Arguments for and against a topic

Writing

1. When you are giving arguments for and against a topic you should present both views in a fair way. Do not give your opinion but end with a well-balanced consideration of the points discussed. Balanced arguments are usually found in articles or essays written for a teacher or tutor. They are often on a serious or academic subject, so the writing often needs to be formal or semi-formal. The key to a balanced argument is that it gives equal weight to opposing or contrasting viewpoints.

2. The structure of such argumentative composition may be follows.

Introduction: introduce the subject of the essay. State why it is an important.

Main body: 2 paragraphs.

Give the arguments in favour of the paragraph: 3 statements

Give the arguments against the statements.

Conclusion: conclude by giving a well-balanced consideration.

To make the piece of writing more interesting you can use certain techniques to start or end it such as:

• adressing the reader directly:

e.g. If you want to help the enviroment, there are lots of things that you can do.

• using a quotation (a sentence/phrase from a book, play, etc.). Don’t forget to mention the name of the person who said/wrote it.

e.g. …as American anthropologist Margaret Mead said “We have nowhere else to go…this is all we have.”

• using a rethorical question (a question that makes a statement rather than expecting an answer).

e.g. Is it important to protect endangered species?

Mind the useful expressions:

To list points in specific sequence: BEGINNING: First, To start with/ begin with, First of all

CONTINUING: Secondly, After this/that, Afterwards,

Then, Next

CONCLUDING: Finally, Lastly, Last but not least

To add more points to the same topic: What is more, Furthermore, Apart from this/that, Moreover, Besides(this), … not to mention the fact, Not only… but …also, Both … and …

To express effect: Therefore, Thus, So, Concequently, As a result, As a concequence

To make contrasting points: Yet, However, Nevertheless, But, Even so, Still, Nonetheless.

Although, Even though, Regardless of the fact that, Inspite of the fact that, Despite the fact that, While

To clarify/rephrase: In other words, That is to say, To put it another way

Negative addition: Neither … nor…, …not …. not either

To express balance (the other side of the argument): Opponents of… argue/ claim/ believe that.., While it is true to say that … in fact …, The fact that … contadicts the belief/ idea that..

Ex. 40. Group the following linkers below which:

list/add points	introduce resons/ examples
show the contrast	introduce conclusions
1. Moreover/ First of all 2. Therefore/ Because 3. Furthermore/ However 4. On the other hand/ Moreover	5. Due to the fact/ Furthermore 6. What is more/ Since 7. Last but not least/ In conclusion 8. Such as/ In addition to

Ex. 41. Look at the following set of details. For each set, write an appropriate topic sentence.

e.g. Topic sentences: There are a number of things to keep in mind when you visit a German home.

Set of details: 1. Visiting a German home is enjoyable.

2. Taking a gift is very important when you visit a German home.

3. When you visit a German home, be sure to be on time.

1. Nothing spontaneous usually happens on a guided tour, but I’ve had a lots of spontaneous things happen when I’ve charted my own vocation course.
2. Tour guides present you with what they think is interesting, whereas when you are in charge of your own vocation, you think interesting.
3. Unplanned vocation can often be cheaper than guided tours.

Ex. 42. Read the topic sentences. Then use prompts to write appropriate supporting sentences.

1.Thanks to technology, people are able to communicate far more easily than ever before.

Mobile phones/ the Internet chats/ receive e-mail/the fastest means of communication / revolution in communication/ invaluable in an emergency.

2. There is too much traffic in the centres of large European cities.

Fewer cars/ introduce park and ride schemes/ low level of air pollution/ bicycles.

3. In Western Europe family life has changed dramatically over the last forty years.

The mayority of young people/ according to the survey/ earn less money/ spend more time with their loved ones.

4 It is far nicer to receive a hand-written letter than e-mail.

The disadvantages of e-mail/ to impersonal/ lack of real communication/ express personality.

Ex. 43. Read the text, comment the structure and style and write the argumentative composition about young people studying in a strange city.

Paris unfolds like a multi-layed novel, its characters and narratives weaving tales of beauty and ugliness, pleasure and hardship. I was 18 when I found myself there, as a student at the Surbonne and living at an adress I couldn’t pronounce. Of course, it was an attic, with pigeons murmuring on my windowsill. And I now understand – 30 years later – that some part of me has ever since that time been attached to Paris. In David Gentleman’s introduction to his marvellous book of Paris watercolours, he writes: “Paris is indeed a beautiful and enhancing city. But because its vigour and variety shake one up, it is also an unsettling one. Visiting Paris makes one reassess one’s own ingrained and comfortable habits, views and assumptions.” He adds: “If this prospect seems a little risky, think it over: it might perhaps be safer not to go.” Should somebody have warned me at 18 that it would be safer not to go? There’s no doubt that first experience engendered a life-long restlessness: the whole yearning, no doubt, to be joined again to the limb or organ left behind. And I sometimes wonder whether a large portion of my work as a writer represents, above everything else, my profound desire to find an appropriate, adequate response to this place where my particular sensebility feels so much at home.  

Дата добавления: 2015-03-31