Ideas, arguments and evidence - pls all give ur inputs

[puru22]

Hi,

I have read in quite a few tutorials that 1/3rd of marks in Writing section are allocated to Ideas, Arguments & Evidence. As far as arguments and evidence are concerned the are pretty clear, but ideas seem quite ambigous.

A number of essays, I have seen, simply take up from the topic and then given 1,2,3... reasons along with examples.

I will really appreciate if people and our IELTS teacher members can throw some light on the following:
- What do they mean by ideas, since it is ideally mentioned in the topic itself
- If we need to have our own ideas, then how many would be ideal? (for say score of
- How many arguments for each idea?
- And lastly, do we need to illustrate evidence for each argument?
- What does 6.5 in Writing section mean and what extra effort can take me to 7?

These 3 points are the toughest to get and will appreciate all inputs. I have my IELTS this sat, I know its quite late still your inputs can really help me.
In my last attempt I got 6.5, while I need 7 to apply for immigration.

thanks to everyone
Puru

[puru22]

Hi

I meant score of 8 in question 3. The system read it as a shortcut to smiley

[uzairmir]

Hi i am also giving the test tomorrow !
try to use these kind of sentences before your arguments,use idioms


. INTRODUCTION
This essay will deal with the following aspects of the question...
The aim of this essay is ......
_______________________________________

2. GIVING AN OVERVIEW OF THE ESSAY CONTENT
In order to link.... with ...., the background to ... will be briefly outlined.
The first part of the analysis will examine....
The second part of this analysis will consider...
The final level of the analysis consists of...
__________________________________________

3. MAKING A POINT
It is clear/ noticeable that...
It is necessary/ important/ useful/ interesting/to note/point out/ highlight/ emphasise that
___________________________________________

4. EMPHASIS MARKERS show clearly what you think is most important but allow you to avoid personal language such as 'I think'

Adjectives: main, crucial, important, significant, key, essential

Nouns: focus, element, concept, theory, aspect, part, idea, point, argument, discussion, debate

Verbs: to emphasise, to summarise, to focus, to highlight

Examples:
The key aspect of this argument is
The most crucial point made so far
It is worth noting that
Another relevant point is that
___________________________________________

5. INTRODUCING A NEW IDEA
Turning now to the question of
Bearing in mind the previous points,
Having considered (X)
With regard to
As far as ....... is concerned ___________________________________________

6. HEDGING
The group of 11 words called modals can help you avoid over-generalisation as they express degrees of certainty and possibility, thereby avoiding making statements which claim too much or suggest you know everything about a subject.
The 11 modals are:
CAN MAY COULD MIGHT WILL
WOULD SHALL SHOULD, OUGHT TO MUST NEEDN'T

By far the most useful modal verbs are CAN, MAY, COULD and MIGHT. If you say something IS true you may well be guilty of over-generalisation. If you say something MAY or MIGHT be true you avoid this problem.
It could/might be said that ....
It seems/appears ...
It is generally thought/considered ......
Some/many people think/believe ......
___________________________________________

7. CITING RESEARCH
It has been found that
Research has shown that
___________________________________________

8. MAKING HYPOTHESES
If, then
Assuming that
___________________________________________

9. STATING CONDITIONS
Given that
Provided that
Granted that
If it is the case that& then,
___________________________________________

10. GIVING EXAMPLES
For example/instance
In this situation/case
To illustrate
___________________________________________

11. ADDING INFORMATION
Again/ besides/ equally important/ in addition/ further/ furthermore/ moreover
It must also be noted/ remembered that
___________________________________________


12. DISCUSSION MARKERS
On the one hand, on the other hand
Although it may be true that....however
Whilst it is generally agreed that
There exists a contradiction between ..... and
Those in favour of/ Supporters/Advocates of
Those opposed to/ Critics of
___________________________________________

13. RE-PHRASING
In other words
To put it another way
That is to say
___________________________________________

14. EVALUATIVE LANGUAGE.
This is used to show more clearly what you think about different points. Do you already use these words? Could you use them more?

Positive adjectives: remarkable, innovative, complex, interesting, profound, comprehensive, powerful, rigorous, systematic, useful, sensitive, reliable, logical,

Negative adjectives: flawed, modest, unsatisfactory, inadequate, limited, restricted

Nouns: synthesis, survey, topic, study, review, history, concept, area, theme, overview, analysis, system

Verbs: explain, discuss, study, present, describe, bring into focus, consider, explore, illuminate, introduce, analyse, constitute

Examples:
The UNO has published an interesting survey...
It presents a useful concept...
However, the study is limited in that...
___________________________________________

15. REPEATING
In general, DON'T! Try to organise your writing so that you stick to one point at a time. But if you must, you can use phrases such as:
To return to an earlier point
As noted before/above
___________________________________________




16. SUMMING UP
Briefly, we can say/ it can be said that
To sum up
Hence/therefore/accordingly/ consequently
The evidence suggests, therefore
In general what this means/ suggests/ indicates is
It is clear from the above that
___________________________________________

17. CONCLUSION
To conclude/In conclusion,

[puru22]

Hey thanx

these tips would be quite useful