Writing Topic A
Do you agree or disagree with the following
statement? Grades (marks) encourage students to learn. Use specific reasons and
examples to support your opinion.
☆Let’s Think
1.
This topic might be difficult
to give a clear-cut answer. Most people have both experiences of being
encouraged and discouraged by grades. Share your experiences about grading with
your partner or group members.
Note: If the grades are high or higher than before, we are happy. If
we keep getting lower grades, we might decide we are not apt for the subject
and stop making efforts.
2.
When you cannot give a clearly
positive or negative answer, how can you put the thesis statement?
Note: When you can think of both merits and demerits of a statement,
you might want to use words like “mostly agree”, “partly agree”, or
“cannot totally agree” in the
thesis statement. If your stand is clear, you could use entirely agree, totally
disagree, etc.
☆Ideas and Expressions
Agree
1) Students can see objectively
how much they have or have not made progress.
2) Students can set the next
goal by grades.
3) Competition makes students
study harder.
Disagree
1) Some students get discouraged
by repeatedly being told that they are not good.
2) Grading force teachers to
focus on making students get higher scores on tests. This will lead to rote
learning, depriving students of real knowledge and making them less interested
in the subject.
3) Grading instill students with
the idea that society is nothing but competition, and they will miss
experiencing the joy of learning since it arises when there is no pressure to
learn.
4) I get encouraged by test scores, but I
am not by grades, because I do not trust them. When I changed schools, my
grades changed while my test scores did not. When I was in the countryside, my
grades were high, but when I moved to a city, my grades dropped. They are indicators
of your status relative to your classmates.
☆Essay for Ideas and
Expressions (Barron’s, Writing for the
TOEFL iBT, pp.285-286)
Your Sample Essay Structure
【Introduction】
【Point 1】
【Point 2】
【Point 3】
【Conclusion】
☆Speech Time
Make a one-minute speech on this topic.
☆Sample Paragraph Development
【Main Idea】I cannot
totally agree with the statement that grades encourage students to learn
because there are people who are discouraged by competition.
【Supporting Detail (general)】Grades make students compete against each other.
【Supporting Detail (specific)】There are two kinds of people who dislike this situation: those who
are always at the bottom in academic competition and those who just do not like
to see themselves competing against their classmates. Both types can lose interest
in study the moment they become aware that they are being made to race their
classmates.
【Follow-up】It is
true that competition motivate students to raise scores, but it
is questionable if they are really learning. Learning is primarily a personal activity.
It is stimulated by pure interest in the subject. Students whose motivation to
learn is to defeat someone in tests would lose interest in learning if their
target leaves them. They need more fundamental motivation to learn, such as
interest in nature or community.
【Conclusion】Thus, grading
does not encourage students to learn in a real sense.
Your Sample Paragraph Development:
【Main Idea】
【Supporting Detail (general)】
【Supporting Detail (specific)】
【Follow-up】
【Conclusion】
Comments or Suggestion from your partner or
group members
Writing Topic B
It is generally agreed that society
benefits from the work of its members. Compare the contributions of artists to
society with the contributions of scientists to society. Which type of
contribution do you think is valued more by our society? Give specific reasons
to support your answer.
☆Let’s think
1. Which of
the following sentences is more appropriate as a thesis statement for an essay
on this topic?
(a) Contributions of
scientists are more valuable than those of artists.
(b) I think contributions
of scientists are thought to be more valued than those of artists in our
society.
Note: Answer (a) is the writer’s opinion, while
Answer (b) is the writer’s opinion about the opinion of our society. Since the
question is about the opinion of our society, Answer (b) is more appropriate as
the answer to the question of this writing topic.
2. Discuss
contributions of artists to our society.
3. Discuss
contributions of scientists to our society.
4. Which
job you think is valued more? Why? Are there any evidences?
Note: Factors to decide which type of
contribution is valued more by our society.
1) the way they are
treated in the education system e.g. the number of subjects,
lessons, teachers, and universities
2) attention paid by
society e.g. social media followers, how often they are taken
up by the media
3) money paid for
their work or status given to them e.g. salary, funding,
permanent resident status
5) confidence they
receive from society e.g. whether most parents want to see their
children become artists or scientists
One possible conclusion: The government
value scientists, while the people value artists.
☆Ideas and Expressions
Contributions of artists to society
1) They help us
develop our emotions and sense of beauty.
2) They cultivate
our imagination and creativity.
3) They purify our
soul.
4) They increase our
knowledge about the world and humans through their expressions.
5)
They take care of the spiritual world.
Contributions of scientists to society
1) They protect and
develop our life.
2) They help us save
our future.
3) They increase our
knowledge about the world and humans.
4)
They take care of the material world.
☆Essay for Ideas and Expressions
(Barron’s, Writing
for the TOEFL iBT, pp. 304-305)
☆Sample Essay Structures
A.
【Introduction】
【Contributions of Artists】
【Contributions of Scientists】
【Which is more valued by society】
【Conclusion】
B.
【Introduction】
【Contributions of Artists and Scientists】
【Reason for My Opinion 1】
【Reason for My Opinion 2】
Your Sample Essay Structure
【Introduction】
【 】
【 】
【 】
【Conclusion】
☆Speech Time
Make a one-minute speech on this topic.
☆Sample Paragraph Development
A.
【Main Idea】Scientists seem to gain more respect from the society than artists
do.
【Supporting Detail (general)】How they are
treated shows which specialists are more valued.
【Supporting Detail (specific) 】Scientists
are called with titles like “Doctor” or “Professor”
while artists are not. Also, governments are more ready to spend money on
science than on art.
【Follow-up 】There are some artists who
are treated like a god, but they are exceptions.
【Conclusion】Those dealing with technology are
more valued than those treating soul in our society.
B.
【Main
Idea】More attention is paid to artists than to
scientists.
【Supporting Detail (general)】We hear about artists every
day, while we seldom hear about scientists.
【Supporting Detail (specific)】Television and
magazines are full of the names and performances of artists. Their works are
easy to understand and pleasure to the eye and ear. However, science news that
appears on the front page once in a while is usually that related to awards
like Nobel Prize, and the names of the scientists will hardly be learned by the
public.
【Follow-up】If asked whether they value
science, people would answer in the affirmative, but actually they do not
realize how much they owe to the work of scientists, and some even suspect that
they are conjuring up a hoax. Climate change deniers are a good example. On the
other hand, people follow artists’ SNS postings
enthusiastically.
【Conclusion】In the eye of the public, artists
are the sweetheart of society, while scientists are brothers in the basement.
Your Sample Paragraph Development:
【Main Idea】
【Supporting Detail (general)】
【Supporting Detail (specific)】
【Follow-up】
【Conclusion】
Comments or Suggestion from your partner or
group member
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