This guide is actually for low-level students writing their first TOEFL independent essays. Advanced students might wish to skip directly to our advanced guide.
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(note, students in a hurry might wish to skip directly to our TOEFL essay templates)
Start with making an overview of the essay. Consider the picture below:
The student starts by writing a “main point” at the top of the chart. This really is her “answer” into the relevant question posed by the exam.
Below the main point the student writes two “reasons” to aid the main point. These are broad and not too specific. However, they have to be unique. The causes should not be comparable to one another.
Below all the reasons, the student writes two “details.” they are more specific. They offer the reasons and explain why they usually have cited the reasons. They may also include examples from the student’s life that support the reasons.
Here’s an example outline for the question: “what’s the best gift to provide to a young child?” It had been published by an actual student. View it closely:
The student has filled when you look at the outline point-form that is using (not complete sentences). Her main point is “Best gift = pet.”
Her two reasons are “it is educational” and “it is a good friend.”
The important points through the reason that is first “learn responsibility” and “learn stages of life.” The main points through the reason that is second “never judgmental” and “children often alone these days.” The student has bigger ideas. she actually is planning to write about how taking good care of the pet teaches responsibility and this woman is going to write that students are along because their parents are often away. nevertheless the outline is just her initial ideas.
The remainder of this article will show just how to turn this outline into a complete essay. I’ll use English that is simple throughout article. High level students should probably use more vocabulary that is advanced sentence structure.
I teach my students to write a four paragraph essay in the writing section that is independent. This particular essay is for enough time and will be finished in the time allowed. High level students might try writing a five paragraph essay.
The four paragraph structure is:
- Introductory Paragraph
- Body Paragraph 1
- Body Paragraph 2
- Concluding Paragraph
Let’s focus on the introductory paragraph:
My students use a sentence-by-sentence way to write their introductions. The technique is this:
- Sentence one: A “hook.” This really is an sentence that is interesting comes before most of your point. It references the relevant question and draws your reader into the essay.
- Sentence two: Your main point. Within one good, clear sentence state your main point. Don’t be too much time. Arrive at the purpose!
- Sentence three: a sentence that is transitional. Try something such as “I feel this method for two reasons.”
- Sentence four: a single sentence summary of your first reason. Begin this sentence with “first” (you can leave this out if you’re low on time).
- Sentence five: a single sentence summary of the second reason. Begin this sentence with “second” (you can leave this out if you are low on time).
Talking about the question above and utilising the given template, you could write an introduction similar to this:
“There are many gifts that are great may be fond of a young child. I believe that the gift that is best to give a child is a pet. Personally I think in this manner for 2 major causes, that we will explore within the essay that is following. First, a pet can be very educational. Second, a pet could be an excellent friend to a child that is young.
Keep in mind that there aren’t any references to your details in this paragraph. Save those when it comes to physical body paragraphs.
Next step: Writing a body paragraph
It’s your possiblity to show off your essay writing ability. I don’t teach someone to do my paper a model that is strict this part of the essay.
I really do however, possess some basic rules. These are typically:
- Each reason gets its own paragraph. Do not combine your reasons into one paragraph.
- Start your first paragraph with a transitional word or phrase like “first,” “to begin with,” and your second paragraph with “second” or “secondly.”
- At the beginning of each body paragraph, clearly state your reason. Avoid using a hook, get to the just point. Next, state your details one after another, expanding each one of these to 3 or four sentences. You can expand by including a example that is personal your lifetime. Including personal examples from your daily life into the essay is okay. In reality, i will suggest it.
- Attempt to use transitional phrases in betwixt your details (“moreover,” “furthermore,” “also”).
Listed here is an illustration body paragraph made making use of the outline that is above
“to start with, a pet is an extremely gift that is educational. Having a pet teaches children responsibility. A pet has to be fed every and be given a chance to exercise day. The master of a pet even offers to see or watch the ongoing health of their pet and do something if it becomes sick. Practicing this type or type of responsibility will likely make a young child more mature. Moreover, a pet can really help teach a young child concerning the stages of life. Animals grow even faster than humans and a young child can learn a great deal by observing how their pet grows up. I had a pet gecko as a young child and watching it grow from an infant to a adult that is full-sized me a lot and got me very interested in biology and nature.”
Remember that the outline was followed by this paragraph above quite closely. I stated my reason after which supported it with details. I expanded the information significantly through the point-form utilized in my outline.
My second body paragraph is created in much the way that is same
“Secondly, personally i think that a pet makes great friend. It really is advantageous to children to own pets because they’re never judgmental. A young child could have a bad day at school or he could get in a fight with his friends, but he can never fight together with pet. It shall love him unconditionally. Furthermore, pets can prevent children from being lonely. These days parents are often too busy to pay time due to their children. They often leave their kids home alone. This may leave some kids feeling lonely, but people that have pets will never feel alone.“
And that’s the entire body of my essay! Look closely at the way I used words that are transitional”moreover” and “furthermore”) in the middle the two details in each paragraph.
I’m not a large fan of lengthy concluding paragraphs, primarily because the essay that is independent pretty short. But i actually do teach a three sentence technique:
- Sentence one: re-state your point that is main and with a phrase like “to sum it up…”
- Sentence two: restate your two reasons, starting with a phrase that is transitional “this is because…”
- Sentence three: yet again, restate your main point but use different words
Here’s a conclusion for the essay we’ve been using the services of:
“To sum it up, personally i think that a pet may be the very best gift to offer to a kid. This is because pets are particularly educational, and so they make great friends. There really is no better gift that a young child can receive than a pet.”