In the minds of ESL exam candidates, e ssay writing is one of the most daunting tasks they are required to complete, regardless of the level of the exam, the administering body or the ease with which they themselves use the language. The same applies to students who are asked to write an essay by their teachers at school. In the previous sample essays posted on the blog, the main point I stress is the need to become acquainted with this form of writing (as opposed to writing a letter, review or report, for instance), to get a feel of what authorial voice is and how to organize and progressively express the arguments you wish to make in a coherent manner. Unfortunately, the best way to prepare for exam writing or learn how to write good essays for school is to read as many essays from as many sources as possible, then write as
This task does not refer to a graph or table, but deals with a diagram or map. Candidates in this case need to describe a process.
The diagrams in this post refer to the changes the town of Langley underwent by presenting an image of the town in 1910 and a second one in 1950.
The sample written is much longer than what a candidate would have time to draft
(over 300 words), but the reason for this is to give candidates
more words to underline
and add to their list of phrases to use in such types of writing tasks.
First, make sure to have read my post
especially taking note of point number 3 towards the end, so that you know what to do with the samples available on this blog.
Here are the two images that need to be described for the first part of the Writing section of the IELTS exam:
Note: the images were sent to me by a student. The watermark on them refer to the site they may have originally been taken from.
And here is a sample answer:
The diagrams illustrate the changes in the layout of the small town of Langley over a forty-year period from 1910 to 1950. What is obvious is that what was once primarily an industrial town with few leisure and commercial facilities has become a more welcoming residential area.
In 1910, there were only two main roads present in Langley: Jordan Street running north-south, situated in the western part of town between rows of townhouses, and Sherman Street placed centrally and running west to east between houses, a store, Laundromat and café. Parallel to the north of Sherman Street, a wasteland extended with the town’s factory at close proximity to the town’s housing areas. Similarly to the south of Sherman Street, more wasteland was present, interrupted by a single row of cottages situated just above Langley’s railway line.
By 1950, the town’s configuration has dramatically changed to accommodate residents. The factory, railway line and wastelands have been cleared to make way for a number of conversions. One major modification is the addition of a new road, New Lane, which joins Sherman Street, while the latter now meets Jordan Street as the row of townhouses that separated both streets has now be demolished. In fact, all the townhouses have been replaced by three blocks of flats west of Jordan Street. The other houses along Sherman Street have been torn down and in their stead where the factory once was, there are now three prodigious housing estates, Sherman Mansions. Though the café and laundry store still exist, they have been relocated east of Sherman Mansions, and in addition to the grocery store available in 1910, two more stores east of New Lane have opened south of the café and laundry. The final improvement to the town’s design is the creation of Sherman Park, enclosed by Langley’s three main streets. This is a green space where residents can enjoy a pond and let their children amuse themselves in a specially designed children’s play area in the south-eastern corner of the park.
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