Home » IELTS Writing » WRITING TASK 2 » DISCUSS BOTH VIEWS/OPINION ESSAYS » IELTS Discuss Both Views Essay Structure + Sample Answers
The next big thing after learning about IELTS discuss both views essays is – How do you structure them?
Please be aware though, the perfect structure alone will not make you a band 7+ achiever. Your vocabulary and English proficiency still plays a key role in IELTS writing task – 2.
But the good news is… Here we’ve outlined an easily comprehensible step-by-step format to logically present a discussion essay and give your opinion effectively.
This post will clear your doubts over:
- Essay Structure
- Sample Question(s)
- Task Explanation
- Sample Answer
- Vocabulary
Discuss both views – Essay structure
However, there are hundreds of ways to structure a Discuss both views essay, we’ll use this 4-paragraph foolproof band 7+ structure:
INTRODUCTION
- Paraphrase the question statement or use a general statement relevant to the topic.
- State both viewpoints
- Write your opinion statement (only if specified in the statement).
- Write an outline sentence
BODY PARAGRAPH 1
- State first viewpoint
- Explain the viewpoint
- Provide a logical example
- Write an outline sentence
BODY PARAGRAPH 2
- State second viewpoint
- Explain the viewpoint
- Provide a logical example
- Write an outline sentence
CONCLUSION
- Write concluding remarks and your opinion
- State which viewpoint is more significant
Sample Questions
Now that you’ve understood about the discussion essay structure, let’s look at some recently asked topics to give you an idea of how the ‘discuss both views and give your opinion’ essay look like.
Some people believe that children should spend all of their leisure time with their families. Others believe that this is not required and a negative development. Discuss both viewpoints and give your opinion. Support your answer with the help of relevant examples. |
| Some companies offer their employees subsidised membership of sports clubs and fitness centres, believing that this will make their staff healthier and thus enhance productivity at work. Other employers see no benefit in doing so. Consider both sides of the argument and reach a conclusion. |
| It is sometimes said that the villages offer a high quality of life, especially for families. What are the arguments for and against families opting to live and work in the countryside? What is your opinion about this trend? |
| Some observers say that police officers should be recruited from local communities, so that they have knowledge about the place. Other people say that this is unnecessary, or even undesirable. Discuss both views. What is your opinion on this debate? |
| Completing University is considered by some to be the best way to get a good job, while others think that gaining experience and developing soft skills is more important. Discuss both sides of the argument and give your opinion. |
Sample Answer
Some people believe that children should spend all of their leisure time with their families. Others believe that this is not required and a negative development.
Discuss both viewpoints and give your opinion. Support your answer with the help of relevant examples.
Explanation of the Task
This is Opinion>Discussion type essay. Hence, You should introduce the topic, provide relevant ideas explaining arguments on both sides of the discussion, and then write your opinion in the conclusion. Always remember that these Opinion>Discussion tasks might be expressed differently; look for keyword ‘discuss’ and its synonyms like ‘debate’, ‘consider’ and ‘review’.
| Model Answer: No one can deny that parental influence is of paramount importance for children, especially in cases where children live with their parents, foster parents or guardians. However, it is by no means clear that children should spend time exclusively with their family. This essay will examine both viewpoints and provide rationale behind my opinion on this. On the one hand, proponents of this theory claim that it is advisable for parents to act as role models and to establish ground rules for behaviour by spending as much time as possible with their children. This allows the youngsters to absorb conventions and codes of conduct which they can then follow themselves, hopefully leading to an absence of problems such as bullying, truancy and delinquency later on. In addition to this, being with the family should reduce the risk of children falling victim to crimes such as abduction, stealing etc. On the other hand, opponents of this theory claim that it is not a practical proposition. In modern society where many families rely on dual-income, children cannot spend all of their time with the family. As such, child-minding and after-school childcare are often used in these cases. Equally, it seems that children can gain considerable knowledge from their peers. Therefore, allowing children to play without direct supervision may be an added advantage. In conclusion, it appears that, while family time is quintessential for bonding and absorbing behavioural patterns, there are definite advantages when children are outside the family eco-system too. Given this situation, it can be said that they are in safe, well behaved environment with peers who are themselves reasonably well brought up. (287 words) |
Topic Vocabulary
- foster parents – people who officially take a child into their family for a period of time, without becoming the child’s legal parents. The child is referred to as their foster child.
- guardians – people who are legally appointed to protect child’s interests in the absence of parents.
- role models – people that children look up to as examples
- ground rules – basic rules governing the peoples’ behaviour
- conventions – traditions or social norms that most people follow
- codes of conduct – voluntary rules acceptable to people
- bullying – when children attack and intimidate other children
- truancy – when a pupil leaves school without permission
- delinquency – minor crime
- dual-income – a situation when both mother and father working
- child-minding – informal care for children (outside of schools)
- peers – people in the same age group or level
- behavioural patterns – ways of acting and doing things
- well brought-up – to grow, educate and behave in a socially acceptable manner.
We hope that understanding this Discuss both views essay structure will help you organize your writing task – 2 better and ultimately fetch you a high band score.
A “Discuss both views and give your opinion” essay is a three-part essay type commonly asked in the IELTS Writing test. It is a three-part essay because our answer has to cover three aspects of the question (2 views and 1 opinion), unlike most IELTS Writing Task 2 questions which only require writing about two things.
Discuss both views and give your opinion question presents two different arguments on the same controversial or debatable topic. As the question suggests, we have to write about both points of view in a balanced manner. Then, we have to weigh in on the matter and present our own beliefs on the subject.
Although we have to stick with the arguments given to us by the question while expanding on the two views, our own opinion on the topic can be anything. We can side with one of the two views or have an alternate take on the issue.
IELTS Discuss both views and give your opinion essay Examples
WRITING TASK 2
You should spend around 40 minutes on this task.
Write about the following topic:
| Some people say that advertising is extremely successful at persuading us to buy things. Other people think that advertising is so common that we no longer pay attention to it. Discuss both these views and give your own opinion. |
Give reasons for your answer and include any relevant examples from your own knowledge and experience.
Write at least 250 words.
WRITING TASK 2
You should spend around 40 minutes on this task.
Write about the following topic:
| Some people believe that it is best to accept a bad situation, such as an unsatisfactory job or shortage of money. Others argue that it is better to try and improve such situations. Discuss both these views and give your own opinion. |
Give reasons for your answer and include any relevant examples from your own knowledge and experience.
Write at least 250 words.
WRITING TASK 2
You should spend around 40 minutes on this task.
Write about the following topic:
| Some people say that the main environmental problem of our time is the loss of particular species of plants and animals. Others say that there are more important environmental problems. Discuss both these views and give your own opinion. |
Give reasons for your answer and include any relevant examples from your own knowledge and experience.
Write at least 250 words.
How to write Discuss both views and give your opinion Essay: The format
As we have learned about the format for different types of essays in IELTS, most essays require four paragraphs. However, a 3-part question like “Discuss both views and give your opinion” requires five paragraphs in order to adequately cover all facets of the question.
| 1 | Introduction |
| 2 | Arguments for the first view |
| 3 | Arguments for the second view |
| 4 | Your opinion |
| 5 | Conclusion |
Our task is to explain the two views separately in two different paragraphs. While elaborating these views, we have to present them objectively from the perspective of the supporters of these views, regardless of whether you agree or disagree with them.
Then, it is best to write our view on the matter in a separate paragraph. Here, we can support one of the two views, or partially support both views. We can even write about a different view distinct from the two given in the question. Since it is our opinion, we can choose to write about anything provided that we are on the topic and explaining the opinion with logical and factual evidence.
Caution: On rare occasions, such questions only ask you “Discuss both views.” The “give your opinion” part maybe absent from the prompt. In such cases, only write four paragraphs and omit the opinion part from the essay.
IELTS Discuss both views and give your opinion: Introduction paragraph
An Introduction paragraph for IELTS “Discuss both views and give your opinion” essay should ideally have the following properties:
- Restate the two views in your own words
- State your opinion
Two sentences presenting a debate are given in a “Discuss both views and give your opinion” question. In the first paragraph of the essay, it would be best to begin with this debate so that the reader gets a sense of the central question the essay is going to tackle. It is also a good practice to announce our opinion at the very beginning rather than keeping the reader under suspense.
| Some people say that advertising is extremely successful at persuading us to buy things. Other people think that advertising is so common that we no longer pay attention to it. Discuss both these views and give your own opinion. |
| Whether adverts influence our purchasing habits or not is a debatable topic. In my opinion, irrespective of age, education, or awareness, advertisements manipulate all of us because of the vast resources that go into marketing these days. |
Discuss both views and give your opinion: Three Body Paragraphs
Body paragraphs are the meat of our essay. The three body paragraphs we write for a “Discuss both views and give your opinion” essay contain explanation of the two statements given to us by the question as well as our own point of view.
Each of the three paragraph should begin with the argument, and then go on to expand the argument into logically-consistent paragraphs with facts and examples.
Remember to write the second and the third paragraph from other people’s perspective. Only insert yourself into the debate in the fourth (opinion) paragraph.
| Some people say that advertising is extremely successful at persuading us to buy things. Other people think that advertising is so common that we no longer pay attention to it. Discuss both these views and give your own opinion. |
| Introduction:Whether adverts influence our purchasing habits or not is a debatable topic. In my opinion, irrespective of age, education, or awareness, advertisements manipulate all of us because of the vast resources that go into marketing these days. First view: On the one hand, it is often claimed that ads are so effective that they make us buy things. This is because most people are bombarded with advertisements of one sort or another, ranging from tv commercials and billboards to blurbs on Facebook and Instagram, on a daily basis. Even if the individuals do not actively seek such promotions or pay much attention to them, the brands and the products become imprinted on our brains. Consequently, the next time we want to buy something, the products which are marketed the most seem more familiar leading us to choose them over the ones which lack similar promotion.Second view: On the other hand, some people are of the opinion that the ubiquity of advertisements in the modern age has led to their ineffectiveness. They argue as most people grow up seeing tons of adverts everyday, they turn out to be indifferent towards the message. This argument can be backed up by the examples of products which we see the advertisements of but never act on them. In my own life, even though I see a plethora of online gambling commercials while watching football on tv, I have never bet my money on sports. In fact, people of the current generation make their purchases based more on their preference than on advertising.Opinion: In my point of view, nobody is immune to the effects of advertising. As marketing has become a serious academic discipline, university departments apply social, psychological, and evolutionary principles so as to perfect the techniques of influencing human behavior. Hence, the people who create commercials or ad campaigns are armed with this knowledge of coaxing potential consumers into buying. Furthermore, businesses are able to target all demographics and niches in the market with several different types of advertisements due to the amount of money involved in this field. It is therefore unsurprising that a harmful product like Coca Cola is drunk all over the world due to its brand awareness rather than its quality. |
Conclusion for Discuss both views and give your opinion Essay
The Conclusion paragraph for a “Discuss both views and give your opinion” essay in IELTS Writing Task 2 is similar to the Introduction paragraph.
The controversy or debate highlighted in the question should be briefly revisited in the Conclusion paragraph. For this paraphrasing the statements from the point will suffice.
Then, we can conclude by restating our opinion.
| Some people say that advertising is extremely successful at persuading us to buy things. Other people think that advertising is so common that we no longer pay attention to it. Discuss both these views and give your own opinion. |
| In conclusion, while some individuals might have learned to be apathetic towards advertisements, most people are swayed by them anyway because there is no escape from them. On top of that, the extent of money and effort invested in designing ads has me convinced that almost everybody is affected by the appeal of marketing wittingly or unwittingly. |
Discuss both views and give your opinion Example
| Some people say that the main environmental problem of our time is the loss of particular species of plants and animals. Others say that there are more important environmental problems. Discuss both these views and give your own opinion. |
| It is argued that the extinction of flora and fauna is the greatest threat to our environment. However, some individuals, who are more concerned about matters like climate change, dismiss extinction as being a secondary issue. From my point of view, environmental problems do not deserve much attention from humanity as there are bigger dangers out there.It is said that the endangerment of different species of living things is a grave problem requiring immediate consideration. This is because the absence of a particular plant or animal from an ecosystem is detrimental to the survival of all other species in that system. For an instance, if the Bengal tigers, which are on the verge of extinction, disappear from the forests of Nepal, the forests will be overrun by deer and other ungulates due to the absence of predators. This will give rise to overgrazing by animals, thereby bringing about other issues like soil erosion and land degradation. The knock on or multiplier effect of extinction of flora and fauna is therefore a reason that warrants prompt action.Nevertheless, there is a camp of people who place more importance on issues like global warming and carbon pollution instead of the extinction of species. According to this point of view, anthropogenic climate change has the potential to disrupt life on the earth as a whole as compared to the loss of some plants or animals from certain parts of the world. The effects of climate change such as high temperatures, droughts, weather swings, melting glaciers, and flooding pose a danger to the way of life as we know it. Not only will many species vanish from the globe, but billions of people will be displaced resulting in a humanitarian crisis.Contrary to these views, I am unconvinced by the doomsday predictions made by some environmentalists. Firstly, the emergence of new species and the disappearance of existing ones is a natural phenomena in a biosphere. Species unfit for an environment are weeded out by nature as only the fittest survive to the next generation. Secondly, climate change is a long-term phenomena, and its effects will take decades if not centuries to realize. By then, scientists might come up with innovative solutions for the possible problems. In the meantime, other dangers like a global nuclear war, an asteroid impact, or a pandemic outbreak might wipe out the living creatures from the earth. To summarize, despite of the bleak pictures painted by environmental activists regarding the annihilation of certain plants and animals from the world or the vast climatic shifts in the planet, I do not believe environmental problems are catastrophic. Rather than worrying about the future of the environment, human effort should be geared towards science and technology so that we can combat negative consequences with ingenuity. |
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