OPINION

E S S AY
UNIT 8.
SPECIFIC TOPIC
Choose, a topic that is related to science that has sustainable arguments from different
points of views, such as:
• Animal Testing
• Alternative medicine
• GMO’s
Remember that it should be an opinion, we cannot use facts!
T H E S I S S TAT E M E N T S E N T E N C E
Create your thesis statement sentence following the proper structure:
• Topic + Position + Reason/s
• University education is more beneficial than technical training because at the university
the students have the opportunity to learn technical and career-related skills as well as
to acquire perspectives on life from studying subjects such as philosophy, art and
literature.
 CRITICAL THINKING
• From your thesis statement, you will look for 3 arguments that support your point of
view and 3 argument that goes against it. However, these must come from reliable
sources, such as books or articles (use Google Scholar). The arguments must be
completely related to your Thesis Statement.
• Then, complete the table with the arguments you found.

For Against
 INTRODUCTION.
• As we saw it before the introduction will include background information of
the topic, or relevant information to understand why it is important. Then,
the last sentence of the introduction will be your thesis statement sentence.

• Background information.
• Thesis statement sentence.
DO NOT CHANGE THE ORDER OF THE STRUCTURE!
 D E V E L O P M E N T.
Body Paragraph: each will have two sections, point and illustration.
Also, remember that each must focus in one idea.
Point: This is the topic sentence, which describes the focus of the paragraph.
A topic sentence must have…
TOPIC + MAIN POINT
TOPIC: What you want to write about.
MAINT POINT: What you want to say about the topic.
 D E V E L O P M E N T.
Then, we continue with the illustration (supporting sentences), this is where you can
give explanations, evidence, and examples that reinforce the main point. However,
make sure that you only use reliable sources such as:
• Facts
• Published opinions
• Research from books, journal articles, websites (trustworthy)
• Published case studies
• Research data
 I L LU S T R AT I O N .
• This is the largest part of the paragraph, in here you will
provide evidence of the main point.
• You will be writing that clauses in complex sentences (as
seen in the book).
• Recent studies show that eggs do not increase the
coloesterol levels in humans.
 COUNTER ARGUMENT
• In an opinion essay, it is important to add an argument that goes
against your point of view because this will show the audience that
you have seen all the evidence about the topic.
• Write a topic sentence of the opposing argument. You can use the
vocabulary words in case that you decide to write a complex
sentence using that.
• Example: Some people assumes that drones can be a useful tool for
protecting wildlife.
 COUNTER ARGUMENT
• After the topic sentence of the
opposing argument, you need to
respond to it with a stronger one. There
are two ways to answer it, in the first
one you acknowledge that that main
idea is true, but your point of view is
stronger. In the other one, you
disapprove the idea completely. You
can use the words that show contrast
and words that intensify the disapproval
of the argument.
 COUNTER ARGUMENT
• Acknowledging that that main idea is true:
• Some people assumes that drones can be a
useful tool for protecting wildlife. It is true that
there has been some cases where drones have
been helpful, however, a recent study
demonstrates that they cause more negative
results.
• Disapprove the idea completely.
• Some people assumes that drones can be a
useful tool for protecting wildlife. However, the
idea is questionable, because …
 CONCLUSION
• Restate your thesis statement (paraphrase it).
• Summarize your main points.
• Finish with your opinion using the phrases seen in unit 7: should, should not, it is
important…

• Avoid: contractions, like, good, bad, thing/s, very, made up.

U S E F U L V O C A B U L A R Y.
U S E F U L V O C A B U L A R Y.
U S E F U L V O C A B U L A R Y.