Another Story (cont.)

Let's continue with our Space Odyssey and Star War crossover essay. The topic I was writing about is:

The money spent on space research has brought enormous benefits to mankind, but it could be more usefully applied. How far do you agree?

In the previous post, I have already written my introduction and two supporting paragraphs. According to our 5-paragraph structure, I still need a third body paragraph to talk about the opposite point of view and one conclusion.

For the third body paragraph, we need the following two elements:

1) Opposing argument - one sentence is enough
2) Rebuttal - be brief, normally two sentences

Those who harbour the view that funds for space research should be spent elsewhere might suggest that there are other problems in our society that need money more urgently, for instance, poverty and burdens in education and medical sectors. However, while space research might seem less pressing an issue, it could also offer creative, alternative and possibly more sustainable solutions to our current problems. From this perspective, space research is absolutely relevant to our current and future social development.

Compared to the previous two body paragraphs, this one should be a little shorter. It is important to bear in mind this ratio because our word limit is 250 words. A merit for follow the 5-paragraph approach is that you will definitely meet the word count. A demerit of the structure is that if you write too much in the third body paragraph, your essay will very likely be too long. As long as your marker has the right to lower your grade when your essay is 30 words or more off-limit, it is always wise to restrain yourself from over-expanding your paragraphs, especially the third body paragraph.

Finally, for conclusion, we should include two things as well:
1) Paraphrase your stand in one sentence
2) A projection to the future - one to two sentences

In conclusion, I believe science research deserves financial investment, insofar as it would provide valuable insights into the survival of the human race. Thus, governments should seriously consider budgeting funds for this field. It is indeed time to adopt farsighted approaches in planning for our planet's future.

A trick to construct a high sounding final statement is to give some advice to governments regarding school education, investment or community program. They make sound like empty statements, but they do work. 

So it's not that hard to write a well-organised essay after all. More on coherence and cohesion next time. 

Anyone following Le Tour de France these days? I watch a bit. Since I'm on this "futuristic" essay topic, let me tell you about a new invention for cyclists. It is the INVISIBLE HELMET. What? Well, it is actually an airbag device that you wear like a scarf around your neck when you cycle. When an accident happens, the airbag will pop out to wrap around your head like a helmet. Sounds cool, doesn't it? It has already been approved in many European countries but Australia is yet to have it. I would really be interested in getting one when they do arrive. God knows I'm a clumsy cyclist...

Proper Planning

Hands up if you have had the following experience:

You are in your warm bed 5 o'clock in the morning and in your dreamy state you hear a storm roaring outside. Then suddenly, somewhere in your brain a voice emerges, it asks, "Have you put the garbage bins out for collection?"
You hate to admit it but the answer is "no". 
The voice continues, "You should put them out now before the garbage truck comes." 
That's true, but it's freezing cold outside and rainy too. 
"If you don't take them out now, you will be stuck with stinky garbage for a week and you will regret." 
Since the voice shows no mercy, you get up, get dressed, and venture into the stormy darkness to wheel the lovely bins. When you head back in, you are all wet and shivering like mad. There's no way to go back to sleep.

The above experience happened to me last Tuesday morning. Did anyone read on the news that Victoria was ripped by a "weather bomb" that day with winds of up to 130 km per hour?

Yarra River flooded its banks 24/6/2014

Interesting story. And the moral of the story is: Plan. Ahead.

IELTS task 2 writing requires us to write a 250 word essay to discuss an issue. We should allocate no more than 40 mins on that so a decent essay plan is very important because it would increase your efficiency. Basically, there are three types of question: 

1. Do you agree or disagree with the statement?

2. What's your opinion regarding the point of view?

3. What are the causes for the problem and what are the effects/possible solutions? 

Regardless of how they put their question, I would suggest writing 5 paragraphs. For the first two types, we can make a plan like this:

Para 1: Intro (paraphrase the question and state your opinion)

Para 2: Supporting reason 1 

Para 3: Supporting reason 2

Para 4: The opposite point of view and your rebuttal against it

Para 5: Conclusion

For type 3, we make a slightly different plan based on the 5-paragraph structure:

Para 1: Intro (paraphrase the question and make a general statement about the causes of the problem)

Para 2: Cause 1 

Para 3: Cause 2

Para 4: Effects/ Possible solutions

Para 5: Conclusion

Why 5 paragraphs?

Well, there are so many ways to tackle an IELTS essay and many would suggest writing only two body paragraphs, hence a 4-paragraph structure. Nothing wrong with that. The advantage of putting three body paragraphs is to reduce the length of each paragraph so they are easier to handle. The fact is, many students tend to "get carried away" when they try to elaborate an idea within a paragraph. They tend to temporarily forget the main point of the argument as stated in their introduction; as a result, the ideas presented in the body paragraphs do not answer the question.

Let me show you how it works with an example in the next post :)