All possible essay topics for the English exam. What is an essay and its types

Hello my beloved readers.

If you are sure that you write great essays - forget about it!

Okay, that's kind of rough. But in reality it turns out to be true. All of us - Russian-speaking people - write essays in Russian perfectly, but when it comes to essays in English for the Unified State Examination, then we start having problems (to put it mildly). The thing is that we do not follow their rules and structure, but we should ...

Therefore, today we will learn how to write an essay correctly, what requirements to obey, and I will also give you ready-made essays so that you can clearly see how they should look.

For high-quality preparation for the exam, you need to use simulators that bring you as close as possible to the exam situation. You can use this trainer here . Train and get 100 points!

What is an essay and its types

Let's start with the main question. It is probably already obvious that an essay is a kind of essay on a specific topic. But everything is not so simple. The first thing to be clearly understood is the difference between the two types of essays. These include essays expressing personal opinion, as well as compositions of the structure "for and against". And here is the difference between them you should know by heart.

Essay Requirements

The main requirement for this assignment in 2017 is the amount of words. Alas, you are limited to 180-275 words. In addition, your essay must be grammatically correct, and vocabulary, of course, must correspond to the level of the language. I do not recommend using words from the Elementary level when you are trying to pass an exam.

Also a very important element in assessing the quality of a written work is its style. Yes, usually we are not very attentive to this aspect. With us, the “richer” and “more informal” language you use, the better. But the British love a clear structure, so I don’t just advise you to do anything other than the formal style of writing, but even forbid it!

Planessay

Plans for different types of essays are also different.

Essay plan for and against

For an essay of the pro-against type, the following structure is usually used:

Introduction.

Start with a clear statement of the existing problem, as well as a sentence that expresses duality.

Arguments for".

Decide on the arguments for. Express them clearly and, most importantly, do not forget that they are still related to the problem.

Arguments against".

Decide on the arguments against. You can even combine them with the previous paragraph. The main thing is that your thoughts are clearly defined and argued.

Conclusion.

In conclusion, summarize what has been said clearly and clearly, but still repeat the controversial topic again, expressing some hope for its solution.

What I usually recommend to my students is to plan your essay before you write it. The worst mistake is to write randomly. Then a lot of mistakes await you, as well as a complete discord in thoughts.

Essay plan "personal opinion"

If you need to express your opinion, then the structure of the text will be completely different:

Introduction.

In this type of essay, the beginning is identical to the previous one: you just need to identify the exciting question.

Expressing your opinion.

Here you express your point of view and give several arguments why you think it is correct. Don't waste all your arguments on this part. One or two will still be useful to you in the future. Here you can give 2-3 arguments.

Expressing an opinion opposite to yours.

Every point of view has its opposite arguments. So imagine them here. Less than two is undesirable.

your counterarguments.

And here already and use those couple of arguments that I advised you to save. In this case, 1-2 will be enough.

Conclusion.

The words- assistants

Essay writing rules are an important step, but it is equally important to use introductory constructions and expressions that will show your level of language proficiency, as well as dilute boring formal text with neutral phrases. Let's see some translation examples:

People say…/ It is thought… - They say…

Firstly… / Secondly… - Firstly/Secondly…

To begin with… - Starting from…

In addition to… - In addition to…

Besides… - Besides…

Despite… - Despite…

As a result ... - As a result ...

On the one hand… on the other hand… - On the one hand… / On the other hand…

The problem is/might be/seems to be…

While ... - While ...

What is more… - Moreover…

Summing up… - Summing up…

In conclusion ... - In conclusion ...

Examples

Of course, I could not leave you with nothing, and not even give a template or sample of how to cope with this task. Read and analyze.

Have household appliances improved the quality of our lives?

Nowadays, many people have a great variety of devices at home that are thought to make our life easier. However, they also have some disadvantages. (Remember to start with a clear problem statement)

On the one hand(don't forget to use introductory words ) , they definitely reduced the amount of time we spend on doing household chores. Cleaning, for example, has become much easier due to the invention of vacuum cleaner. What is more, washing clothes does not seem to be a big problem anymore. Women do it far more quickly than they used to. In addition, the process of cooking for a big family has become much easier. You can have a microwave as long as multi-cooker to prepare food in an hour insteadofspending the whole evening in the kitchen. (In this type of essay, it is important to have a clear structure: write only about the advantages at once, and then only move on to the disadvantages. Or vice versa. But never mix).

However, even though all this equipment was made to save our time, it also encourages people to work more, or spend their free time in front of television or computer. And that does not necessarily make people happy. They become lazier and in case something happens- they will no longer be able to survive without all these appliances.

Summing up, it must be said that although technology has made the life easier it should not define thequality of our lives. (Don't forget to conclude at the end, but thereby emphasize your point of view).

The structure of an essay, as I said, differs depending on the type. Therefore, I will give you an example with a variety of clichés and the second type.

Is it better to go on holiday with family or friends?

It is usually thought that going on holidays with friends is much better than spending free time with your family. I completely disagree with it. ( Similar to the previous comment - don't forget to fix the issue and mention it).

First of all, it is much more economical as parents usually pay for their children so you do not have to spend much of your money. Secondly, it may seem that going on holidays with your parents may be boring, but the reality shows that you can have as much fun with your relatives as you could have with your friends. (We express 2-3 arguments in support of your opinion).

There is also an opinion that spending time with your friend or without your parents makes you more responsible and confident. It is thought that you learn to live on your own. (Do not forget that it is also necessary to indicate someone else's opinion opposite to yours).

I cannot agree with this point of view as the adolescence is the process that cannot be fulfilled during your holidays. And sharing time with you family, on the other hand, strengthens your relationship and encourages you to develop core human values. (Contrasting the new arguments against the counterarguments you've received).

So whether there is a question who to spend your vacation with, make sure that it will be spent with those who love you most-your family. (And, in the end, do not forget to draw the right conclusion, stating your opinion).

Common Mistakes

Of course, no mistakes anywhere. But there are mistakes that are typical for almost 50% of students taking the exam. Therefore, I want to highlight those for which it will be a shame:

Forget about structure. Use informal words, phrasal verbs, or simply inappropriate vocabulary in style and format.
Write abbreviations don't, haven't, etc.
Do not use introductory structures.
Write less or more than the prescribed word limit.
Do not reveal the topic of the essay or “walk away” from it, hoping that you will be appreciated for writing at least something.
Stupid grammar mistakes. It is better to check and correct 10 times.

Guys, if you seriously want to structure your knowledge and improve your skills for the USE 2017 under the guidance of a class teacher:

Quicker sign up for a free introductory lesson at the EnglishDom online school. There determine your level language proficiency, learning weak sides, pick up most suitable a teacher for you, and you can study individually through convenient online platform at the best time for you and at a reasonable cost.

Well, my dears, I am sure that your essay is no worse, and maybe even better. I hope that after today's lesson, it will become much easier for you to write, and the word "composition" will move from the category of "oh, what a horror" to the category of "well, wonderful".))

And in order to improve not only your writing skills, but also everything else that you will need when you surrender your formidable three-letter look that frightens everyone - subscribe to my blog mailing list. There I regularly share useful materials, tips and tricks based on personal experience.

Until then, I say goodbye to you.

See you again.

P.S. If you are interested in learning about my experience of passing the entrance exams and just reading my thoughts on this topic, then forward to my article ""

Dear readers!

The purpose of this article is to help you develop or improve your essay writing skills in accordance with the requirements for the exam. I suggest that you first familiarize yourself with these requirements, and then with the structure of the essay and the technology for writing it.

In part C2 of the USE, you will be given an essay writing plan to follow in order to get the highest possible score, i.e. - fourteen.

According to the explanations for the demo version of the Unified State Examination in English 2014, on the official website, task C2 is completed completely if you have shown excellent command of written English according to the following five criteria:

Solving a communicative problem, i.e. the content reflects all aspects specified in the assignment; the style of speech is chosen correctly (neutral style is observed). Maximum - 3 points.
The text is organized as correctly as possible, i.e. the statement is logical, the structure of the text corresponds to the proposed plan; the means of logical connection are used correctly; the text is divided into paragraphs. Maximum - 3 points.
Excellent vocabulary was demonstrated, i.e. the vocabulary used corresponds to the set communicative task; there are practically no violations in the use of vocabulary. Maximum - 3 points.
The correct grammar is used, i.e. grammatical structures are used in accordance with the set communicative task. There are practically no errors (1-2 minor errors are allowed). Maximum - 3 points.
Demonstrated excellent knowledge of spelling and punctuation, i.e. spelling errors are practically absent; The text is divided into sentences with correct punctuation. Maximum - 2 points.

The essay must be a minimum of 180 and a maximum of 275 words. It is important to learn how to write the right amount of words! If you write less than 180 words, then the task is not subject to verification and is estimated at 0 points. If you write more than 275 words, then "only that part of the work that corresponds to the required volume is subject to verification." In other words, everything superfluous will be separated by a line and will not be checked. And if there is no completeness in what was removed in the first 275 words, then the communicative task will not be solved and the maximum score (3) for this criterion will not be given to you. The organization of the text will also be not quite correct, which will also lead to a decrease in points in the second evaluation criterion. You will lose 1 or 2 points.

How to count words? The answer is given in the annex to the demo version of the Unified State Examination in 2014: “When determining the compliance of the volume of the submitted work with the above requirements, all words are read, from the first word to the last, including auxiliary verbs, prepositions, articles, particles. In a personal letter, the address, date, signature are also counted. Wherein:

contracted (short) forms can "t, didn" t, isn "t, I" m, etc. are counted as one word;
numerals expressed in numbers, i.e. 1, 25, 2009, 126 204 etc. count as one word;
numerals expressed in numbers, together with the symbol for percentages, i.e. 25%, 100%, etc. are counted as one word;
numerals expressed in words are counted as words;
compound words such as good-looking, well-bred, English-speaking, twenty-five count as one word;
abbreviations (for example: USA, e-mail, TV, CD-ROM) count as one word.”

Well, now let's talk about the structure of the essay. You will be offered the following plan:

Use the following plan:

make an introduction (state the problem);
express your personal opinion and give 2-3 reasons for your opinion;
express an opposing opinion and give 1-2 reasons for this opposing opinion;
explain why you don't agree with the opposing opinion;
make a conclusion restating your position.

Thus, we see that this is the so-called opinion essay. It involves the statement by the author of a certain idea and defending it. You can defend your opinion:

by argumentation - but this is usually not enough for the exam;
by arguing and refuting the opinions of opponents, which is required in paragraphs 3 and 4 of the essay plan.

In other words, refuting the opinion of opponents, one must first be able to explain why they think so.

Let's take a closer look at each paragraph of the essay plan. Each paragraph is equal to 1 paragraph. Let's say the essay topic is: "Do athletes deserve their high salaries?"

1. First paragraph.

"Make an introduction (state the problem)" - "Introduction".

Two sentences suffice here, because the body of the essay will be voluminous. You can appeal to the reader, urging him to think about the problem of the essay. For example: "Have you ever wondered whether sportsmen's huge salaries should be paid to them?" Or you can simply state the problem: "The issue of high salaries paid to professional athletes has been the subject of a heated debate lately."

Here are some other useful phrases for introducing the topic in the introduction:

"It is common knowledge that ..." - "Everyone knows that ...".
"The / issue / question of ... has always aroused heated / sharp problem disputes / debates / discussions / controversy" - "The problem ... has always caused a lively debate."
“The sight of smb Ving*… is familiar to everyone. But have you ever wondered whether…?” “The sight (of someone doing something) is familiar to everyone. But have you ever wondered… did…?”
“Our modern world is unthinkable / unimaginable / inconceivable without… However, there are plenty of people who believe that it is not necessary / doubt the necessity / importance / use / benefit / good of…” - “Our modern world is unimaginable without… However, there are a lot of people who don't think it's important/question the importance….
"Let's speculate what makes them think so" - "Let's think about what makes them think so."
“There has been a dispute on… Let's speculate who is right: to proponents / defendants / fans of… who claim that… or the opponents / adversaries, who believe in…” (something) who claim that… or opponents who believe in…”.
“…has become an integral / inalienable / imprescriptible part of our life. Let's speculate, however, what stands behind it" - "... has become an integral part of our lives. However, let's think about what's behind it."
"New technology and advances in ... have raised ethical dilemmas" - "New technologies and advances in ... have led to a dilemma that affects the ethical side of this issue."
“…gaining increasing popularity today, many still dispute / doubt / challenge / bring into question / cast doubt on its use for the society” ".
It is often difficult to decide which position to take whenever there is a debate regarding a choice between… and…
"Development in... seems to have had an adversary effect on..." - "Development in... seems to have had the opposite effect on...".

*Ving - Participle I = actual participle in Russian. For example: reading - reading, being - being, earning a big salary - earning a big salary.

In our case, we could write the following in the introduction: “The world has often heard about million dollars’ prizes awarded to sports champions. At the same time there has been a dispute on whether athletes should receive such high salaries at all.”

2. Second paragraph.

"Express your personal opinion and give 2-3 reasons for your opinion" - "Your opinion."

Here, in the first paragraph of the main part, you first need to state your opinion and give its justification. It is advisable to give at least 2 arguments with supporting sentences. In total, ideally, you will get 4 sentences for 2 arguments with their support, or 6 sentences for 3 arguments and their complementary proposals.

For example:

“I personally favor high salaries in sports, providing they are earned honestly. (1) Indeed, sportsmen dedicate their whole life to break records and win golden medals. Far from anyone could stand such heavy loads that professional athletes endure on a regular basis.

(2) Secondly, being a professional sportsman is an art of its own, since only talent together with hard work can bring prominent results; and as outstanding persons, champions should be rewarded adequately.

(3) Moreover, high salaries are usually paid to sportsmen by private organizations or governments who expect to get even bigger benefits later. The athlete wins gold to the team attracting further investments into it, or advertises a company’s product.”

Below I offer examples of phrases that introduce an opinion. It can be either yours, or someone else's opinion, or the opinion of the opposite side. Therefore, the pronouns in these phrases can be different.

“I think / I believe / I consider that…” - “I believe / I believe that…”.
"Some opponents of ... might argue / contend that ..." - "Some opponents ... may argue that ...".
"They assume / suppose ..." - "They assume ...".
"I am convinced that ..." - "I am convinced that ...".
"I don't share the above-given view" - "I do not share the above opinion."
"You would probably agree with me that ..." - "You will most likely agree with me that ...".
“To my mind… / In my opinion… / It seems to me that…” - “In my opinion… / It seems to me that…”.
"They look upon it as ..." - "They look at it as ...".
"I can't but agree that ..." - "I cannot but agree that ...".
“They are in favor* of… / They approve of… / They favor…” - “They are for… / They approve…”.
“I am against… / I don't approve of… / I don't support the idea of… / I personally frown on… ... "
“It is said / believed that…” - “It is believed that…”.
"...is believed to V1**" - "It is believed that someone is doing something ...".
“It goes without saying that…” - “It goes without saying that…”.

* to favor - American spelling; respectively, to favor - British. When writing a letter and essay, you must follow either ONLY the British or ONLY the American version, i.e. ensure uniformity. Otherwise, you may lose points.

** to V1 = indefinite / initial form of the verb (infinitive), for example: to live, to cause, to lead to, to result in. In this expression, the subject performs the action expressed by the indefinite form of the verb. For example: "Sport is believed to take away health and free time" - "It is believed that sport takes away health and free time."

3. Third paragraph.

“Express an opposing opinion and give 1-2 reasons for this opposing opinion” - “Opinion of opponents”.

In the next paragraph of the body of the essay, you need to give the opinion of opponents and explain why they think so. It is enough to use 2 arguments, each of which is expressed by two applications. Here again, the table of phrases that introduce an opinion, given above, may come in handy.

For example:

“A lot of people think that athletes’ salaries are really overrated. Firstly, in their opinion, many sportsmen take doping. So their results may not reflect exceptional efforts. Secondly, opponents of high salaries in sport claim that there are occupations which are more important for our society, like scientists, for example, whose achievements help progress.”

4. Fourth paragraph.

"Explain why you don't agree with the opposing opinion" - "Refutation of the opinion of opponents."

In the next paragraph of the main part, it is necessary to refute the conviction of opponents. This is the most difficult part of the essay. Because it is always easier to come up with arguments "for" or "against", but to find in them incorrectness, irrelevance or inconsistency is another effort of your logic. In some cases, you need to try to be tactful, recognizing the relevance or regularity of the opposition's opinion. But at the same time, one must be able to find the weaknesses of the point of view under consideration and provide additional information that fills in the gaps in their logical sufficiency.

In our case with athletes, the doping argument sounds quite weighty, but it has a logical weakness - doping control is forgotten, as well as sacrificing one's free time, as in the case of scientists. Therefore, this argument can be refuted as follows:

“That may be true, but isn’t there doping control which is aimed at disqualifying cheating athletes? As for scientists, yes, they deserve high incomes for their inventions, but sportsmen, not less than scientists, devote all their free time to get outstanding results, sacrificing rest, health and private life.”

Here are other phrases that can be used when refuting or questioning the opinions of opponents:

“To a certain extent, it is right, but isn’t there…? / don't smb V1? /…” - “To some extent it is, but doesn’t it exist…? / isn't (someone doesn't do something)."
“To a certain extent, it is right, but we shouldn’t forget that… / we consider should the fact that… / we shouldn’t underestimate… / one shouldn’t disregard… / one should take into account…” - “ To some extent this is true, but we must not forget that ... / we must take into account the fact that ... / we must not underestimate ... / we must not neglect ... / we must take into account ... ".
"However veracious it sounds, I wouldn't agree with the above mentioned idea" - "However true it may sound, I would not agree with the idea mentioned above."
"Defenders of… may be applauded for seeking to V1, but what they propose would in fact seriously damage / decrease / threaten, etc." “You can applaud the defenders…for their attempts (to do something), but what they are proposing is actually seriously harming / diminishing / threatening…”.
"However, I disagree with these contentions" - "However, I do not agree (sleep) with these points of view."
“While… could lessen / worsen / decrease, etc… this is a small loss that could be offset by…”
“However, this idea cannot go further than being an immature claim because / since…” - “However, this idea cannot be anything but a superficial statement, because…”.
“This point has merit on the surface and could be acceptable to an extent. Yet, serious doubts can be raised against this view when one considers…” - “This view has some advantages on the surface and can be accepted to some extent. At the same time, this idea can be called into question when we consider…”.

5. Last paragraph.

"Make a conclusion restating your position" - "Conclusion".

Here you need to give your opinion, but in other words, thus stating it again. It is more professional to state a generalization or make an additional observation in the conclusion. Be sure to try to avoid repeating phrases that have already been written. According to the specification of the FIPI control and measuring materials in 2014, “if more than 30% of the answer is unproductive (i.e. textually matches the published source), then 0 points are given according to the criterion“ Solving the communicative problem ”, and, accordingly, the entire task scores 0 points. Therefore, it is not recommended to repeat the words in the task. Express your main idea in different words. How to do it?

In our case, it might sound like this:

“All in all, sports stars really deserve their huge incomes due to the uniqueness and social value of their achievements. Evidently, it is the feature of a market economy where famous personalities of sportsmen are in demand being used to promote goods.”

Here we have characterized the profession of athletes in terms of their value to society, i.e. they looked at it not from the side of the athlete himself or his manager, but from the side of society.

Other phrases for writing a conclusion can be as follows:

"To conclude / sum up, / in conclusion ..." - "In conclusion ...".
"All in all ..." - "In general ...".
"All things considered ..." - "Given all of the above ...".
“Taking everything into account… / Taking all this into account / consideration…” - “Considering all this…”.
“…is a controversial issue, so it is up to a person whether to V1 or to V’1. Yet, I am convinced that ... "-" ... a controversial issue, so everyone here must decide personally (to do something or not to do something). And yet I am convinced that…”
“Although numerous skeptics frown on… our society need(s)…”
“But to all who… I have only one response: we cannot afford to wait / ignore / neglect / disregard…”

Here's what we ended up with:

“The world has often heard about million dollars’ prizes awarded to Olympic champions. At the same time there has been a dispute on whether athletes should receive such high salaries at all.

I personally favor high salaries in sports. Indeed, sportsmen dedicate their whole life to break records and win golden medals. Far from anyone could stand such heavy loads that professional athletes endure permanently. Secondly, being a professional sportsman is an art of its own, since only talent together with hard work can bring prominent results; and as outstanding persons, champions should be rewarded adequately. Moreover, high salaries are usually paid to sportsmen by private organizations or governments who expect to get even bigger benefits later. The athlete wins gold to the team attracting further investments into it, or advertises a company’s product.

A lot of people however think that athletes’ salaries are really overrated. Firstly, in their opinion, many sportsmen take doping. So their results may not reflect exceptional efforts. Secondly, opponents of high salaries in sport claim that there are occupations which are more important for our society, like scientists, for example, whose achievements help progress.

That may be true, but isn't there doping control which is aimed at disqualifying cheating athletes? As for scientists, yes, they deserve high incomes for their inventions, but sportsmen, not less than scientists, devote all their free time to get outstanding results, sacrificing rest, health and private life.

All in all, fortunes are earned in sports unquestionably due to the uniqueness and social value of their achievements. Evidently, it is the feature of a market economy where famous personalities of sportsmen are used to promote goods.”

Only 275 words.

So, we examined the requirements for writing an essay in the USE in English, as well as the features of the content of each of the paragraphs of the essay, sorted out their communicative features. Simply put, we realized how to write an essay. But what exactly to write specifically in each individual topic is another question that will be covered in the article “How to learn to generate thoughts when writing the exam in English and other languages and how to maximize the baggage of pre-prepared thoughts.”

Data assignments on the topic “English. USE. Essay in English» taken from various sources and offered in addition to the textbook presentation

The volume of the essay in English is 200-250 words.

The time to complete the task is 40 minutes.

English language. Essay. Topics for preparation (task C2)

Dear visitors of the site, this section will be improved and finalized. Thank you for being with us!

1.1. Essay on the topic: Art. graffiti

Some people think that graffiti is another form of expressing art; others think graffiti is a vandalism.

What is your opinion?

1.2. Essay on the topic: Art. Theater and Cinema

Comment on the following Statement.

When cinema was invented some people predicted that theater would not last very long but it still exists, attracts large audiences and is not likely to disappear.

What is your opinion?

List of English words on the topic: Art. SOON!