It has made quick information search possible. Books whose contents are pure data such as dictionaries and encyclopedias have already gone extinct. People read novels and manga on their phones and tablets, The reading experiences is very close to those of reading paper books. The displays are close to the surface of book pages and there are functions for bookmarking, highlighting, and flipping. It might not be long before leafing through and writing in are possible. Ultimately, the difference will be either in ink on paper or electronic. Here I think is the answer to this question. Paper books will not become totally unnecessary because they exist in the non-virtual world.

Paper and electric books complement each other in their physical shortcomings. Libraries will keep paper books even though they have been digitizing books over decades. Paper books are bulky and vulnerable to nature such as fire and fungi, but e-books are useless without electricity. For fear of blackouts, cyber-terrorism, or accidents that will disable access to or cause damage on digital archive, hard copies will always be kept in libraries and archives. Electronic books are to paper books what electronic bank account to bankbook. Most people like to keep bankbooks. Also, paper books are important resources because of their feature as tangible objects. They are ready to be read any time. You just pick them up and open them.

In private libraries, books might gradually disappear but will never be “unnecessary.” Digital books occupy no space and this is attractive for most of us, who do not live in a mansion. Therefore, natural selection, in fact the owner’s selection, of books in our bookshelves will be accelerated as many more cheap digitalized versions will be available. However, people still keep buying paper books. For example, I use electric reader only for novels. Paper books are necessary for serious studies. When you jump from one page to another according to your thought, just flipping the pages is much faster than scrolling the tablet. Also, I think those books to which you have some personal attachment will remain. They are in your shelf as proof of your life. It is hard to imagine readers throwing away their favorite books and downloading electronic version no matter how small apartments they live in, and I think some of their books will establish the same kind of relationship with the next owners after their death. This will be repeated until they are worn out and naturally perish. It would take long for all paper books to disappear this way, and they will just disappear, treasured by someone till the last moment. Therefore, paper books will never become unnecessary.

The substantial presence of books will be necessary in a digitized society. Paper books are often more handy than e-books in study. Good books will always be loved and needed by their owners until someday they are not available in print, and probably some special books such as the Bible, the Koran, or Bob Dylan(s biography, whose existence is indispensable for many people, will always be in demand.

☆Sample Body Structures

A      【Point 1】

【Point 2】

【Counterargument-treatment】

B      【Spread of digitalized books】

【The area where paper books are still used】

【Why you agree/disagree】

Your Sample Essay Structure

【Introduction = Outline】

【                     】

【                     】

【                     】

【Conclusion = Wrap-up】

☆Paragraph Development

Paragraph development is a key to make your essay convincing. If a paragraph has only one sentence or two, it lacks some essential parts of the paragraph such as supporting details (background information), or the main idea. Also, as Japanese, whose culture focuses on details first and give a generalized idea in the end, we often make a paragraph like the following.

Paragraph A

By pointing a word you do not know, you can look into the dictionary installed in the electronic reader for the word. You can also refer to the related information of a particular person or event, often accompanied by sound, picture, and video. With the help of these functions, you can learn more quickly, actively and intuitively. E-books will make learning more efficient. It will not be long before school provides students with tablets instead of textbooks.

The paragraph above goes from details (specific information) to conclusion (general idea). If this paragraph is rewritten to conform to the English essay structure, it may become as follows.

Paragraph B

【Main Idea】 E-books will make learning more efficient.

【Supporting Details】 For example, by pointing a word you do not know, you can look into the dictionary installed in the electronic reader for the word. You can also refer to the related information of a particular person or event, often accompanied by sound, picture, and video. With the help of these functions, you can learn more quickly, actively and intuitively.

【Conclusion】 It will not be long before school provides students with tablets instead of textbooks.

The underlined sentence, the comment after the detail in Paragraph A, is placed on top of Paragraph B as the main idea of the paragraph. If you add sentences of transition and follow-up it would be as follows.

【Main Idea】 E-books will make learning more efficient.

【Transition】 Their functions will help faster and more active learning.

【Supporting Details】 For example, by pointing a word you do not know, you can look into the dictionary installed in the electronic reader for the word. You can also refer to the related information of a particular person or event, often accompanied by sound, picture, and video. With the help of these functions, you can learn more quickly, actively and intuitively.

【Follow up】 It is true that to have a deeper understanding of a subject, you might need to read some books, but digitized books help form a general idea of a topic efficiently.

【Conclusion】 It will not be long before school provides students with tablets instead of textbooks.

It might be one idea for us Japanese to write following our thought process (specific →general) and then rearrange the sentences following the western thought process (general→ specific).

Your test paragraph development:

【Main Idea】

【Transition】

【Supporting Details】

【Follow up】

【Conclusion】