The TOEFL ibt Independent

Writing Task: Steps to Writing

the Introduction

Zalmai Attarpoor
Steps to Writing a Successful
Introduction

1. Introduce the general topic

2. Narrow the topic to focus on the

specific question

3. Restate the question in your own words

4. Write a concluding sentence with your

opinion or the controlling idea of the
essay
Introducing the Topic
Question: What is the best age to marry? Give reasons and
examples to support your response

Introduce the topic

I think the best age to marry is 27 because when I
X am 27, I will have graduated from university.

In some countries people can choose the age

O when they want to marry.
Question: Compare yourself today and yourself five years
ago. In what ways are you the same or different? Use specific
examples to support your response.

Introduce the topic

Five years ago, I was very immature but now I

X have grown up and my life has changed a lot.

Young peoples’ lives tend to change

O rapidly in a relatively short amount of time.
 Narrowing the Focus
Question: What is the best age to marry? Give
reasons and examples to support your response
1. In some countries people can choose the age when they want to
marry.
Narrowed topic
I think I would like to get married when I am in
X my 30s.

In my country, women get married within a few

O years of finishing university and beginning a
career while men can wait until they are a little
older to marry.
Question: Compare yourself today and yourself five years ago. In
what ways are you the same or different? Use specific examples
to support your response.
1. Young peoples’ lives tend to change rapidly in a relatively short
amount of time.

Narrowed Topic

It is almost impossible to consider all of the ways

X my life has changed.

Though five years may seem like a short time, for

O young people it encompasses most of our teenage
years, which is a time of growth and maturing in many
ways.
 Restate the Question in Your Own Words
Question: What is the best age to marry? Give reasons and
examples to support your response
1. In some countries people can choose the age when they want to marry.
2. In my country, women get married within a few years of finishing university and
beginning a career while men can wait until they are a little older to marry.

Restate the question

X I don’t want to get married in my 20s just because my

culture expects me to.

O Nowadays, many young people question themselves

about this tradition and the best age to marry and start
a family.
Question: Compare yourself today and yourself five years ago. In
what ways are you the same or different? Use specific examples
to support your response.
1. Young peoples’ lives tend to change rapidly in a relatively short amount of time.
2. Though five years may seem like a short time, for young people it
encompasses most of our teenage years, which is a time of growth and maturing
in many ways.

Restate the question

X My life has changed a lot in the last five years.

I am eighteen years old and when I compare my life

as a junior high school student with my life now, I can
O see that I am a much different person with different
interests and goals than I had in my younger days.
 Write a concluding Sentence with the
controlling idea (thesis statement)
Question: What is the best age to marry? Give reasons and
examples to support your response
1. In some countries people can choose the age when they want to marry.
2. In my country, women get married within a few years of finishing university and
beginning a career while men can wait until they are a little older to marry.
3. Nowadays, many young people question themselves about this tradition and the
best age to marry and start a family.

Controlling idea

I think the best age to marry is in the early thirties because at

that age, people have finished their education, started their
career and had a chance to travel or do other things that will
be impossible once they start a family.
 Question: Compare yourself today and yourself five years
ago. In what ways are you the same or different? Use specific
examples to support your response.
1. Young peoples’ lives tend to change rapidly in a relatively short amount of time.
2. Though five years may seem like a short time, for young people it encompasses
most of our teenage years, which is a time of growth and maturing in many ways.
3. I am eighteen years old and when I compare to my life as a junior high school
student with my life now, I can see that I am a much different person with different
interests and goals than I had in my younger days.

Controlling idea

In my junior high school days, playing soccer was the most

important thing in my life but now I realize the importance of
studying and I work hard at my part time job so I can save
enough money to go abroad and experience a new culture
while studying at an American university.
 Sample Introductions
In some countries people can choose the age when they want
to marry. In my country, women get married within a few years
of finishing university and beginning a career while men can
wait until they are a little older to marry. Nowadays, many
young people question themselves about this tradition and the
best age to marry and start a family. I think the best age to
marry is in the early thirties because at that age, people have
finished their education, started their career and had a chance
to travel or do other things that will be impossible once they
start a family.
Young peoples’ lives tend to change rapidly in a relatively
short amount of time. Though five years may seem like a
short time, for young people it encompasses most of our
teenage years, which is a time of growth and maturing in
many ways. I am eighteen years old and when I compare to
my life as a junior high school student with my life now, I can
see that I am a much different person with different interests
and goals than I had in my younger days. In my junior high
school days, playing football was the most important thing in
my life but now I realize the importance of studying and I work
hard at my part time job so I can save enough money to go
abroad and experience a new culture while studying at an
American university.