Beginner’s Guide to the TOEFL Independent Essay
This guide is actually for low-level students writing their TOEFL that is first independent. Advanced students may decide to skip right to our advanced guide.
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(note, students pretty quickly may wish to skip directly to our TOEFL essay templates)
Start by making an overview of one’s essay. Look at the picture below:
The student starts by writing a point that is“main at the top of the chart. This might be her “answer” to your relevant question posed by the exam.
Underneath the main point the student writes two “reasons” to aid the main point. These are broad and never too specific. However, they need to be unique. The reason why shouldn’t be just like each other.
The student writes two “details. below each of the reasons” they are more specific. They support the good reasons and explain why they usually have cited the reasons. They may also include examples from the student’s life that support the causes.
Here’s an illustration outline for the question: “What is the best gift to give to a young child?” It had been published by an student that is actual. Think of it closely:
The student has filled in the outline point-form that is using (not complete sentences). Her main point is gift that is“Best pet.”
Her two reasons are “it is educational” and “it is an excellent friend.”
The details through the first reason are “learn responsibility” and “learn stages of life.” The information from the second reason are “never judgmental” and “children often alone these days.” The student has bigger ideas. she actually is going to write about how care that is taking of pet teaches responsibility and this woman is going to write that students are along because their parents in many cases are away. but the outline is merely her initial ideas.
The remainder for this article will show just how to turn this outline into a complete essay. I’ll use English that is simple throughout article. High level students should probably use more vocabulary that is advanced sentence structure.
I teach my students to create a four paragraph essay into the writing section that is independent. This kind of essay is long enough and can be finished in the right time allowed. High level students might try writing a five essay that is paragraph.
The four paragraph structure is:
- Introductory Paragraph
- Body Paragraph 1
- Body Paragraph 2
- Concluding Paragraph
Let’s start with the paragraph that is introductory
My students use a sentence-by-sentence way to write their introductions. The technique is this:
- Sentence one: A “hook.” That is an interesting sentence that comes before your primary point. It references the question and draws your reader in to the essay.
- Sentence two: most of your point. In one single good, clear sentence state most of your point. Don’t be a long time. Arrive at the point!
- Sentence three: a sentence that is transitional. Try something like “I feel this real means for two reasons.”
- Sentence four: a single sentence summary of the first reason. Begin this sentence with “first” (you can leave this out if you are low on time).
- Sentence five: a single sentence summary of one’s second reason. Begin this sentence with “second” (you can leave this out if you should be low on time).
Referring to the question above and with the given template, you might write an introduction such as this:
“There are many gifts that are great can be fond of a young child. I believe that the gift that is best to offer a kid is a pet. I feel because of this for 2 major causes, that we will explore into the following essay. First, a pet can be quite educational. Second, a pet can be a great friend to a child that is young.
Observe that there are not any references to your details in this paragraph. Save those for the body paragraphs.
Step three: Writing a physical body paragraph
It’s your possiblity to show off your essay writing ability. I don’t teach a model that is strict this part of the essay.
I actually do however, involve some rules that are basic. These are generally:
- Each reason gets its very own paragraph. Do not combine your reasons into one paragraph.
- Start your first paragraph with a transitional word or phrase like “first,” “to start with,” and your second paragraph with “second” or “secondly.”
- At the beginning of each body paragraph, clearly state your reason. Avoid using a hook, get to the just point. Next, state your details one after another, expanding each one to three or four sentences. You can expand by including a example that is personal your lifetime. Including personal examples from your life into the essay is okay. In fact, i will suggest it.
- Attempt to use transitional phrases in betwixt your details (“moreover,” “furthermore,” “also”).
Here’s an example body paragraph made using the above outline:
“To begin with, a pet is an extremely educational gift. Having a pet teaches children responsibility. A pet has got to be fed every day and stay given a chance to exercise. The owner of a pet even offers to see or watch the health of their pet and take action if it becomes sick. Practicing this types of responsibility will make a young child more aged. Moreover, a pet often helps teach a child about the stages of life. Animals grow considerably faster than humans and a young child can learn a lot by observing how their pet grows up. I had a pet gecko as a kid and watching it grow from a baby to a full-sized adult taught me a lot and got me very enthusiastic about biology and nature.”
Note that this paragraph followed the outline above quite closely. I stated my reason after which supported it with details. I expanded the facts significantly through the point-form used in my outline.
My second body paragraph is created in much the way that is same
“Secondly, personally i think that a pet makes friend that is great. It really is great for children to have pets because they are never judgmental. A young child may have a bad trip to school or he could be in a fight along with his friends, but he can never fight together with his pet. It will love him unconditionally. Furthermore, pets can possibly prevent children from being lonely. These days parents are often too busy to spend time with regards to children. They often times leave their kids home alone. This may leave some kids feeling lonely, but individuals with pets will feel alone. never“
And that’s the whole body of my essay! Focus on how I used words that are transitional”moreover” and “furthermore”) in between the two details in each paragraph.
I’m not a huge fan of lengthy concluding paragraphs, for the reason that the essay that is independent pretty short. But i really do teach a three sentence technique:
- Sentence one: re-state your main point and commence with a phrase like “to sum it up…”
- Sentence two: restate your two reasons, beginning with a transitional phrase like “this is because…”
- Sentence three: once more, restate your main point but use different words
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Here’s a conclusion for the essay we’ve been dealing with:
“To sum it up, I feel that a pet could be the absolute best gift to offer to a young child. It is because pets have become educational, plus they make great friends. There actually is no better gift that a young child can receive than a pet.”
