PARAGRAPH 1 : INTRODUCTION:

 Make a general statement. Do NOT express your own opinions yet.

“_______ is a topic that divides (public) opinion.”

“Some people claim that ……….. whereas others believe that…..

“_______ is an issue that causes a great deal of debate (in society) …..”

“It is easy to understand why so many people disagree on the subject of ______ as there are so many conflicting
positions.”

“_______ is not a straight forward topic and we need to take different points into consideration before making any
conclusions.”

“______ has been a fiercely debated topic now for quite a long time.”

“_______ has been controversial for quite a long time.”

“The topic of __________ has caused quite a few arguments over the years.”

“The topic of __________ has caused a great deal of debate for a long time.”

“Although many people would argue that _________, the opposite position / stance must also be considered.”

“Despite ______ being quite a complicated issue, we must try to have a balanced debate of the facts.”

PARAGRAPHS 2 and 3 : CONTENT POINTS 1 and 2

 Introduce the content points using a paragraph for each one and do some analysis.

“As far as _______ is concerned…”

“If our attention is turned to _____, we would have to say that….”

“As regards the topic of _____”

“If ______ is to be considered, we would have to say that….”

“It is often said that ________”

“________ is often said to be….”

DON’T FORGET TO USE MORE SOPHISTICATED CLAUSES…..like…

“Although it could be argued that ………, we should also consider that….

“Despite the fact that ……………..

“Not only is …………………, but also it is …………”

“While it is true to say that……, it could similarly be claimed that …..

 PARAGRAPH 4: YOUR CONTENT POINT

 Introduce your content point with one of the following:

“Another point that must not be forgotten is __________”

“Finally, it is important not to overlook / forget ________”

“Another point to bear in mind is ________”

“Another thing to take into account is ________”

“Another thing that has to be taken into account is _______________”

“One aspect that we have to bear in mind is _______”

You can introduce your opinions in paragraph 5:

Personal opinion:

“As far as I am concerned…” “From my point of view…” “From my experience…..”

“As far as I can tell from my experience….” “To the best of my knowledge”

“As far as I am aware…..” “As far as I know…..” “Speaking for myself…..”

General opinion:

“On the whole it is thought that…..” “It is generally accepted that…..”

FINAL PARAGRAPH (Paragraph 5):

 CONCLUSION: Using general and personal opinion vocab (above).

Begin the conclusion with one of these sentences…

“On balance, it seems that ….” “To sum up, it seems clear that…”

“In conclusion, it would appear that…….” “If a conclusion is to be made on the subject…”

“The most logical conclusion to reach is that …..

“Although some people might not agree with me, I would reach the conclusion that…..

You can mix the conclusion structures with opinion structures:

“From my point of view, I feel that the most sensible conclusion is that …….. because …..”