2 BACHILLERATO

2013-2014

IES HOYA DE BUOL

TYPES OF ESSAYS
Essays or compositions can be written in different ways and are usually classified into
three main categories: article, a report, and a letter. This year we are going to
focus on articles.
ARTICLES:
Argumentative essays, usually about controversial subjects, which include:
- for-and-against essays, giving the opposing arguments for both sides (e.g. pros v.
cons)
- opinion essays, giving your personal opinion, and
Descriptive essays (about people, places, objects,events, etc)
Narrative essays or stories about real or imaginary events which happened in the
past.

HOW TO DO A WRITING TASK

1.BRAINSTORM FOR IDEAS

Read the task carefully.What kind of text are you going to write?
Make notes
Write all the ideas you can think of.

2.PLAN

Choose the best ideas

Think about useful language to include
Organise your ideas into a paragraph plan
EX Advantages and disadvantages of being famous
Par 1.introduction
Most people would like to be
famous but
Par 2.arguments for
Luxurious lifestyle.travelling
Par 3.arguments against
Photographers,no privacy,no time
for family
Par.4.conclusion
Not famous-happier.in spite of
money

3.WRITE

Use your paragraph plan as a guide

Use linkers to create longer sentences
Use variety of language:different structures,wide range of vocabulary..

4.CHECK

Have you fully answered the task?

Right number of words?
Is it easy to read and well-organized?
Have you avoided repetition?
Do your GRAMMAR,VOCABULARY,SPELLING AND WORD ORDER seem
correct?
Correct your composition and write it again if necessary.

3.COMMON ERRORS TO AVOID

1.adjectives She has blues eyes / He had a X dog white
(order opinion +size/age*colour+origin+material a beautiful new
glass table)
2.Articles/ determiners I would like to be * doctor
3.Modals : You mustnt to go there /he will can pass his exam
4.Negatives: I didnt see nobody
5.Prepositions: It depends of the weather
6.Word order: She closed quietly the door
7.Subject-verb agreement: The old woman walk
(remember compounds with ONE,BODY Nobody believes you)
8.Right connectors

She arrived late due to her mum was ill

9.Spelling Planing
10.Translation errors They live in Buol since 2009

4.WRITING AN ESSAY
1.THE OPENING we need to grab attention
a.Begin with a surprising fact
b.Begin with a short anecdote about real or imaginary events
c,Begin with a question

2.THE BODY develops the topic,each idea a separate paragraph

3.THE CLOSING summarizes the main idea or presents a conclusion.It
may be similar to the opening but presented in different words

ARGUMENTATIVE TEXTS Argumentation is the process of supporting or

weakening another statement whose validity is in question.

1.- What is the usual order of presenting an argument?

- Introduction: The topic is presented by making a general remark about
the topic. At this point , opinions shouldnt be provided:
One of the most controversial topics in our country these days is advertising in public
television. The fact that a new law which bans advertisements on TV has been passed by the
Spanish government has given rise to this controversy

- Main body: In this part the writer presents the points for and against
(in two different paragraphs) ; the proofs or evidence are explained with
facts, arguments, advantages and disadvantages. To list points, to
express cause, consequence, contrast, to provide examples, are the most
common ways to develop an argumentation.
Those who defend a state television without advertising argue that publicity on TV damages
its quality and it has a very bad influence on young viewers, who turn out to be, in most of the
cases, the main target of the advertising companies. According to the people in favour of a
free-commercial television, we all already pay our taxes for public services like this and
therefore/as a consequence, theres no need to get the money from advertising.
As for the advantages of advertising on television those who support it claim / assure that
commercials do no harm to viewers. Banning advertising is not the best way to prevent our
children from buying things and consumerism. Besides, advertising is everywhere and what
people must learn is how to deal with publicity. An additional advantage is that advertising
plays an important role in society: to inform people. How would we know the different products
if there were no adverts?. On top of that, if advertising can cover most of the expenses
television has, why not take advantage of that? The money we save because of advertising
could be set aside to cover other needs.

- Conclusion ( In short, In conclusion, to conclude; to sum up; all in all; all

things considered,..)
" All in all, and although I can see powerful reasons on both sides, I think we should better not
hide advertising to our children or students but show them instead how to face it and analyse it
by means of critical thinking and certain techniques

2.- What must we know to produce argumentation?

Different ways (by means of connectors and expressions) to show :
- Reason, cause and purpose,-Adding information and giving examples.
- Sequence or listing arguments or points,- Personal opinion.
- Contrast and comparison.- Conclusion.- Rephrasing.