How to write an opinion essay

Как писать Opinion Essay (эссе-рассуждение)?

Задания в формате Opinion Essay

Общие факты

Opinion essay — один из наиболее популярных видов эссе, он встречается практически везде: и на международных экзаменах, и на олимпиадах, и на ЕГЭ. Рассказывая о его особенностях в этой статье, я предполагаю, что вы знаете базовые принципы написания эссе и умеете составлять план.

Объём opinion essay может быть очень разным. Например, на Всероссийской олимпиаде в 2013 году встречалось задание в формате эссе-рассуждения с ограничением в 100–120 слов. В эссе на ЕГЭ требуется объём 200–250 слов, на экзамене CAE — 220–260. На олимпиаде «Покори Воробьёвы горы!» 2016 года предлагалось написать 250–300 слов. Эти примеры наглядно демонстрируют разнообразие требований к объёму эссе.

Такое же разнообразие характерно для формулировки самих заданий: простая фраза, текст, несколько текстов, стихотворение, изображение, видео или ещё что-нибудь, в зависимости от наличия или отсутствия фантазии и свободы выбора у составителя.

Что должно быть в эссе

В любом opinion essay должно быть вступление, основная часть и заключение.

Вступление задаёт тему и выражает мнение автора. Важное исключение: если вы пишете opinion essay для ЕГЭ, мнение нужно выражать в первом абзаце основной части, а не во вступлении.

Основная часть содержит, как правило, два блока:

Таким образом, в первом блоке основной части мы подробно объясняем читателю, почему у нас сложилось именно такое мнение, подкрепляем свою мысль аргументами и примерами. Во втором блоке мы освещаем позицию, противоположную нашей, а также говорим, почему мы не считаем такую позицию правильной.

В некоторых заданиях четко указана необходимость освещать альтернативную позицию, в некоторых такого указания нет. Когда однозначные указания отсутствуют, следует отталкиваться от объема эссе. Если объём ограничен 150 словами, второй блок лучше опустить. При ограничении в 300 слов правильнее будет его включить.

Заключение подытоживает всё сказанное в основной части и снова выражает мнение автора, но уже другими словами.

Деление на абзацы

Стиль

Подводные камни

Очень распространённая ошибка при написании эссе-рассуждения — подмена темы или смещение акцента. Например, нужно написать на тему «Penguins make ideal pets», а в эссе говорится слишком много о самих пингвинах. При этом проблемы содержания пингвинов в домашних условиях почти не затрагиваются, и вместо требуемой темы получается другая, например, «Penguins are the most lovable creatures in the world». Вроде бы и про пингвинов, но все же не о том. Из-за ошибок такого рода теряются баллы за содержание.

Одной из причин смещения акцента бывают заученные наизусть топики или фрагменты топиков: выучив хорошо составленный кусочек текста, пишущий пытается пристроить его в свою работу, чтобы произвести впечатление. Работа и впрямь начинает производить впечатление, но не то, на которое рассчитывал автор. Собранное из вставленных фрагментов эссе похоже на сшитую из лоскутьев рубашку с рукавами разной длины. Если у вас хватает памяти и интеллекта, чтобы запоминать топики, лучше потратьте свои умственные ресурсы на изучение грамматических конструкций и расширение словарного запаса. Это даёт куда больше шансов написать приличное сочинение.

Еще одна распространённая проблема — стандартизация. Мне часто приходится видеть, как пишущий берёт один и тот же шаблон и пытается всунуть в него любую тему. Это бывает оправданно, если у автора работы очень скромный словарно-грамматический запас и нет времени на его пополнение, потому что написать плохо — это все же лучше, чем вообще ничего не написать. Однако если вы более-менее владеете английским, то нужно учиться модифицировать шаблоны таким образом, чтобы они выглядели органично.

В то время как в первом вступлении фраза смотрится органично, во втором её шаблонность очевидна и создаёт юмористический эффект (а жюри и эксперты — люди серьезные, имейте в виду).

Пример работы в формате Opinion Essay

Comment on the following statement.

Penguins make ideal pets.

What is your opinion? Do you agree with this statement?

Write 200–250 words.

Первое, что необходимо сделать — понять, какую позицию мы будем защищать и обосновывать. Совсем не обязательно, кстати, быть при этом кристально честным. Например, если я согласна с утверждением «Penguins make ideal pets», но мой единственный аргумент в пользу этого мнения — «я обожаю пингвинчиков, они такие милые», то вполне вероятно, что стоит рассмотреть противоположную точку зрения в надежде найти более весомые и объективные аргументы.

Когда позиция выбрана, следующий обязательный шаг — в самом начале плана четко и ясно её написать. Например так:

Penguins make ideal pets — I don’t agree.

Пишем мы это для того, чтобы в процессе написания эссе не забыть свою собственную позицию. «Я не забуду, это же моё мнение, как его можно забыть?» Да? Могу вам сказать с высоты своего педагогического опыта, что в половине случаев писатель все-таки умудряется забыть своё мнение или внезапно начинает его менять, проникнувшись убедительными контраргументами из третьего абзаца. В результате получается логически смазанная работа, во вступлении которой написано одно, а в заключении — другое.

Дальше составляем план, тщательно продумывая аргументы, контраргументы и возражения на них. Если в процессе составления плана выясняется, что хороших аргументов в поддержку вашей точки зрения не хватает, а аргументов против — много, я советую пересмотреть свою позицию. На этапе планирования менять её ещё не поздно.

Что считать хорошим аргументом? Чем аргумент объективнее, тем он лучше. Например, «пингвин не годится на роль идеального питомца, потому что мне не нравится его внешний вид» — плохой аргумент, поскольку слишком субъективный. «Пингвин не годится на роль идеального питомца, потому что его очень сложно содержать» — хороший аргумент, поскольку какое бы ни было личное отношение автора к пингвинам, содержать этих птиц дома и впрямь непросто. Принцип объективности действует как для аргументов, так и для контраргументов.

Ответ на контраргументы представляет, как правило, наибольшие трудности.

Пример хорошего и плохого ответа на контраргумент «Having a penguin enhances the prestige of the possessor»:

How to Write an Opinion Essay: An Ultimate Guide + Examples

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🔤 Writing an Opinion Essay: Basics

You may be wondering: How do I write an opinion essay? How is it different from a persuasive, an argumentative, or a pros and cons essay?

It’s simple: When you write an argumentative or persuasive essay, you should provide counterpoints and describe the essay topic from different perspectives. In an opinion paper, you don’t have to focus on the advantages and disadvantages in comparison. Instead, focus only on your opinion about the issue.

You may say: “I’m afraid to take a stand,” or “I don’t know what to say.”
Relax. There’s nothing to worry about if your arguments are based on well-researched data. Speaking about opinion essay topics, some students find it difficult enough to choose the perfect one. But it’s not so hard: Think about something that engages you and that you feel strongly about.

Do you still have no clues about what to write? Check our 100 free ideas for an argumentative or persuasive essay and choose the topic that you have a strong opinion on. Then pick up a few reasons supporting your point of view and gather the facts that you’ll use as evidence.

📑 Opinion Essay Outline

The next step is to write an opinion essay outline. First of all, it will help you to overcome the fear of the blank page. Second, you’ll have a broken-down list of ideas and an organized place for your random thoughts. This will help you write an assignment faster.

Place the order and get your paper in 3 hours, plagiarism-free!

Here’s an example of an opinion paper outline:

How to write an opinion essay

When talking about academic writing, essay writing cannot be left out of the loop. It’s one of the most common types of writing exercises for university admissions, international exams, etc. As promised in our earlier article, today we’ll be talking about an opinion essay.

So, we’ll look at:

An opinion essay is there to show your viewpoint on a particular topic, to prove your ideas. The structure is the following:

This is what the simplest version looks like. However, depending on the level of language competency of your students you can choose to have 2 reasons.

In the input session, when presenting the structure of the essay, it’s best to work on sample essays to reinforce assimilation while learning on-job. I have been using the one here and it has been quite helpful for the students. Working on sample essays gives the students a chance to grasp the general point and not to get confused when working on the hometask.

It is a good idea to write a short sample essay in class as well, on a topic of your choice, so that you can monitor and see how confident the students feel about the new material. In my classroom the students are always writing the first piece in pairs to help each other and generate ideas for speculation. When doing so, bear in mind that it’s best if you have similar ability students working together, as the stronger one will always take over the writing leaving the weaker one unclear on both the task and the workflow. The recent topic I’ve used has been: “Nowadays, food has become easier to prepare. Has this change improved the way people live? Use specific reasons and examples to support your answer.”

Sample essays

Below, we’re going to look at a couple essays my students have come up with together with the feedback they’ve received. The sample you’ll see were the first drafts of the essay.

You can see the feedback below.

The basic idea in providing feedback here is to try to guide the student to correct their mistakes themselves rather than provide them with the answers. It helps them to better assimilate the material.

As you can see from the essay above, the student had some issues with applying the correct structure together with some language errors. The next step is to work on the second draft and try to improve it following the comments and referring to the background information presented during the class.

You can see the feedback below:

As you can see, this essay was much better formulated (this is a much stronger student), most of the comments have to do with word choice and formulation. The task for the second draft is the same — improve it based on the comments.

Useful language

To be really brilliant, one should know to use the right language to reach that effect. Apart from a correct structure, the essay should also be rich in linking devices, phrases and expressions that help the speech sound more sophisticated, well thought, cohesive and coherent. Below are some phrases that I’ve been using with my students to make their writing more connected and fluent.

Supporting your argument

Disagreeing with the others’ opinion

For more phrases, I’ve been using the resource here.

Finally, let’s look at some tips I’ve been sharing with my students as a summary of what they should/shouldn’t do when writing an opinion essay.

✓ Introduce each paragraph with a topic sentence, outlining the main ideas.

✓ Write in formal style. Avoid abbreviations and short forms.

✓ Use active voice. An opinion essay is about your opinion. This message won’t get to the reader if you use passive, impersonal structures.

✓ Vary your sentence structure. Change between long and short sentences, use multiple claus structures on one hand and simple sentences on the other. This will keep the reader’s interest.

✓ Use consistent tenses. Use present tenses most of the time besides when talking about past actions (research done, etc.)

✓ Do not write about advantages or disadvantages or points for or against.This is another style.

✓ Don’t use colloquial expressions and/or emotive vocabulary. Keep it professional and formal/semi-formal.

✓ Don’t use archaic terms. “Thus” and “alas” are not terms utilized in common English and hence, should not appear in the academic paper as well. It will sound very bookish and prosaic.

✓ Don’t use clichés. They are easy to use. For example, “too little, too late”, “better late than never”, etc. It is considered vague in an academic paper.

✓ Don’t be redundant. Be careful not to repeat the same ideas. This sometimes happens when you paraphrase the same idea and put it down differently with another wording.

Last but not the list. To make sure the students come up with the perfect piece of writing they need guidelines to follow apart from the background input session. Here is a checklist my students are using to make sure everything is as it is supposed to be.

Let us know how your opinion essay writing sessions go and what other tips do you have to share with your international colleagues :).

Ultimate Guide on How to Write an Opinion Essay (with Examples)

Table of Contents

You have never written an opinion essay before and now need a good guide on opinion writing? Or have already written such essay but this time want to write a comprehensive paper and get an A? You are in the right place! In this article we will tell you how to write a good opinion essay, will reveal all the secret techniques of outline writing, and show examples. Our best essay writers participated in gathering these recommendations, so we are sure that you’ll find them helpful!

Opinion essay is a type of academic writing which presupposes presenting your opinion on a particular topic, idea, notion, etc. The opinion you present should be stated clearly and backed up by examples and evidence. The peculiarity of this essay type is that you should present opposing viewpoint in a separate paragraph.

Students often wonder whether opinion, editorial essay, argumentative or persuasive essays are the same. At the first sight these pieces of writing seem similar by nature as you have to present your arguments. The difference is that in argumentative and persuasive essays you present the strongest existing arguments. In opinion writing, you present only your own arguments and viewpoint.

Opinion essay structure

An opinion essay has a classical essay structure. It should consist of at least 5 paragraphs

Opinion essay outline

An opinion essay outline looks as follows:

How to write an opinion essay. Opinion writing step-by-step

Opinion writing is easy if you know how to do it and follow a plan.

1. Read the instructions

The first step is to read the instructions carefully. If you do not understand some quirelines or have questions, do not hesitate to clarify them with your instructor. It is important to read the instructions to avoid situations when you have chosen the wrong topic, have completed the wrong essay type, or have written too long/short essay.

2. Good opinion essay topic. How to choose the best one

If you were not assigned a topic, you will have to choose it by yourself. Remember that a good easy topic is

Some students find it difficult to pick one topic because they don’t know how to do it write. They take the first idea that comes to their mind, and then turns out that they are not well versed in this topic or have little information to cover it.

Thus, first brainstorm and write down all the ideas that come to your mind. Then, leave only the most interesting. After this, make a research on the topics to make sure there is enough information available to discuss it in your essay. After this, choose the most pertinent one.

3. How to start an opinion essay

Start an opinion essay with a hook sentence to entice the reader to keep on reading. After this, introduce the topic you are going to discuss and provide some general information on it. Do not exaggerate and add too many details. After this, state your opinion on the discussed issue. It will be your thesis statement. Mind that a quote or a fact cannot be a thesis statement

Hook ideas for an opinion essay

The hook is a sentence the aim of which is to trigger the reader’s attention. It can be

In opinion writing, a joke or a real-life example would work well to in catching the attention.

4. What to write in the main body

In the main body, present your arguments. Mind that in the opinion essay, there should be at least two arguments and one counterargument.

Each body paragraph should start with a topic sentence, which expresses that main idea of this paragraph that supports your thesis statement. Also, there should be a supporting sentence. Usually it is an example or supporting evidence.

On the other hand, it can be argued that Art and Music are just as significant as English and Math. For instance, learning how to draw or play an instrument can introduce a child to a whole new world. In addition to this, subject such as Art and Music can provide children with a well-rounded education rather than just basic skills.

You may apply OREO technique when writing your main body paragraphs

5. How to conclude an opinion essay

In the conclusion part, restate your opinion, i.e. thesis statement. Also, summarize your main points. Important, do not copy-paste are repeat the ideas through the paper. Also, do not introduce new ideas or arguments that contradict the ideas you have presented in paper.

6. Title your essay

Title your essay after you have completed it. When you just start your opinion essay writing, it might be difficult to find the right title. When you have completed your paper and know all the details, you will easily come up with the most pertinent title for your opinion essay.

7. Edit and proofread

Always leave yourself at least a few minutes to proofread your essay and make sure it is devoid of any grammar, formatting, or stylistic mistakes. Also, check your paper for plagiarism before submission. Plagiarizing might cost you a grade or even a diploma.

Transitional words for expressing opinion

Use these linking words to express your opinion and for a smooth transition between ideas.

Opinion essay sample

Have a look a opinion essay samples for better understanding of an essay structure.
Opinion essay about teenagers and adults.

Essay about space exploration

Useful tips for an opinion essay

Follow these simple tips from professional essay writers to make your opinion essay stand out

After reading the article, you will definitely be able to write an opinion essay like a pro. However, if you need help with completing your essay, you can resort to online essay writers. A team of professionals will gladly help you write a convincing opinion essay following all the instructions just in several hours. If you want to be sure that the paper is plagiarism free, you will also be able to receive an originality report.

​How to Write an Opinion Essay

The basic five-paragraph essay structure, which you have possibly used for many times, works extremely well for opinion essays. Be ready to warm up your thinking by evaluating various opinions and reasons to determine which are strong and which are weak to support your point of view.

To write a successful opinion essay, make sure to follow these stages: pre-writing, writing and proofreading.

Pre-Writing

Before starting to write your essay, you need to gather information to support your opinion. Make sure the evidence you collect matches your stated point of view. While brainstorming and looking for arguments, try to answer these questions to get more ideas:

Look at the list of your ideas and organize them the way you will use in your composition. Decide which ideas are perfect to be mentioned at the beginning, in the main part and at the end of your essay.

Writing

Your opinion essay should have an introduction, main body and conclusion.

In the introductory paragraph, you need to present your subject and state your opinion clearly. Make sure it contains a thesis statement – a sentence that summarizes the main point of your paper.

There are several techniques to begin your essay, so you can:

In the body of your essay, you need to support your thesis statement. Write several paragraphs, each presenting a separate point of view supported by reasons. Start every paragraph with a topic sentence – the main idea you will back up with arguments. Make sure you don’t begin a new paragraph because the one you are writing right now is too long. Begin a new paragraph only when you want to discuss a new idea.

While writing, pay special attention to:

To conclude your opinion essay, write a paragraph where you restate your opinion using different words. You should avoid introducing a new idea or apologizing for your views. However, to make your essay more engaging, you can end with a warning, ask a provocative question or suggest consequences.

​Proofreading

When you complete your essay, evaluate different aspects to make sure that your work is just excellent:

In addition, make sure you do not present your ideas using the lists. After all, this is an opinion essay, not a shopping list.

Done right, your opinion essay will be an outstanding piece of writing. Follow the tips above and take your essay writing to the new heights!