#IELTS Writing Task 2: recycling your arguments (wisely) 📝
If you've been following IELTS long enough (teaching, preparing, reading social media posts), you will have noticed that some IELTS essay topics look strikingly similar.
For example:
1️⃣ Some people believe that it is best to encourage children to have a healthy diet at school while others believe that parents should be the ones to teach children to have a healthy diet. Discuss both views and give your opinion.
2️⃣ Some believe that it is parents who should teach their children to recycle waste while others feel schools are more responsible. Discuss both views and give your own opinion.
If you've written one essay, do you think you can use the same ideas in the other?
I think you can, but. (There is always a but.) You can use the same basic idea, but you need to "stuff" it with different lexis and examples.
As usual, let's compare.
1️⃣ Generalized ideas for any parents vs. schools topic
First, parents are a much bigger authority to children than teachers, so children are more likely to trust what their parents say or do. Besides, children spend significantly more time at home than at school, which means the daily habits of their family will overshadow those encouraged elsewhere. What is more, by the time children go to school, their habits are already largely formed, so it's unlikely that one class or one teacher will be able to instill new ones.
All of these are good ideas but they are too generalized. Let's make them more topic-specific.
2️⃣ Parents and a healthy diet
First, parents are a much bigger authority to children than teachers, so children are more likely to trust what their parents say or do. If, for example, parents consume coke or chips on a regular basis, repeatedly promulgating the idea that such simple pleasures in life won’t hurt, children will perceive such habits as normal. By the same token, if parents eschew unhealthy foods, promoting the idea that a person’s health is largely defined by the food they consume, children will too.
3️⃣ Parents and recycling
First, parents are a much bigger authority to children than teachers, so children are more likely to trust what their parents say or do. If, for example, parents do not separate garbage, repeatedly promulgating the idea that recycling is a scam because all garbage ends up in the same landfill, children will acquire the same attitude. If, on the other hand, parents make sure to look for a PET trash can in the city and never discard plastic bottles into general waste, children will do the same even without any lectures about the environment.
See? If you write enough IELTS essays, you will know that you can recycle many generalized arguments. Just make sure to make them specific to the IELTS topic in front of you.
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