7. Đoạn văn miêu tả
8. Đoạn văn phân loại
9. Đoạn văn so sánh
10. Đoạn văn so sánh
Bài viết này hướng dẫn các bạn viết một bài Opinion Essay hoàn chỉnh. • Here is what you need to keep in mind in order to write a good opinion essay:
+ Decide your opinion as for the topic discussed.
+ Make a list of examples, viewpoints and reasons to support your opinion. + Write well-developed paragraphs
+ Use linking words and phrases to join the sentences and the paragraphs within the text.
+ Write in a formal style, introduce the topic clearly and state convincing arguments.
Normally, an opinion essay should be divided into 3 parts • Part 1: Open
In this part you should introduce the topic and state opinion clearly. You may want to use some of these expressions.
+ Some people claim/believe/say.... + It is sometimes said that...
+ The question is....
+ We often read/hear that...
+ In my opinion..., I strongly believe that..., I am in favor of..., it seems to me that....
+ From my point of view, as far as I can see, as I see it.... • Part 2: body
In this part you use examples and reasons to support your viewpoint (at least 2 paragraphs).You can also include a paragraph presenting the opposing point of view and reason why you think it is an unconvincing idea.
Some useful expressions - Making extra points + What's more... + In addition...
+ Furthermore, moreover....
- Introducing a contradictory point + Although, even though....
+ Despite...
+ Despite the fact that.... + However..
- Contrasting views for and against + On the one hand/side....on the other... + While it's true that...
+ You could also argue that... + Nevertheless..../ However...
+ One advantage..../ Another disadvantage is that.... • Part 3: Conclusion
In this part you should summarize the main points of the essay and restate your opinion in other words.
You may think of using some of these + On balance...,
+ I feel../I believe that.... + Summarizing...,
+ To sum up.../in conclusion../ + All in all, I believe that....
+ Given this, it can be concluded that...
Cách viết Introductory paragraph
Một Introductory paragraph có ba phần: Hook, Background information, Thesis statement.
1. Hook là câu đầu tiên ( câu đề, thường để dẫn người đọc vào topic của bài ): Làm thế nào để viết Hook? Thường có ba cách thông thường: - Make a question (Yes/No question hoặc Wh_question) - Give a statistic ( Theo số liệu thống kê cụ thể về một vấn đề nào đó hoặc đưa ra dẫn chứng của một tổ chức quốc tế nào đó)
- Make a statement.
Ex: Tôi có một topic như sau :" If you have a holiday, where would you like to go?"
Sau đây là những câu hook của mỗi cách trên: Theo Make a question: There are many famous places in the world, so which do
you prefer going?
Theo Give a statistic: Ha Long Bay not only is famous for its beautiful scene but also has been recognized as a World Heritage by the UNESCO. Theo Make a statement: There are a lot of ideal destinations in Viet Nam, but in my opinion, Ha Long Bay is the best one. 2. Background information: phần này có thể chiếm khoảng 2 câu, nhằm đưa thông tin chi tiết hơn 1 chút về những gì đã được đề cập trong câu hook. 3. Thesis statement : mục đích để controlling idea. Thường thì thesis statement sẽ quyết định xem bài essay của bạn sẽ có bao nhiêu
đoạn trong phần thân bài
Đây là một vd về thesis statement:
I'd like to visit Ha Long Bay for two main reasons:.... Nếu bạn nói là hai lí do chính, điều đó có nghĩa là phần thân bài của bạn sẽ có hai đoạn cho hai lí do đó. Nếu bạn nói for four reasons,... tức là thân bài sẽ có bốn đoạn. Câu thesis
statement quyết định bố cục của thân bài (body paragraph) Ngoài việc đưa ra con số cụ thể cho lí do, bạn còn có thể sử dụng những pronoun/adverb of quantity như: many, several, a number of, a lot of.
Ex: for many reasons,...
Đôi khi, trong topic sẽ có những câu hỏi nhận xét của bạn về một sự việc nào đó, nếu sự việc đó theo ý kiến của bạn có cả mặt tốt lẫn mặt xấu, thesis statement của bạn sẽ không đưa ra vì lí do gì, mà thường hay viết như sau: In my opinion, watching TV has advantages but it also includes disavantages. Sau đó, body paragraph của bạn thường có 2 đoạn, 1 là về advantages và còn lại
là về disavantages.
Thesis statement còn có thể viết như sau:
- I think, A, B and C are 3 main reasons... trong đó : A, B và C phải theo cấu trúc song song, nghĩa là A, B và C hoặc là cùng là Danh từ, hoặc là cùng là một cụm động từ ngắn. - There are three main reasons why people like smoking, in terms of/ naming A, B and C. Ex: Cho topic như sau "Why do you think people attend college or university?"
Sau đây là các thesis statement khác nhau của những người khác nhau: - In my opinion, there are three main reasons why people attend college or university: to be more independent, to get more experience and to widen knowledge. - There are many reasons why people attend college or university, in my opinion there are three main ones which are shown below. Sau đây là một số
mẫu paragraph:
- Why do peope need to attend college or university? Different peple have different answers to this question. I believe that the three most common reasons are to prepare for a career, to have new experiences, and to increase their knowledge of themselves and the world around them. - Nowadays, more and more people are trying to attend college or university. Different people do so for different reasons. Some typical reasons are new experiences, career preparation and increased knowledge. In my opinion, it is the fast development, almost explosion that make people consider to attend college
or university.
Hãy thử tập làm một đoạn introductory paragraph của những topic sau đây: 1, Why do you think people attend college or university? 2, Do you agree or disagree: parents are the best teacher? 3, If you could change one important thing about you hometown, what would you change?
Basic Paragraph Structure The Topic Sentence.
For example, suppose that you want to write a paragraph about the natural landmarks of your hometown. The first part of your paragraph might look
like this:
My hometown is famous for several amazing natural features. First, it is noted for the Wheaton River, which is very wide and beautiful. Also, on the other side of the town is Wheaton Hill, which is unusual because it is very steep.
(Notice how the first sentence begins with "My hometown..." a few spaces to the right of the paragraph edge. This is an indentation. All paragraphs in English MUST begin with an indentation.)
Note how the first sentence, My hometown, Wheaton, is famous for several
amazing geographical features,is the most general statement. This sentence
is different from the two sentences that follow it, since the second and third sentences mention specific details about the town's geography, and are not general statements.
Here are some examples of sentences that cannot be used as topic sentences. Can you figure out why they are inappropriate?
1. My hometown is famous because it is located by Wheaton River, which is very wide, and because it is built near an unusually steep hill called Wheaton Hill.
2. There are two reasons why some people like to buy cars with automatic transmission and two reasons why others like cars with manual transmission.
3. Clouds are white.
The problem with sentence #1 is that it contains too many details. Topic sentences are general, and details should appear later in the paragraph. A better topic sentence would be like the one mentioned above, My hometown
is famous for several amazing geographical features.
Sentence #2 is not appropriate as a topic sentence because it mentions two topics, not just one. Paragraphs are usually about one main thing and so their topic sentences should also be about only one main thing.
The problem with sentence #3 is that it is toogeneral. It is also very boring! Would you like to read a paragraph with this topic sentence? Most people would not.
We can rewrite sentences #2 and #3 in the following ways to make it better: • There are two reasons why some
people like to buy cars with automatic transmission.
OR (in a different paragraph):
• There are two reasons why some people like cars with manual transmission.
• The shapes of clouds are determined by various factors.
Supporting Sentences
Consider again the above-mentioned, short paragraph: My hometown, Wheaton, is famous for
several amazing natural features. First, it is noted for the Wheaton River, which is very wide and beautiful. Also, on the other side of the town is Wheaton Hill, which is unusual because it is very steep.
(Again, note how this paragraph is indented on the first line, about five or seven spaces in from the left-hand edge of the paragraph. Always remember to indent your paragraphs!)
When a reader reads a topic sentence, such as My hometown, Wheaton, is
famous for several amazing natural features,a question should usually
appear in the reader's mind. In this case, the question should be like, "What are the natural features that make Wheaton famous?" The reader should then expect that the rest of the paragraph will give ananswer to this question.
Now look at the sentences after the topic sentence. We can see that the second sentence in the paragraph, First, it is noted for the Wheaton River,
which is very wide and beautiful,indeed gives an answer to this question.
That is, the second sentence gives some explanation for the fact that Wheaton is a famous town. Similarly, we can see that the third sentence also gives some explanation for the fact that Wheaton is famous by giving another example of an "amazing natural feature," in this case, Wheaton Hill. The second and third sentences are called supporting sentences. They are called "supporting" because they "support," or explain, the idea expressed in the topic sentence. Of course, paragraphs in English often have more than two supporting ideas. The paragraph above is actually a very short paragraph. At minimum, you should have at leastfive to seven sentences
in your paragraph. Here we can see our paragraph about Wheaton with a
few more supporting sentences in bold font:
amazing natural features. First, it is noted for the Wheaton River, which is very wide and beautiful. Also, on the other side of the town is Wheaton Hill, which is unusual because it is very steep. The third amazing feature is
the Big Old Tree. This tree stands two hundred feet tall and is probably about six hundred years old.
The Concluding Sentence
In formal paragraphs you will sometimes see a sentence at the end of the paragraph which summarizes the information that has been presented. This is the concluding sentence. You can think of a concluding sentence as a sort of topic sentence in reverse.
You can understand concluding sentences with this example. Consider a hamburger that you can buy at a fast-food restaurant.* A hamburger has a top bun (a kind of bread), meat, cheese, lettuce, and other elements in the middle of the hamburger, and a bottom bun. Note how the top bun and the bottom bun are very similar. The top bun, in a way, is like a topic sentence, and the bottom bun is like the concluding sentence. Both buns "hold" the meat, onions, and so on. Similarly, the topic sentence and concluding sentence "hold" the supporting sentences in the paragraph. Let's see how a concluding sentence (in bold font) might look in our sample paragraph about Wheaton:
My hometown is famous for several amazing natural features. First, it is noted for the Wheaton River, which is very wide and beautiful. Also, on the other side of the town is Wheaton Hill, which is unusual because it is very steep. The third amazing feature is the Big Old Tree. This tree stands two hundred feet tall and is probably about six hundred years old. These three landmarks are truly
amazing and make my hometown a famous place.
Notice how the concluding sentence, These three landmarks are truly
amazing and make my hometown a famous place,summarizes the
information in the paragraph. Notice also how the concluding sentence is similar to, but not exactly the same as, the topic sentence.
Not all academic paragraphs contain concluding sentences, especially if the paragraph is very short. However, if your paragraph is very long, it is a good idea to use a concluding sentence.
Details in Paragraphs
The short paragraph in this lesson is a fairly complete paragraph, but it lacks details. Whenever possible, you should include enough details in your paragraphs to help your reader understand exactly what you are writing about. In the paragraph about Wheaton, three natural landmarks are mentioned, but we do not know very much about them. For example, we could add a sentence or two about Wheaton river concerning HOW wide it is or WHY it is beautiful. Consider this revision (and note the additional details inbold):
My hometown is famous for several amazing natural features. First, it is noted for the Wheaton River, which is very wide and beautiful. On either side of this river, which
is 175 feet wide, are many willow trees which have long branches that can move gracefully in the wind. In autumn the leaves of these trees fall and cover the riverbanks like golden snow. Also, on the
other side of the town is Wheaton Hill, which is unusual because it is very steep. Even
though it is steep, climbing this hill is not dangerous, because there are some firm rocks along the sides that can be used as stairs. There are no trees around this hill, so it stands clearly against the sky and can be seen from many miles away. The third
amazing feature is the Big Old Tree. This tree stands two hundred feet tall and is probably about six hundred years old. These three landmarks are truly amazing and make my hometown a famous place.