WRITING A COMPOSITION

What exactly is a composition?

A composition is a text in which you are either supposed to give your opinion on an issue and support it with the help of reasonable arguments and striking examples, ...

What exactly is a composition?

... or illustrate a point by giving explanations and supporting them with striking examples.

The structure of a composition

• Introduction

• Main part

• Conclusion

The introduction ...

• ... gives the reader an idea what the composition is all about

• ... arouses the reader's interest in the topic

• ... often gives the writer's opinon on a controversial issue

Where to start from

• a personal anecdote

• a real or hypothetical example

• a question

• a quotation

• statistics

• a striking image or idea

Main part

• Use a new paragraph for each new idea.

• Start each paragraph with a topic sentence that summarizes the main idea of the paragraph.

Compositions can be roughly divided into three types

"Discuss" tasks

• When the topic wants you to "discuss", you should give pros and cons (at least one paragraph each!).

• The position you favour should be the one to end with.

"Explain" tasks

• When you are given the task to "explain and give examples", you should give about three arguments. (three body paragraphs)

• Start with the weaker argument and finish with the strongest.

"Give your opinion" tasks

• When the topic wants you to give your opinion on the issue, you can either discuss it and find your position in the conclusion (see discuss-tasks) or give your position right in the introduction and support it with several arguments.

Conclusion

• Don't just repeat yourself

• Don't present completely new arguments

• It is elegant to refer back to the introduction. If you asked a question in your introduction, this is the time to answer it.

!

• http://www.buowl.boun.edu.tr/students/Paragraph%20Writing%20Exercises.htm

• http://www.victoria.ac.nz/llc/academic-writing/index.html

• https://www.dlsweb.rmit.edu.au/lsu/content/4_WritingSkills/00writingskills.htm

• http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/606/1/

• http://ielts-simon.com/ielts-help-and-english-pr/ielts-writing-task-2/

Exercises and other resources on writing paragraphs

Links