This guide is for low-level students writing their TOEFL that is first independent. Advanced students may 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)
Begin by making an overview of your essay. Glance at the picture below:
The student starts by writing a point that is“main at the top of the chart. It 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 never too specific. However, they need to be unique. The reason why really should not be comparable to one another.
The student writes two “details. below each one of the reasons” These are more specific. They support the good reasons and explain why they have cited the reasons. They may also include examples through the student’s life that support the causes.
Here’s an example outline for the question: “What is the best gift to give to a young child?” It was compiled by an actual student. Look at it closely:
The student has filled within the outline using point-form notes (not complete sentences). Her main point is gift that is“Best pet.”
Her two reasons are “it is educational” and “it is a great friend.”
The main points through the reason that is first “learn responsibility” and “learn stages of life.” The important points from the reason that is second “never judgmental” and “children often alone these days.” The student has bigger ideas. this woman is planning to talk about how care that is taking of pet teaches responsibility and she actually is going to write that students are along because their parents tend to be away. nevertheless the outline is merely her initial ideas.
The remainder with this article will show how exactly to turn this outline into a essay that is complete. 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 independent writing section. This kind of essay is long enough and may be finished in the right time allowed. Higher level students might try writing a five essay that is paragraph.
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 strategy to write their introductions. The technique is it:
- Sentence one: A “hook.” This really is an sentence that is interesting comes before your main point. It references the relevant question and draws your reader to the essay.
- Sentence two: Your main point. In a single good, clear sentence state your primary point. Don’t be a long time. Get to the idea!
- Sentence three: A transitional sentence. Try something such as “I feel this real method for two reasons.”
- Sentence four: A one sentence summary of one’s first reason. Begin this sentence with “first” (you can leave this out if you are low on time).
- Sentence five: A one sentence summary of the second reason. Begin this sentence with “second” (you can leave this out if you should be low on time).
Talking about the relevant question above and using the given template, you could write an introduction similar to this:
“There are many great gifts http://edubirdies.org/buy-essay-online that can be provided to a child. I think that the gift that is best to give a child is a pet. I feel in this manner for 2 major causes, that I will explore into the essay that is following. First, a pet can be quite educational. Second, a pet could be an excellent friend to a young child.
Observe that there aren’t any references to your details in this paragraph. Save those when it comes to body paragraphs.
Next step: Writing a body paragraph
It’s your chance to show your essay off writing ability. I don’t teach a strict model for this area of the essay.
I actually do however, involve some rules that are basic. These are typically:
- Each reason gets a unique paragraph. Do not combine your reasons into one paragraph.
- Start very 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 physical body paragraph, clearly state your reason. Avoid using a hook, just arrive at the point. Next, state your details one after another, expanding every one to 3 or four sentences. You can easily expand by including a personal example from your daily life. Including examples that are personal your life into the essay is okay. In fact, i would recommend it.
- Attempt to use transitional phrases in in the middle of your details (“moreover,” “furthermore,” “also”).
Listed here is a good example body paragraph made making use of the above outline:
“to start with, a pet is a tremendously 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 owner of a pet has also to see the health of their pet and do something if it becomes sick. Practicing this sorts of responsibility can make a kid more mature. Moreover, a pet often helps teach a young child in regards to the stages of life. Animals grow even more quickly 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 child and watching it grow from a child to a full-sized adult taught me a lot and got me very thinking about biology and nature.”
Note that the outline was followed by this paragraph above quite closely. I stated my reason and then supported it with details. I expanded the main points significantly through the point-form found in my outline.
My second body paragraph is written in much the same way:
“Secondly, personally i think that a pet makes friend that is great. It is best for children to have pets since they are never judgmental. A kid may have a bad day at school or he may get in a fight together with his friends, but he can never fight with his pet. It will love him unconditionally. Furthermore, pets can possibly prevent children from being lonely. These days parents are often too busy to pay time along with their children. They often times leave their kids home alone. This could leave some kids feeling lonely, but individuals with pets will never feel alone.“
And that’s the body that is whole of essay! Focus on the way I used transitional words (“moreover” and “furthermore”) in between the two details in each paragraph.
I’m not a big fan of lengthy concluding paragraphs, primarily because the essay that is independent pretty short. But I do teach a three sentence technique:
- Sentence one: re-state your main point and commence with a phrase like “to sum it up…”
- Sentence two: restate your two reasons, you start with a transitional phrase like “this is because…”
- Sentence three: yet again, restate your point that is main but different words
Here’s a conclusion for the essay we’ve been using the services of:
“To sum it up, I feel that a pet is the absolute best gift to provide to a young child. The reason being pets have become educational, plus they make great friends. There actually is no better gift that a child can receive than a pet.”