6.2. Discussion Essays
Report each view in its own paragraph, then give your own opinion in a sentence the examiner can find, one step at a time.
You should spend about 40 minutes on this task.
Some people believe that children should be given pocket money to help them learn how to manage money, while others think children should not deal with money until they are older.
Discuss both these views and give your own opinion.
Give reasons for your answer and include any relevant examples from your own knowledge or experience.
Write at least 250 words.
The short version
Discuss both these views and give your own opinion is two jobs: report each view, then take a side.
You write at least 250 words in about 40 minutes.
Each view gets its own body paragraph, with a reason and an example.
Your opinion is one sentence the examiner can find, in the introduction and again in the conclusion.
What you have to do
The test shows two opposing views, then the task line Discuss both these views and give your own opinion. You write at least 250 words in about 40 minutes. It is marked on whether it does both jobs, on how clearly it is organised, on vocabulary and on grammar. An essay that reports both views and never chooses has done half the task.
Reporting a view you do not hold
Report means explain why people hold the view, in their terms: Supporters argue that, Those who take this view believe. It does not mean agree, and it does not mean mock. One reason and one example make a fair paragraph. Your own opinion then answers it, in your own voice: I share this view or I find this less convincing, because.
Step by step
- 1Read the question and find the task line
The task line is the words after the two views. In the task above it is Discuss both these views and give your own opinion. Then split the two views: pocket money to learn to manage money against no money until older. Those two halves are your two body paragraphs.
- 2Decide what the task demands: both views and an opinion
Three things must appear. A paragraph explaining why people hold view A. A paragraph explaining why people hold view B. And one sentence saying which you hold. Decide your side in the plan: I agree with the first view, with a limit on the amount. Write it down before you write a word of the essay.
- 3Paraphrase the question in your introduction
Sentence one gives the two views in your own words: Some parents give children a weekly allowance so they learn to budget, while others keep money out of childhood entirely. Sentence two gives your opinion, plainly: I believe the first approach is better, provided the sum is small.
- 4Decide what to leave out
Leave out a third view. Leave out a paragraph that only lists advantages and disadvantages, which is another essay type's shape. Leave out a story about your own childhood. Each body paragraph is one reason, a because, and one example. Two reasons per view is too many for 250 words.
- 5If you are stuck, use the fallback plan
Write four paragraphs. Introduction: both views paraphrased, then your opinion. Body 1: view A, one reason, an example. Body 2: view B, one reason, an example, then one sentence saying why you find it more or less convincing. Conclusion: your opinion again, in different words.
Quiz time5 questions
Each drill gives you the task line or the sentences it needs, so nothing has to be looked up. Practise one judgement at a time.
Name the type from the task line
Ignore the topic. Read the words after the statement and choose the essay type they set.
Read thisSome people say that parents should decide the career their children follow. Others believe young people should choose for themselves. Discuss both views and give your opinion.
Which essay type does this task line set?
Which sentence states your opinion?
Read the task, then choose the sentence the examiner can mark as the writer's own view.
Read thisTask: Some people believe that history is the most important school subject, while others think science matters more. Discuss both these views and give your own opinion.
Which sentence does the give your own opinion job?
Spot the paragraph that answers the wrong type
Each line is the first sentence of a paragraph. One paragraph belongs to a different essay type. Choose it.
Read thisTask: Some people think cities should build new housing on their edges, while others believe old buildings in the centre should be converted. Discuss both these views and give your own opinion.
Which sentence contains the error?
Pick the plan that does both jobs
Read the task, then choose the plan that reports both views and gives an opinion.
Read thisTask: Some people think that children should start school at four, while others believe they should start at seven. Discuss both these views and give your own opinion.
Which plan does both jobs?
Write the introduction only
Two sentences. Put both views in your own words, then give your opinion. Do not start the first body paragraph.
Read thisSome people think that public libraries should only lend books, while others believe they should also offer computers and community events. Discuss both these views and give your own opinion.
Write the introduction for this task.
0 / 25 words
Set up your learning path at the top of this lesson to get band-specific feedback.
The full model
Below is the plan and one body paragraph for a second discussion question, written the way the five steps produce them. Read the plan first, then find the sentence in the paragraph where the writer's own opinion appears.
Some people say universities should focus on skills that help graduates get a job. Others say students should study a wide range of subjects. Discuss both these views and give your own opinion.
View A: job-focused courses shorten the gap between graduating and a first job (a one-year clinic placement for nurses). View B: a broad first year lets students change field (a history student who later trains in policy). My opinion (in the introduction, again at the end of body 2, and in the conclusion): a broad first year, then a clearly vocational final year.
Both views get a fair paragraph. The examiner can still find your opinion in one sentence.
Supporters of a broad first year argue that many 18-year-olds do not yet know the job they will hold at 30, so a year of history, language, or science keeps that door open. I share that view, with one condition: a vocational final year can still teach the clinic or studio skill, once the student has chosen it.
- TaskView B is reported fairly, not mocked.
- TaskThe writer's own opinion is visible. A discussion essay without this sentence has done only half the task.
Coloured text shows what the examiner is looking for.
Your turn to write1 question
Plan both views and a lean
Notes, not full sentences. Cover both views, then say which side you come down on. Use reasons of your own, not the ones in the plan above.
Some people say universities should focus on skills that help graduates get a job. Others say students should study a wide range of subjects. Discuss both these views and give your own opinion.
Set up your learning path at the top of this lesson to get band-specific feedback.
Tips
- Put the view you disagree with first
Report it fairly in body 1, then give the view you share in body 2 and end that paragraph with your opinion. The essay then flows towards your side instead of away from it.
- Use reporting verbs for the views, and *I* for your own
Supporters argue, critics point out mark a view as someone else's. I believe marks yours. The examiner can then see which sentences are the report and which are the opinion.
Recap
Find the task line and split the two views. Each gets a body paragraph with one reason and one example.
Decide your opinion before you write, and put it in the introduction and the conclusion.
Leave out a third view and the advantages-and-disadvantages shape. Report fairly, then choose.
Next: essays about advantages and disadvantages.