- •Discursive compositions expressing opinions
- •Introduction
- •Useful Words and Phrases
- •Are computers a necessity?
- •Writing assignment:
- •English and Maths are more important subjects than Art and Music
- •The secret of happiness
- •Learn to be lucky
- •Are you a successful leader?
- •For and Against Compositions
- •Introduction
- •Points to remember:
- •First and Last Paragraph Techniques
- •In the first paragraph you can state the topic by:
- •In the last paragraph you can give a balanced consideration or your opinion by:
- •The Pros and Cons of Parents Educating Children at Home
- •Writing assignment:
- •The pros and cons of using the Internet
- •No more secrets
- •Love-hate relationships Mobile phones
- •Writing an essay providing solutions to problems.
- •Useful vocabulary:
- •How can we make our city a better place to live?
- •Writing assignment:
- •1.1 Look at the problems (1-5) and match them to the solutions (a-e). Which of these problems do you think is the most / least serious? Can you think of anymore problems and solutions?
- •Self - talk
- •Auntie Claire writes:
- •A sad story of a sad man
- •Perform the following writing task
Learn to be lucky
In June 1980, Maureen Wilcox became one of the US lottery’s biggest losers. She chose the winning numbers for both the Rhode Island and Massachusetts lotteries. But unfortunately for her, the numbers she picked for The Rhode Island lottery were the correct ones for the Massachusetts lottery, and vice versa.
We all know lucky people – they have good relationships, successful careers and are very satisfied with their lives. But what makes them so lucky? Dr. Richard Wiseman has spent ten years studying luck and has found that lucky people have a completely different approach to the world.
The results of his work revealed that people aren’t born lucky. Instead, fortunate people behave in a way that creates good luck in their lives.
They notice the opportunities that happen by chance more often than unlucky people. They are also more open to meeting new people and having new experiences.
They tend to make good decisions by listening to their intuition.
They are optimists and are certain that the future is going to be full of good luck. This positive attitude often makes good things happen.
They are also good at coping with bad luck and often cheer themselves up by imagining things could be worse than they are.
Dr. Wiseman tested his ideas by starting a luck school, where he helped the volunteers spot opportunities that happen accidentally, trust their intuition more, feel sure they are going to be lucky and become better at dealing with bad luck.
Dr. Wiseman’s ideas won’t help you win the lottery, but they might help you to be more successful in your day-to-day life.
Pre-writing task 4
Read the extract from the text. Express your opinion, if you agree with the main idea or not.
Are you a successful leader?
Some people are natural leaders. True leaders are born. They’re the people who combine toughness, fairness and humour. Good leaders don’t make people do things in a bossy, controlling way.
There is a lot of qualities that are necessary to be a successful leader. Self-confidence is vital as well as being able to overcome your own fears about being a leader. Successful leaders also need to be calm and intelligent. They need to be able to work out good strategies and make sound judgements under pressure. Lastly, and probably most importantly, good leaders need to be sensitive, sociable and be able to get on with a wide range of different people.
Good leadership is essentially the ability to influence others and good leaders allow all members of the group to contribute.
Pre-writing task 5
Read and comment on the quotes. Which is closer to your point of view?
“The art of leadership is saying no, not yes. It is very easy to say yes.”
Tony Blair
“The most important thing about successful leadership is knowing how to get on with people.”
Teddy Roosevelt
“Don’t tell people how to do things, tell them what to do and let them surprise you with their results.”
Gearge S. Patton
Perform the following writing task:
Write an opinion essay “What does success mean to me?” based on the module and extra vocabulary. Remember the notes above how to write discursive compositions expressing opinion.