AN OPINION ESSAY

When do we write a for and against

essay?

 We write an opinion essay to say what we

think about a subject. We only give our
opinion, not other points of view.
 1. Structure
 In the introductory paragraph, explain the
statement and give your opinion about it.
 In the next one or two paragraphs, give
reasons for your opinion
 In the last paragraph, summarise your
opinions
 Introduce each paragraph with a topic
sentence, outlining the main ideas.
 2. Content
 Give simple facts and examples to support
your ideas
 As well, give specific reasons to support
opinions.
 Do not write about advantages and
disadvantages or points for or against.
 3. Useful Language
 Giving an opinion:
 In my opinion,…
 Personally, I think…
 I believe that…
 I feel very strongly that…
 To my mind…
 I (completely) agree
 disagree with…
 it seems to me that…
 Giving facts:
 It is a fact that…
 It is widely known that…
 There is/are definitely…
 It is true that…
 Referring to other people’s ideas:
 Many people say…
 Many people believe that…
 Reason and Result:
 This is because…
 As a result, …
 Therefore…
 My main reason is…
 Another reason is…
 Addition:
 What’s more, …
 In addition, …
  Furthermore, …
 Moreover, …
 Too
 As well
 Also
 Concluding:
 To sum up, …
 To conclude, …
 In conclusion, …
 It is clear that…
 4. Sample
TOP SPORTS PEOPLE TODAY EARN TOO MUCH MONEY. DISCUSS

Top sports people today earn huge amounts of money and in the future
they’ll probably earn much more. I don’t think there’s anything wrong with
this at all.

Sport today is big business. As a result a lot of business people make a lot
of money from it. In my opinion top sports people should be free to make a
lot of money from sport as well. If they’re the best in their sport, they
should therefore be paid a lot. Secondly, they can only play their sport for
a short time. For this reason they should be able to earn as much as
possible while they can, in order to carry on living comfortably after they
stop. Top sports people can earn a lot from advertising and sponsorship too.
Consequently, I believe that it’s practically impossible to limit the money
they receive. Also, as far as I’m concerned, they are entertainers. Top
entertainers have always been paid extremely well, so it seems to me that
top sports people should be paid well too, so as to reward them for the
pleasure they give us.

In conclusion, I don’t think that top sports people earn too much money
because they deserve it. It is also clear that we couldn’t stop them anyway.