Essay writing in English (practical tips)

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Essay writing in English (practical tips)

• Elena Velikaya, Doctor of Philology,
  Professor in the Faculty of Economics (English
  Language Department), ICEF English Coordinator,
  National Research University Higher School of
  Economics
• E-mail evelikaya_at_hse.ru

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IELTS exam type of essay

• Text structure
• Introduction
• 1. Topic sentence introduces the subject, why
  it is important
• 2. Scope of answer (First, this essay will
  analyse , then it will look at and, finally,
  it will examine )

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Main part

• First main idea (Some people think ), argument,
  example
• Second main idea (Other people think ),
  argument, example
• Third main idea (At the same time ), argument,
  example
• (analysis of advantages and disadvantages, for
  and against arguments)

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Conclusion

• 1. Summary (In conclusion, )
• 2. Personal viewpoint (I think )

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Practice (Essay title)

• There are many different types of music in
• the world today. Why do we need music? Is
• traditional music of a country more
• important than international music that is
• heard everywhere nowadays?
• You should write at least 250 words.

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Practice (Essay title)

• The idea of having a single career is
  becoming an old fashioned one. The new fashion
  will be to have several careers or ways of
  earning money and further education will be
  something that continues throughout life.
• You should write at least 250 words.

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Marriages and divorces in the USA, 1970-2000
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Introductory paragraph

• The diagram shows the number of marriages and
  divorces in the USA from 1970 to 2000. The
  vertical axis shows the number of people in
  millions. The horizontal axis compares four
  years 1970, 1980, 1990, 2000.

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Comment

• As can be seen from the diagram, the number
  of marriages in 1970 accounted for 2,5 million
  people. On the other hand, the number of divorces
  in the same year was two and a half times less,
  and accounted for 1 million people.

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Conclusion

• In conclusion, from 1970 to 2000 in the USA
  there was a slight decrease in marriages, whereas
  the number of divorces in the same period
  remained the same.

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Inflation rate
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Introductory paragraph

• The graph shows changes in inflation between May
  1999 and May 2001.The vertical axis illustrates
  the percentage of inflation and the horizontal
  the given period of time.

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Comment

• As can be seen from the graph, in May 1999 the
  rate of inflation accounted for 10. It remained
  constant till July 1999, which was followed by a
  slight decrease when the rate of inflation
  constituted 8. From October 1999 till March 2000
  there was a dramatic increase in the rate of
  inflation when it reached nearly 32. After a
  marked fluctuation from March 2000 till October
  2000 the rate of inflation reached its peak of
  33.

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Comment (continuation)

• Between October 2000 and February 2001 there was
  a sharp decrease. In fact, in February 2001 the
  rate of inflation was approximately 17. This was
  followed by a steep rise till April 2001 when the
  inflation rate made up 22.

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Conclusion

• To conclude, during the period from May 1999 till
  May 2001 the trend in the rate of inflation was
  upward.

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Family weekly expenditure in 2010 in Russia
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Introductory paragraph

• The pie-chart shows weekly expenditure of an
  average family in Russia in 2010.

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Comment

• As can be seen from the pie-chart, by far the
  largest part of family budget in Russia in 2010
  was spent on food. In fact, spendings on food
  accounted for 28 or approximately 1/3 of the
  budget. At the same time, the expenditure on
  entertainment, housing and clothing made up 18,
  16 and 14, respectively which is almost 10 less
  than on food. On the other hand, the expenses on
  alcoholic drinks and other goods and services
  together constituted only 5.

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Conclusion

• To conclude, in 2010 the biggest part of the
  family budget in Russia was spent on food and the
  smallest on alcoholic drinks and other goods
  and services.

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Average distance in miles travelled per person
per year, by mode of travel
1985 2000
Walking 255 237
Bicycle 51 41
Car 3,199 4,806
Local bus 429 274
Long distance bus 54 124
Train 289 366
Taxi 13 42
Other 450 585
All modes 4,740 6,475
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Introductory paragraph

• The table shows differences between average
  distance in miles travelled per person per year
  by different modes of travel in 1985 and 2000.

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Comment

• As can be seen from the table, the biggest change
  was in travelling by car. In fact, it increased
  by approximately 1,600 miles per person. At the
  same time, the largest decrease occurred in
  travelling by local bus which accounted for 155
  miles. In addition, an increase in average
  distance travelled by other modes of travel made
  up 135 miles.

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Comment (continuation)

• In contrast, the smallest changes were in
  travelling by bicycle, by walking and by taxi.
  Specifically, the average distance travelled by
  bicycle decreased by 10 miles and travelling by
  walking dropped by 18 miles. Taxi was more
  favoured in 2000 the average distance travelled
  by this means of transport increased by 29 miles
  per person.

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Conclusion

• In conclusion, the biggest changes were in
  travelling by car and the smallest in
  travelling by bicycle. Travelling by all means of
  travel, however, increased in 2000.