IELTS Writing Task 2 - giving opinion

In this guide you'll learn how to answer IELTS writing task 2 questions that ask you to give your opinion. This type of questions is very similar to agree/disagree questions: it states two opposite views and asks you to give your opinion.

In this lesson you will see IELTS writing task 2 sample question + model answer and learn


IELTS giving opinion question

Let’s look at an example of IELTS writing task 2 question that asks you to give your opinion:

You should spend about 40 minutes on this task.

Some people believe that violence on television and in computer games has a damaging effect on the society. Others deny that these factors have any significant influence on people's behaviour. What is your opinion?

Write at least 250 words


Choose your opinion & generate arguments

Giving opinions in IELTS essays

First of all, you need to choose your opinion out of the two given ones. For the task above, you need to choose from these opinions:

  1. violence in media has a damaging effect on the society
  2. violence in media doesn’t have a damaging effect on the society

Then, you have to generate your arguments for the chosen opinion. Let’s figure out some supporting points for each of the given opinions:

Choosing arguments for IELTS essays

For our essay, we’ll choose the second opinion.


How to answer this task?

  1. Introduction

    Paraphrase the statement (sentence 1) and give your own opinion (sentence 2):

    These days, the amount of violence in media is growing. While some people argue that this trend will undoubtedly lead humans to dangerous future, others claim that it has no damaging effect on the society. I believe that in most cases media violence doesn't affect people's behavior.

  2. Body paragraphs

    Describe each argument to support your opinion in a separate paragraph. Your essay should have 2-3 body paragraphs. Use linking structures, vocabulary to write essays and some words from academic wordlist:

    Firstly, I think that people act from their motives, regardless what they see on the television. That is to say, if someone intends to do harm to somebody, that is not because of watching TV or playing computer games, but due to that person's character and education. Although it is generally considered that violent media accustoms viewers to cruelty, I doubt this opinion. In my view, reasonable and intelligent people treat others humanely irrespective of what they see or hear in fictional stories.

    Moreover, video games and television may even reduce social violence by providing a safe outlet for aggressiveness. In other words, truculent people may fight in virtual reality instead of evincing their combative spirit in real world. This may not only help those people, but also reduce the level of social violence in long-term perspective.

    Finally, despite many claims and assumptions about negative effects of television and computer games I have never seen any proven connection between violent media and illegal activities in social life.

  3. Conclusion

    In the conclusion paragraph briefly summarize what you have written and restate your opinion:

    Taking everything into consideration, I would say that violence in contemporary media has no substantial influence on people's behavior. Television and computers are not the main factors that shape personal character, and they can even be useful in reducing the level of violence.


Model answer

These days, the amount of violence in media is growing. While some people argue that this trend will undoubtedly lead humans to dangerous future, others claim that it has no damaging effect on the society. I believe that in most cases media violence doesn't affect people's behavior.

Firstly, I think that people act from their motives, regardless what they see on the television. That is to say, if someone intends to do harm to somebody, that is not because of watching TV or playing computer games, but due to that person's character and education. Although it is generally considered that violent media accustoms viewers to cruelty, I doubt this opinion. In my view, reasonable and intelligent people treat others humanely irrespective of what they see or hear in fictional stories.

Moreover, video games and television may even reduce social violence by providing a safe outlet for aggressiveness. In other words, truculent people may fight in virtual reality instead of evincing their combative spirit in real world. This may not only help those people, but also reduce the level of social violence in long-term perspective.

Finally, despite many claims and assumptions about negative effects of television and computer games I have never seen any proven connection between violent media and illegal activities in social life.

Taking everything into consideration, I would say that violence in contemporary media has no substantial influence on people's behavior. Television and computers are not the main factors that shape personal character, and they can even be useful in reducing the level of violence.

(255 words)


Next sample >