B2 WRITING –ESSAY ORGANIZATION

A well-organized essay helps your readers follow your ideas easily.

Your essays should be broken into paragraphs, normally including:
- paragraph 1: The Introduction
- paragraph 2: The Body 1
- paragraph 3: The Body 2
- paragraph 4: The Conclusion

The Introduction
The purpose of the introduction is to give your readers a clear idea of what your essay will cover. The
introduction should include:
- general statement (context)
- thesis statement (your opinion)
- main points (overview of argument) - optional

The Conclusion
The function of the conclusion is to draw together the main ideas discussed in the body of the essay. The
conclusion should include:
- restatement of the topic
- restatement of the thesis statement
- summary of the key points - optional

The Body paragraphs

The body of the essay is where you fully develop your argument. Each body paragraph should contain
ONE key idea, which is supported by relevant examples and evidence. Each paragraph should include:
- the topic sentence (= topic + controlling idea)
- supporting ideas/ sentences (developed by means of examples, explanations, research citations, etc,.
and linked by means of cohesive devices)

People overuse electricity for numerous reasons. Firstly, owing to the fast-paced life, people cannot resist
the lure of electricity appliances that save them time and comfort although they know how much
devastation these appliances cause to nature. For example, people use big machines to produce a lot of
products at one time, use microwaves to quickly heat up the food and air conditioners to instantly cool
down the room. Another reason driving the consumption of electricity is the fact that almost every
household has unlimited access to it. In that case, people use electricity according to their affordability
and budget instead of their need. As a result, a significant amount of electricity is wasted.

Activity 1. Underline (1) the general statement and (2) double underline the thesis statement in the
following introductions
1. Social media have deeply infiltrated into everyone’s life and is believed to be replacing our face-to-face
interaction. This situation, although advantageous in certain aspects, is generally a detriment to true
human communication in the long run.
2. People hold widely differing views on whether following domestic news or world news is more
important. Although it is true that concentrating on news from all over the world is beneficial to some
extent, I would argue that keeping abreast of national news is a wiser choice.

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3. Traffic congestion in many cities around the world is severe. One possible solution to this problem is to
impose heavy taxes on car drivers and use this money to make public transport better. This essay will
discuss the benefits and drawbacks of such a measure.
4. In the past, it was a natural step that a couple would get married fairly young, and then start a family.
However, this is no longer the case and the delaying of childbirth is becoming very common. This essay
will consider the reasons for this trend and the possible effects on families and society.
5. With the rise of social media platforms such as Facebook or Twitter, there is concern that virtual
communication is replacing face-to-face conversations. While there are certain drawbacks to this
development, its overall impact on daily communication is positive, outweighing baseless concerns about
the loss of speaking skills.
6. It is common nowadays for students at university or college to undertake part-time work either for
money or gain some work experience. In my opinion this has both advantages and disadvantages.

Activity 2. Underline (1) the topic and (2) double underline the thesis statement in the following
conclusions
1. In conclusion, environment factors can be taken as the sources of stress and people's personality
determines the extent to which they are influenced by those factors. Adopting a healthy lifestyle and
proper attitudes toward life can promote people's physical and psychological well-being and help them
relieve stress.
2. In conclusion, the decision to finance theatres or sport stadiums depends on the financial situation of a
country. When an economy comes to maturity, the launch of recreational and entertainment projects of
this kind is reasonable
3. To conclude, the decision of whether or not to take up a part-time job while studying depends on
individual students’ circumstances – it may be beneficial or financially necessary, but I am convinced that
it should never be at the cost of underachieving in academic work.
4. In conclusion, although newspapers remain popular today, they will gradually be replaced by the desire
to read the news through electronic sources. This may be a sad loss given their history, but unfortunately
it is an unavoidable development.
5. To conclude, advertising is an everyday feature of our lives and people are constantly being
encouraged to buy products or services that might be too expensive, unnecessary or even unhealthy. I
believe that this is morally wrong and unacceptable in today's society.
6. In conclusion, the main factors leading to the youth’s unemployment is their inexperience and improper
attitude towards the labour market. This problem can partly be tackled with the help from universities,
enterprises, the government as well as the activeness of young adults themselves.