Writing styles ∞ Descriptive ∞ Opinion-based ∞ Creative ∞ Email communication
Agree or disagree (مع أو ضد) style essays, can include the following
The advantages and disadvantages (of something)
The costs and benefits (of something)
Two different opinions (about something)
Two choices (about something)
Remember, the task is not the same as the subject area.
The following exam prompt, suggested structure and sample answer is targeted to those whose level of English is pre-intermediate:
Do you agree or disagree?
Give two specific reasons with examples to support your opinion.
Subject area = Employment/Society/Culture
Statement reworded = “Should all careers be open to women”
Opinion sentence = “I agree with the idea that women should pursue any career that they like.”
The Introduction paragraph
Good introductions need to have three parts. This means they must have three or more sentences:
1. | General background information (on the subject) |
2. | An opinion sentence (where you state your opinion on the specific subject of the prompt) |
3. | Thesis statement (where you tell the reader what you are going to write about) |
e.g. | These days, boys and girls have all sorts of dreams and job ambitions and more and more women are now doing jobs that were once mostly done by men. Therefore, I completely agree with the point of view that women should pursue any career that they like. There are many reasons for my opinion, however, in this essay I will give two. The first reason is because this helps the economy develop and improve, and secondly there is no difference between men and women in terms of abilities and skills. |
The Body paragraphs
In agree/disagree style opinion-based essays, you will need to provide several reasons to support your opinion. For each reason you provide, you will need a separate paragraph. Each body paragraph must have at least three parts (and therefore have three or more sentences):
1. | Topic sentence (in a few words, summarise the reason you will write about in this paragraph) |
2. | Explanation; explain the reasons and give more details about it |
3. | Example; provide one or more examples to illustrate your reason |
e.g. | The first reason I will focus on is to do with the economy, the UAE needs to employ men and women in many different industries. I will explain, the country is developing and there are now many different businesses that need lots of different skills, the government needs to employ nationals who have those skills, it is not important if they are male or female. For instance, last year I saw in the newspaper that Etihad Airline now has two female Emirati pilots as well as several Emirati male pilots, both men and women can fly planes if they want to. |
The Conclusion paragraph
The conclusion paragraph needs to summarise the subject of the essay, your opinion and, the reasons you gave to support your opinion. It also needs to provide some recommendations/suggestions. Therefore, it must have three (or more) sentences:
1. | Summarise what the essay was about |
2. | Re-state your opinion and then summarise the reasons you gave (Past Tense) |
3. | Provide some suggestions that are related to the subject/your opinion |
e.g. | To sum up. this essay focused on the subject of women and work in the UAE. I think that women should be allowed to do any job they want so long as they have the right skills. I gave two reasons to support my viewpoint, the first one was it benefits the economy and secondly, there is no difference between men and women in terms of ability. Therefore, I suggest that society and families support women in achieving their work-related ambitions and dreams. |
Model essays
Agree/Disagree: Should all careers be open to women?
Agree/Disagree: Should university students have their own bedrooms?
Practice
For each of the example prompts below, we will need to do a number of things before we actually write an essay. Firstly, we need to decide what the general subject area is and, how we can re-write the statement. Secondly we will need to think of several reasons to agree and, several reasons to disagree.
Agree/disagree prompts are written in many different ways (“key” task words are in purple):
Prompt 01:
Do you agree or disagree?
Give two specific reasons with examples to support your opinion.
Prompt 02:
Do you agree or disagree?
Give two specific reasons with examples to support your opinion.
Prompt 03:
Do you agree or disagree?
Give two specific reasons with examples to support your opinion.
Prompt 04:
Discuss the benefits this will bring and also the problems.
STYLE: Cause/Effect, Agree/Disagree SUBJECT AREA: Language and Culture, Science and Technology
Prompt 05:
To what extent has television positively or negatively affected cultural development in your country?
STYLE: Cause/Effect, Agree/Disagree SUBJECT AREA: Language and Culture, Science and Technology
Prompt 06:
What are the main advantages and disadvantages of reducing the working week to thirty five hours?
STYLE: Advantage/Disadvantage, Agree/Disagree SUBJECT AREA: Employment and money, Globalisation
Prompt 07:
What are the advantages and disadvantages of the building new towns in the countryside?
STYLE: Advantage/Disadvantage, Agree/Disagree SUBJECT AREA: Environmental issues, Governmental issues
Prompt 08:
To what extent do you agree?
STYLE: Agree/Disagree, Advantage/Disadvantage SUBJECT AREA: Governmental issues, Environmental issues
Prompt 09:
What is your opinion?
STYLE: Agree/Disagree SUBJECT AREA: Gender, Family & Parenting, Globalisation
Prompt 10:
Discuss.
STYLE: Agree/Disagree, Problem/Solution SUBJECT AREA: Health issues, Governmental issues, Gender, Family & Parenting
Prompt 11:
Which do you believe is the best system?
STYLE: Agree/Disagree, Advantage/Disadvantage SUBJECT AREA: Employment and money, Globalisation, Governmental issues
Prompt 12:
Give your opinion.
STYLE: Agree/Disagree, Cause/Effect SUBJECT AREA: Employment and money, Globalisation, Language and culture
Prompt 13:
Discuss.
STYLE: Agree/Disagree SUBJECT AREA: Employment and money, Globalisation, Governmental issues
Prompt 14:
Which opinion do you agree with?
STYLE: Agree/Disagree SUBJECT AREA: Science and technology, Media and advertising, Law and order
Prompt 15:
Discuss the likely costs and benefits of making university education more vocationally orientated.
STYLE: Advantage/Disadvantage, Cause/Effect SUBJECT AREA: Education, Governmental issues, Employment and money
Prompt 16:
Discuss the potential advantages and disadvantages of such a move.
STYLE: Advantage/Disadvantage, Cause/Effect SUBJECT AREA: Education, Governmental issues, Sport and pastimes
Prompt 17:
Do the advantages of this outweigh the disadvantages?
STYLE: Advantage/Disadvantage SUBJECT AREA: Education, Language and Culture, Governmental issues
Prompt 18:
To what extent do you agree?
STYLE: Agree/Disagree SUBJECT AREA: Education, Employment and money, Governmental issues
Prompt 19:
Discuss both these views and give your own opinion.
STYLE: Agree/Disagree SUBJECT AREA: Health issues, Governmental issues
Prompt 20:
To what extent do you agree or disagree with this opinion?
STYLE: Agree/Disagree SUBJECT AREA: Language and Culture, Globalisation
Prompt 21:
Describe some of the problems over reliance on can can have and suggest at least one possible solution.
STYLE: Problem/Solution, Advantage/Disadvantage SUBJECT AREA: Environmental issues, Travel and transport