IELTS Two-Part and Outweigh Essays: Lesson 14

What this lesson is for

Two forty-minute halves and a short third part, one idea each. They already have the four-paragraph shape, the introduction, and the conclusion opener from the earlier writing lessons, so none of that is taught again here. Part 1 covers the prompt that contains two separate instructions, where one middle paragraph belongs to each. Part 2 covers the prompt that contains one instruction but demands a comparison. Part 3 is twenty minutes on the prompt that looks identical to part 2 but forbids the comparison, and it has no model essay because nothing about the essay changes except the last paragraph. Spend the time on the drills, not on explaining.

Timing

Materials

• Board space for the question and the four-line shape.
• This page on every student device, joined to the room.
• The dashboard on your screen. Worksheets 2 and 5 are read live, and Worksheet 2 is read in two columns.

Procedure

Part 1: the two-question essay (40 min)

THE TURN into body 2

   This [the change] means that ...


   This growth in travel means that many people
   can now enjoy the benefits of travelling.

   This move away from the office means that
   millions of people now organise their days
   differently.

   This shift to social media means that people
   meet the news in a very different way.

Part 2: the outweigh essay (40 min)

Part 3: the same prompt without the verdict (20 min)

What to read on the dashboard

• Worksheet 1 marks itself. Gap 3 is the one that matters: a student who cannot find the paragraph answering question 2 will not write one.
• Worksheet 2 is the lesson in one screen. Read the body 1 and body 2 columns as pairs. If the pair says the same thing, that student has answered one question twice.
• Worksheet 3 has one gap. You are checking that the sentence names the change and then moves to question 2.
• Worksheet 4 marks itself. Gap 3 is the diagnostic: a student who cannot find where the weighing happens will not do any weighing of their own.
• Worksheet 5 is part 2 in one screen. Scan for two things only, whether both sides are named in the sentence, and whether anything follows the word "because". A column of sentences that mention one side is the lesson not landing, and you should stop and re-teach rather than push on.
• Worksheets 6 and 7 are part 3. Sheet 6 marks itself and should be near full marks within a minute. Sheet 7 is the real test: scan the last sentence of each answer for "in my view", "outweigh", "more important", "on balance" and "hard to ignore". Any of them means the verdict is still in there.

Worksheet 1: the model essay

The question: More and more people are working from home rather than in an office. Why is this happening? Do you think it is a positive or a negative development?

A   (1) Until recently, working from home was a privilege given to
    a handful of employees, whereas in many industries it is now
    simply how the week is organised. (2) The change has been driven
    by cheaper technology and by the savings it offers employers and
    staff alike, and in my view it has done far more good than harm.

B   The first reason is that the tools finally caught up with the
    idea. Video calls, shared documents and instant messaging now
    handle most of the contact that once required a desk and a
    corridor, and they cost a company almost nothing to run. The
    second reason is financial, and it works in both directions.
    Office space in a major city is among the largest overheads a
    firm has, so a company that lets half its staff stay at home can
    rent half the floor. The employee, meanwhile, saves time as well
    as money: somebody who no longer travels an hour in each
    direction gains ten hours a week.

C   This move away from the office means that millions of people can
    now build the working day around the rest of their lives, and
    the effects have been largely positive. Staff who control their
    own hours report lower stress and take fewer days off sick, and
    parents are no longer forced to squeeze a family into the narrow
    gaps an employer leaves them. The change has also opened work to
    people who were shut out of it before, such as those living far
    from any city and those whose disability makes a daily journey
    exhausting. Weaker contact between colleagues is a genuine cost,
    though most firms now manage it by bringing their teams together
    for a few days each month.

D   In brief, home working spread because the technology allowed it
    and the economics rewarded it. To my mind the development should
    be welcomed, since it returns time to employees and opens
    careers to people who could never have reached an office in the
    first place.

                                            330 words  ·  band 9

Three questions about the essay above.

Worksheet 2: what goes in each paragraph

Three questions. For each one, write what body 1 answers and what body 2 answers. A few words in each box, not sentences.

Worksheet 3: the sentence that turns

Body 2 opens by leaving question 1 behind. Write the first sentence of body 2 for question 2 above, the one about news on social media.

This [the change] means that [question 2].

This growth in travel means that many people can
now enjoy the benefits of travelling.

Worksheet 4: the outweigh essay

A new question: Some companies now allow their staff to work four days a week instead of five, with no cut in pay. Do the advantages of a shorter working week outweigh the disadvantages?

A   (1) A small but growing number of companies have moved their
    staff onto a four-day week without touching their salaries.
    (2) The change is bound to be awkward for certain industries,
    yet I am convinced that what employers and employees gain from
    it is worth more than what it costs them.

B   The objections are practical rather than principled. Much of
    the work an economy depends on cannot be squeezed into fewer
    hours: a hospital ward or a production line has to be staffed
    on every day it is open, so shortening the week there means
    hiring extra people rather than working more cleverly.
    Companies with clients abroad face a milder version of the
    same problem. For a small firm with nobody to spare, covering
    the missing day can easily cost more than the arrangement
    saves.

C   These objections are real, but in my view they belong to
    particular sectors rather than to the idea itself, while the
    benefits reach almost every workplace. Trials in Iceland,
    Japan and the United Kingdom found that production held steady
    and in several cases rose, largely because employees who have
    rested properly waste less of the day and fall ill less often.
    A three-day weekend is also one of the few benefits that
    persuades skilled staff to stay, sparing the company the
    expense of replacing them. I would argue that the benefit of a
    rested and loyal workforce matters more than the cost of
    staffing a fifth day, because staffing can be planned months
    in advance while exhaustion cannot.

D   In brief, a four-day week is genuinely hard to organise in
    some industries, but the evidence so far suggests that it
    protects output while improving the lives of the people
    producing it. To my mind, the advantages outweigh the
    disadvantages, provided each employer introduces the change in
    the way its own work allows.

                                            304 words  ·  band 9

Three questions about the essay above.

Worksheet 5: the weighing sentence

One sentence for each question. Mark it as your own view, name both sides, say which is heavier, and finish the reason after "because". No paragraphs.

[In my view / To my mind / I would argue that], the
benefit of [X] matters more than the cost of [Y],
because [why Y is the smaller problem].

Worksheet 6: does this prompt want a verdict?

Read the instruction at the end of each prompt, not the topic. Some of these want you to say which side is bigger. The rest only want the two sides described.

Worksheet 7: the conclusion with no verdict

This is the conclusion of the four-day week essay in Worksheet 4, written for a prompt that asked whether the advantages outweigh the disadvantages.

In brief, a four-day week is undeniably hard to
organise in some industries, but the evidence so
far suggests that it protects output while
improving the lives of the people producing it.
To my mind the advantages outweigh the
disadvantages comfortably.

Rewrite it for this prompt instead: Some companies now let their staff work four days a week with no cut in pay. Discuss the advantages and disadvantages of this arrangement. Keep both sides. Remove the verdict, and do not smuggle it back in.

Check your essay

Ask these of your own essay before you hand it in.

If the prompt asked two questions:

1. Does body 1 answer question 1, and body 2 answer question 2?
2. Does sentence 2 of my introduction answer both questions, briefly, in that order?
3. Does my conclusion answer both questions, in the same order, in one or two lines?

If the prompt asked whether one side outweighs the other:

1. Is there a sentence in body 2 that names both sides, says which is heavier, and says that this is my view?
2. Did I give the side I rejected a fair paragraph, or a single dismissive line?
3. Does my conclusion name a winner, rather than saying both sides have a point?

If the prompt only said "discuss the advantages and disadvantages":

1. Have I kept my own opinion out of it, in the conclusion as well as the bodies?
2. Are both sides given a real paragraph, rather than one long and one short?
3. Does my last sentence leave the reader unable to tell which side I would choose?

Answer key

If this lesson goes wrong

• They write sentences in Worksheet 2. Expected, and it eats the drill. Stop the class after two minutes and read one good short answer aloud as the model for length.
• Body 2 repeats body 1. The error the lesson exists for. Send them back to the prompt and make them read question 2 aloud before writing anything in the second box.
• You run short in part 1. Cut drill question 1 and keep 2 and 3. Question 3 is the one that cannot be answered by repeating reasons, so it is the one worth the time.
• The weighing sentences name one side. The part 2 equivalent of body 2 repeating body 1, and just as common. Write a one-sided example on the board, ask what is missing, and make them add the second side before they write anything new.
• Body 1 becomes a straw man in part 2. Once a student knows which side wins, they stop giving the other side real paragraphs. Send them back to the model: paragraph B is a full, fair case for a position the writer goes on to reject.
• Part 2 runs over. Take the time from Stage 8 step 2, the written conclusion, which they can do at home. Do not take it from Stage 7. The weighing sentence is the only genuinely new thing in the second half, and a student who leaves without it has learned nothing part 1 did not already teach.
• Part 3 confuses them rather than clearing things up. If the room starts hedging every conclusion, stop and say the short version: the prompt tells you which one to write, so read the last line of the prompt before you plan. Part 3 is twenty minutes and it is fine to end it early.
• No time for part 3 at all. Drop it and set Worksheets 6 and 7 as homework. It depends on the Part 2 model, which they will still have in front of them, and neither sheet needs you in the room.