Writing
Opinnion essay
Mgr. Simona Sikorová
Znojmo
What is an opinion
essay?
• We write an opinion essay to say what we think
about a subject. We only give our opinion, not
others points of view.
Organization
Introduction
Introduce the problem and your opinion
1 paragraph
Main body
•Arguments (1 paragraph = 1 argument)
a few paragraphs
•Begin the paragraphs with:
Firstly/first and foremost; secondly/ what is more;
thirdly and finally/sum up
•Give your reasons and add 1-2 arguments for
the opposite view and explain it/ them
Conclusion
1 paragraph
•A summary of what you write in the middle
paragraphs in a different words
•No new arguments
Style
•
•
•
•
Should be formal, neutral and without agressive tones
No colloquial language (children can get really naughty…)
No contractions ( haven´t, they´re…)
Do not write emotional expression and exclamation marks
(stupid commercials, totally magical , supercool toys!!…)
Example of bad essay about „Advertisement aimed at children
should be banned.“
• „Kids watch all those stupid commercials on TV, in wchich
trashy pink plastic toys looks supercool and totally magical,
and they´re being used by great corporations to get their
parents to spend their hard-earned money.
What´s more, when children start desiring the things they ses
in the ads, they can get really naughty…“
Example of a good essay
“There is too much football on TV. Do you agree?“
Every time I turn on the television, I am sure to find a football match on one of the channels. If I change channels,
there will probably be football on other channels too, especially at the weekend. In my opinion there is definitely
too much football on TV for the following reasons.
Firstly, if you compare football with other sports, football completely dominates. The only place where you can watch
other sports is on special sports channels, which you usually have to pay for. This is not fair for people who like
other sports, for example tennis, basketball, or athletics.
Secondly, the football matches on TV are not only the important matches. Every week they show boring matches from
the second or third divisions.
Thirdly, I also believe that, at weekends, most people want to relax in front of the television. Many people, including
me, do not like football and prefer to see good films or funny series.
Finally, I think that even on news programmes there is too much football. It is very annoying when they talk about
football for hours every day, especially when there are more importatn things happening in the world.
Instead, I think TV should show fewer football matches and programmes about football, especially at the weekend.
To conclude it should show other sports too, and more films. On news programmes they should talk about important
things that are happening
When you finish
Check your essay for mistakes in
• grammar
• punctuation
• spelling
Homework
´Advertisement aimed at children should be banned.´
Write an essay in which you give your opinion on the topic.
References
• Latham-Koenig,Ch., Oxenden,C., Selingson,P.:
English File, Pre-intermediate Student´s Book 3rd
Edition; Oxford 2012.ISBN 978-01-9459-8651
• Hastings,B., Umińska,M., Chandler,D. Exam
Accelerator; Pearson Central Europe Sp.z o.o
2011.ISBN 978-83-7600-04