Discussion Essay: One-sided Opinion vs.

Balanced View

One-sided. Topic: Some people think that children should be taught to be competitive in school. Others, however,
say that cooperation and team working skills are more important. Discuss both sides and give your opinion.

1. Intro:
a. Background: two sides
i. Although it is sometimes thought that schools ought to teach children to compete, other
people believe that the focus should be on cooperation.
b. Thesis: opinion
i. In my opinion, I consider that competition helps children learn the most important skills
for their future.
2. Body 1: Competition: + your opinion
a. Topic sentence: On the one hand, some people think that children who learn to compete against
each other often do better in school and I agree.
i. Supporting sentence: why people think that?
ii. Supporting sentence: for example
iii. Supporting sentence: furthermore
3. Body 2: cooperation:
a. Topic sentence: On the other hand, it is often believed that it is better if the emphasis at school is
on cooperating with others.
4. Conclusion: refer to other people’s opinion. Restate my opinion
a. In conclusion, while people may vary in their opinions, I think that children stand a better chance
to succeed both in school and later in life if they are encouraged to compete against each other.

Balanced-view:

1. Intro:
a. Background: two sides
i. Although it is sometimes thought that schools ought to teach children to compete, other
people believe that the focus should be on cooperation.
b. Thesis: opinion
i. In my opinion, deciding whether to focus on competition of team working skills should
depend on the age of the child.
2. Body 1: one side
a. Topic sentence: On the one hand, some people think that children who learn to compete against
each other often do better in school.
3. Body 2: other side
a. Topic sentence: On the other hand, it is often believed that it is better if the emphasis at school is
on cooperating with others.
4. Body 3: my opinion:
a. Finally, in my view, both skills are indispensable for a child’s future but the focus should depend
on the child’s age.
i. Younger children benefit from this while older children may find it useful to have
5. Conclusion: refer to other people’s opinion. Restate my opinion
a. In conclusion, while people may vary in their opinions, I think that it would be better for young
children to develop team working skills and older children to become more competitive. Learning
both skills is essential at the appropriate age for a child’s future.
 Essay Type: Advantage/Disadvantage and Outweigh essays

TOPIC: In the past, most people used to travel to their place of work. With increased use of computers, the
internet and smart phones, more and more people are starting to work from home.

What are the advantages and disadvantages of this development?

Tips:

- No opinion at all
- Analyzing the issues: analyze the terms (for ex: “children”, “paid work”)
- VOCAB:
o Advantage = advantageous = benefit = beneficial = can gain = positive aspect = an upside
o Disadvantage = a drawback = negative aspect = a downside
o Minor, major, serious, obvious, significant, main
- PLANNING:
o Plan the advantages and each of their supporting points
o Use the analyzing issues^ to help
1. Intro:
a. Background: introduce topic
b. Thesis: introduce main points
i. Workers can learn to manage their time better and gain independence from working
from home but there are also drawbacks to be taken into account.
2. Body 1: Advantages and supporting points of each
a. Topic sentence:
i. On the one hand, there are a number of advantages to children doing paid work. Firstly,
…
ii. Firstly, one benefit of … is that …
b.
3. Body 2: Disadvantages
a. Topic sentence:
i. On the other hand, one problem is… Another possible issue is…
4. Conclusion: summarize main points
a. Exact opposite of the thesis statement.
b. In conclusion, while workers can benefit from working at home, it can also lead to…

Do (you think) the advantages outweigh the disadvantages?

1. Intro:
a. Background: introduce topic
b. Thesis: introduce main points
i. In my opinion, I think that working at home can bring about more problems for
workers compared to any advantages it might bring.
2. Body 1: Advantages and supporting points of each
a. Topic sentence:
i. Admittedly, there are some basic benefits of workers working from home. Firstly, …
3. Body 2: Disadvantages
a. Topic sentence:
i. Nevertheless, despite the advantages above, I believe workers could face serious
drawbacks from working from home.
4. Conclusion: summarize main points
a. Restate which side we are taking.
b. In conclusion, being exploited or struggling with academic grades far outweighs any of the minor
benefits that could result from children being involved in work experience.
 Opinion Essay: One-sided approach vs. Balanced Approach

One-sided: In order to study at university students are required to pay expensive tuition fees. Not all students
can afford them so some people think that university education should be free for everyone. Do you agree that
university education should be free for everyone?

Tips:

- List reasons why I agree/disagree

- Each main point has 3 supporting points
- Think of paraphrasing
1. Introduction:
a. Background statement: Fees for higher education are expensive and not affordable for everyone
so according to some university should be free for all people regardless of their background.
b. Thesis: In my opinion, I agree that university education ought to be free as it will greatly benefit
both individuals and society.
2. Body 1:
a. Topic sentence: A good reason to abolish university fees is that it gives people whether they are
rich or poor equal rights.
i. Present situation
ii. Discrimination
iii. No fees avoids this problem
3. Body 2:
4. Body 3:
5. Conclusion:
a. In conclusion, free university education is a must for any countries that values equal rights and
one that wishes to advance. The cost of free education will be recouped many times over by the
benefit it brings.

Balanced:

Brainstorming: For: equal rights, no need to work and study, benefit society vs. Against: financial problems for a
country, disinterested students

1. Introduction:
a. Background statement: Fees for higher education are expensive and not affordable for everyone
so according to some university should be free for all people regardless of their background.
b. Thesis: In my opinion, offering everyone free university education would be problematic and,
therefore, should only be offered to certain individuals.
2. Body 1: financial problems
a. Topic sentence: Having free university education for everyone would put a tremendous financial
strain on a country.
3. Body 2: disinterested students
a. Topic sentence: Another point to consider is that offering all people free tertiary education
would tempt many people to enter university there were interested or not.
4. Body 3: poor, gifted students
a. Topic sentence: Finally, the best solution would be to keep university fees but still offer some
free places to gifted students from poor background.
5. Conclusion:
a. In conclusion, abolishing university fees is not feasible for most countries but offering free places
to particular students who have limited financial means is a much better use of a country’s
resource.