Semi-formal

How to write an ESSAY

style

Structure
• Introduction: Introduce your essay and state your opinion
• First point
Do people depend too
• State the idea
much on technology
• Give a reason, explanation or examples
• Come to a conclusion nowadays?
• Second point Notes
• State the idea Write about:
• Give a reason, explanation or examples • Communicating

• Come to a conclusion • Education

• Third point (your own idea) • ________(your own
• State the idea idea)
• Give a reason, explanation or examples 140-190 words
• Come to a conclusion
• Conclusion

Linkers 

• However • First, Firstly, First of all
• Even though • Second, Secondly
• Despite • Third, Thirdly
• Although • Additionally, In addition
• On the other hand • Moreover, Furthermore
• While • Similarly

• Whereas

Sound less definite Adjectives

• Adverbs of frequency: often • Appropriate
• Adverbs of certainty: probably • Essential
• Modal verbs: may • Particular
• Phrases: be likely to, tend to • Practical
• Relevant 


1
 Introduce 

• Opinion: • Due to the fact that
• From my perspective • Since
• I would argue that • As
• It seems to me • This is why
• In my view • Therefore
• In my opinion • Consequently
• I agree/disagree with • Effect:
• The question of • As a consequence
• Personally • As a result
• To my mind • Result in
• Some people claim that • Lead to
• It is often said that • Conclusion:
• Example: • To sum up
• For instance • To summarise
• For example • In summary
• Such as • To conclude
• Like • In conclusion
• Reason: • As has been illustrated in this
• This is because essay

• Because (of) Reported speech
Relative clauses
Nowadays nearly every aspect of life is affected by technology. Computers are used
Passive
for communication, teaching and entertainment; but do we depend on them too
much? Conditionals
Modals
Some people are afraid that if people spend all their time talking to others on their Used to, would, be/get
computers, they become unable to make real relationships. They live through
computers or mobile phones and feel uncomfortable if they are not online. Such used to
people are clearly too dependent on technology, although easy communication has Present perfect
advantages in the business world.

Education has benefited from technology as students can find all the information they need in seconds
without needing to spend time going through books. However, if students lose the ability to think for
themselves, this is not a good thing.

It is very easy to find entertainment through technology, and it is also used in film-making. We all expect to
see special effects in films nowadays and these are produced by technology. Are these films really better
than the films of the past, though?

In my opinion, we have to accept the need for technology nowadays, but we should be aware of the dangers
of becoming too dependent on it.