Beginner’s Help Guide To the TOEFL Independent Essay

This guide is for low-level students writing their TOEFL that is first independent. Advanced students may wish to skip directly to our advanced guide.

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(note, students in a hurry may wish to skip directly to our TOEFL essay templates)

Start with making a plan of your essay. Go through the picture below:

The student starts by writing a “main point” at the top the chart. That is her “answer” to your question posed by the exam.

The student writes two “reasons” to support the main point below the main point. These are broad rather than too specific. However, they must be unique. The reasons should not be just like each other.

Below all the reasons, the student writes two “details.” These are more specific. They support the good reasons and explain why they will have cited the reasons. They may likewise incorporate examples from the student’s life that support the reason why.

Here’s an illustration outline for the question: “what’s the gift that is best to provide to a young child?” It was authored by an student that is actual. Consider it closely:

The student has filled within the outline using point-form notes (not complete sentences). Her main point is “Best gift = pet.”

Her two reasons are “it is educational” and “it is a great friend.”

The main points through the reason that is first “learn responsibility” and “learn stages of life.” The important points from the second reason are “never judgmental” and “children often alone these days.” The student has bigger ideas. she is planning to write about how care that is taking of pet teaches responsibility and this woman is going to write that students are along because their parents in many cases are away. however the outline is just her initial ideas.

The others with this article will show how to turn this outline into a essay that is complete. I’ll use English that is simple throughout article. High level students should probably use more vocabulary that is advanced sentence structure.

I teach my students to create a four paragraph essay into the writing section that is independent. This type of essay is for enough time and may be finished in the time allowed. Advanced level students might try writing a five paragraph essay.

The four paragraph structure is:

• Introductory Paragraph
• Body Paragraph 1
• Body Paragraph 2
• Concluding Paragraph

Let’s begin with the paragraph that is introductory

My students use a sentence-by-sentence strategy to write their introductions. The technique is this:

• Sentence one: A “hook.” It is an interesting sentence that comes before your primary point. It references the question and draws your reader in to the essay.
• Sentence two: Your main point. In one single good, clear sentence state your primary point. Don’t be too much time. Arrive at the purpose!
• Sentence three: a sentence that is transitional. Try something such as “I feel this real means for two reasons.”
• Sentence four: a single sentence summary of one’s first reason. Begin this sentence with “first” (you can leave this out if you should be low on time).
• Sentence five: a single sentence summary of the second reason. Begin this sentence with “second” (you can leave this out if you’re low on time).

Talking about the relevant question above and using the given template, you could write an introduction similar to this:

“There are many great gifts that can be fond of a child. I really believe that the gift that is best to give a child is a pet. Personally I think in this way for two main reasons, that I will explore when you look at the following essay. First, a pet can be quite educational. Second, a pet could be a beneficial friend to a young child.

Keep in mind that there are no references to your details in this paragraph. Save those when it comes to physical body paragraphs.

Third step: Writing a physical body paragraph

It’s your possiblity to show your essay off writing ability. I don’t teach a strict model for this the main essay.

I really do however, possess some basic rules. They have been:

1. Each reason gets a unique paragraph. Do not combine your reasons into one paragraph.
2. Start very first paragraph with a transitional word or phrase like “first,” “to start out with,” and the second paragraph with “second” or “secondly.”
3. At the start of each body paragraph, clearly state your reason. Avoid using a hook, just arrive at the point. Next, state your details one after another, expanding each one to three or four sentences. It is possible to expand by including a example that is personal your daily life. Including examples that are personal your lifetime when you look at the essay is okay. In fact, i would suggest it.
4. You will need to use transitional phrases in between your details (“moreover,” “furthermore,” “also”).

Here’s a good example body paragraph made making use of the outline that is above

“To begin with, a pet is a rather educational gift. Having a pet teaches children responsibility. A pet needs to be fed every and be given a chance to exercise day. The master of a pet has also to see the ongoing health of the pet and do something if it becomes sick. Practicing this types of responsibility is likely to make a young child more aged. Moreover, a pet will help teach a child about the stages of life. Animals grow considerably faster than humans and a child that is young learn a whole lot by observing how their pet grows up. I had a pet gecko as a young child and watching it grow from a baby to a adult that is full-sized me a great deal and got me very interested in biology and nature.”

Note that the outline was followed by this paragraph above quite closely. I stated my reason and then supported it with details. I expanded the main points significantly through the point-form found in my outline.

My second body paragraph is written in much the same manner:

“Secondly, I feel that a pet makes great friend. It really is beneficial to children to own pets since they’re never judgmental. A young child might have a bad day at school or he may get in a fight together with his friends, but he will never fight with his pet. It shall love him unconditionally. Furthermore, pets can prevent children from being lonely. These days parents are often too busy to pay time along with their children. They often leave their kids home alone. This may leave some kids feeling lonely, but people that have pets will feel alone. never“

And that is the body that is whole of essay! Look closely at how I used words that are transitional”moreover” and “furthermore”) in between the 2 details in each paragraph.

I’m not a big fan of lengthy concluding paragraphs, due to the fact the independent essay is pretty short. But I do teach a three sentence technique:

• Sentence one: re-state your point that is main and with a phrase like “to sum it up…”
• Sentence two: restate your two reasons, beginning with a phrase that is transitional “this is because…”
• Sentence three: yet again, restate your point that is main but different words

Here’s a conclusion for the essay we’ve been using the services of:

“To buy essay sum it up, I feel that a pet is the absolute best gift to provide to a kid. Simply because pets have become educational, plus they make great friends. There really is no better gift that a young child can receive than a pet.”