The Independent Writing Task

The Independent essay asks you to answer a short question that asks for your opinion about an
issue. In this section there is no choice of topic.

There are typically three main types of Independent essays:

Type 1: Choose a side

“Some people like to travel with a companion. Other people prefer to travel alone. Which do
you prefer? Use specific reasons and examples to support your choice.”

This type of essay might use the following structure:

• Intro
o A is better
• Body 1
o Reason 1 and examples of why A is better
o Short contrast with B
• Body 2
o Reason 2 and examples of why A is better
o Short contrast with B
• Conclusion
o Why this is significant in the real world

Type 2: View both sides (advantages & disadvantages)

For example

“"Some high school students are delaying college for a year in order to take a gap year to
pursue other opportunities such as work or travel. Discuss the advantages and disadvantages
of gap years. Use specific reasons and examples to support your answer."

This type of essay might use the following structure:

• Intro
o General statements about issue
• Body 1
o Advantages and examples
• Body 2
o Disadvantages and examples
• Conclusion
o Why this is significant in the real world
Type 3: Describe or explain (develop and argument)

For example

“If you could learn one new skill you’ve never had the opportunity to try before, what skill would
it be? Explain your choice by using specific reasons and examples.”

This type of essay might use the following structure:

• Intro
o Your choice/subject
• Body 1
o Reason 1 and examples
• Body 2
o Reason 2 and examples
• Body 3
o Reason 3 and examples
• Conclusion
o Why this is significant in the real world

Learning Objectives

• Gauge the knowledge and experience of the audience and write appropriately for it.
• Clearly articulate one’s own position or opinion and give supporting evidence from
personal experience or knowledge.
Phrases for the Independent Essay

Expressing your opinion

• I am of the opinion that…

Giving Examples

• For example,…
• Take, for example, [noun].
• For instance,…
• If…., say,…
• …, such as…

Introducing a reason

• This is primarily because…

Moving on to another reason

• What’s more,…
• Moreover,…
• Additionally,…
• There is also the fact that…

Adding emphasis

• In fact,…
• Of course,…
• Indeed,…
• Clearly,…

Making a statement based on a reason

• Because of that,…
• As a result,…
• For this reason,…
• Due to that fact,…
• As such,…

Showing a contrast

• On the other hand,…

• That is,…
• In other words,…

Concluding

• Essentially, …
• To put it briefly, …
• In all, …
• As mentioned,…

Sample Essay

Some people suggest that affording children over fifteen the right to vote would lead to a better
society. After all, the more voices are heard in a democracy, the more legitimacy elected
leaders have. Be that as it may, I believe that society would actually be worse off if fifteen-year-
olds were allowed to vote. Teenagers are too immature to vote, and often simply copy the
preferences of their parents.

First and foremost, fifteen, is simply put, not very old. Children at that age lack the emotional
maturity needed to make intelligent decisions when voting. They often feel passionately about a
topic one day only to have their interest fizzle out the next; clearly, that causes problems when
the decisions made affect people throughout society. Moreover, fifteen-year-olds lack the
sophistication needed to distinguish between truly valuable causes and those that are merely
exciting. Politicians would simply speak to the emotions of the younger voters during speeches,
and teenagers might vote for frivolous policies, such aslonger school vacations. However,
voting should not be taken so lightly—no choice, arguably, could be of more importance.

I also believe it would be a mistake to allow fifteen-year-olds to vote because they are likely to
simply copy the preferences of their parents. For example, during elections, voters are often
influenced by economic factors, such as promises to provide tax breaks, the expansion of social
aid programs. But fifteen-year-olds are not economically independent. Their financial situations
depend on those of their parents. For this reason, their parents would influence them to vote to
most help the family financially, which is not honest democracy. To make matters worse,
politicians would realize that families usually vote in the same way, and start emphasizing
policies helping families at the expense of other interest groups in order to get their votes. For
instance, politicians might promise to raise money for schools by taxing businesses. This would
effectively give parents a disproportionately large influence.

Essentially, there is a good reason that virtually no country on the planet allows people who
are so young to vote. They have yet to mature into responsible tax-paying citizens. As
mentioned, their interests are fickle, and not aligned with what is best for society as a whole. It
would be a mistake to give them influence in the democratic process.

(source: magoosh.com)

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