{"id":2519,"date":"2015-12-02T09:00:53","date_gmt":"2015-12-02T17:00:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/?p=2519"},"modified":"2020-12-10T13:44:40","modified_gmt":"2020-12-10T21:44:40","slug":"the-best-approach-to-the-broad-questions-in-toefl-independent-writing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/the-best-approach-to-the-broad-questions-in-toefl-independent-writing\/","title":{"rendered":"The Best Approach to the Broad Questions in TOEFL Independent Writing"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>I receive a lot of messages from students who are having the same struggle with TOEFL<a href=\"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/the-toefl-independent-writing-task\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"> Independent<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/toefl-independent-essay-structure\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Writing<\/a>. Students often find it hard to know just where to begin with these essays\u2014they feel like the Independent essay questions are too broad and vague. (I also hear the same frustrations from students who are practicing similar writing for the IELTS and GRE!)<\/p>\n<p>While this question format may seem confusing or frustrating at first, the broadness of the Independent Writing Task is actually a good thing. These broad topics help make the test fairer. In fact, you will be expected to use the vague nature of the questions to your advantage.<\/p>\n<p>As you build your TOEFL Independent Writing skills, it\u2019s important to understand exactly <em>why <\/em>Writing Task 2 questions are so broad. TOEFL Writing is designed to test your writing skills only. The exam does not test your ability to do actual research on highly specific topics, like you would in an actual university course. It *can&#8217;t* test your ability to do research or learn about unfamiliar topics, because you don&#8217;t have access to the Internet, the library, etc. while you take the exam.<\/p>\n<p>Instead, what TOEFL Independent Writing tests is your ability to take knowledge you already have and use it in a well-written essay. To apply your own specific knowledge to the broad topics in Issue questions, you need to narrow down the topic and make it more manageable. These general questions could be answered in a lot of different ways. It\u2019s up to you to choose a specific focus in your answer. And you don\u2019t need to think too hard as you make this choice\u2014just select a subtopic you know a lot about and can write about comfortably. Then run with it!<\/p>\n<p>To give you an idea of how this \u201cnarrowing\u201d approach might work, let\u2019s look at a possible TOEFL Independent Writing question. (I\u2019ve actually adapted this from a practice GRE Writing question&#8212; <a href=\"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/how-to-study-for-the-gre-and-the-toefl-at-the-same-time\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">GRE and TOEFL<\/a> really do have similar independent writing prompts.)<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><em>Do you agree or disagree with the following statement? In modern times, people care too much about outward appearances, and don\u2019t care enough about the truth behind the things they see.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>Use specific reasons and examples to support your opinion.<\/em><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>This truly is a very general question. There are so many different things you could say about this, and so many examples of appearances versus reality in the world today. To narrow down this topic in your practice writing, it\u2019s best to choose a stance (agree or disagree), and then choose one really good example to support your opinion.<\/p>\n<p>For instance, you could write about advertising. Your opening could be something like &#8220;I agree that in modern times, people often value appearance more than truth. This is especially the case in advertising, where images can get people to buy almost anything.&#8221; This introduction could be followed with examples from advertisements you&#8217;ve seen, by companies you&#8217;re familiar with. And maybe some statements about successful ad campaigns you know about. You could give examples of famous ad campaigns where people bought something because of the image in the ad and not because of any truth about the product they were paying for.<\/p>\n<p>There are many other aspects of modern society where you could argue that appearances are more powerful than facts&#8212; online dating, political elections, Hollywood movies (especially movies based on true stories), etc&#8230;. There are <em>tons<\/em> of topics that you can pick in response to these kinds of broad Independent Writing questions. The real trick is to choose a topic you&#8217;re familiar with and comfortable writing about.<\/p>\n<p>To practice narrowing down broader Independent Writing questions, find a nice long list of questions in this style. We have one <a href=\"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/toefl-exercises\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">here<\/a>.\u00a0Look through the questions. Figure out how to quickly choose a position or side to write about. Then practice choosing a specific, narrow example to support your position on these broad topics.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>I receive a lot of messages from students who are having the same struggle with TOEFL Independent Writing. Students often find it hard to know just where to begin with these essays\u2014they feel like the Independent essay questions are too broad and vague. (I also hear the same frustrations from students who are practicing similar [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":80,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13614],"tags":[],"ppma_author":[13630],"class_list":["post-2519","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-writing-task-2"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v21.7 (Yoast SEO v21.7) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>The Best Approach to the Broad Questions in TOEFL Independent Writing - Magoosh Blog \u2013 TOEFL\u00ae\ufe0f Test<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/the-best-approach-to-the-broad-questions-in-toefl-independent-writing\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The Best Approach to the Broad Questions in TOEFL Independent Writing\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"I receive a lot of messages from students who are having the same struggle with TOEFL Independent Writing. 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Additionally, he's helped students with TOEIC, PET, FCE, BULATS, Eiken, SAT, ACT, GRE, and GMAT. David has a BS and MA from the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire and an MA from the University of Wisconsin-River Falls.","sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/MagooshEnglishLearning","https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/david-recine\/","https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/channel\/UCra3KQoJlOP7RYwaCyH2qew"],"knowsAbout":["TOEFL","IELTS","TOEIC","PET","FCE","BULATS","Eiken","SAT","ACT","GRE","GMAT"],"knowsLanguage":["English","Italian"],"jobTitle":"Content Creator","worksFor":"Magoosh","url":"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/author\/davidr\/"}]}},"authors":[{"term_id":13630,"user_id":80,"is_guest":0,"slug":"davidr","display_name":"David Recine","avatar_url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/b70c17ee6f3ef87dc4cc5dbdebda911d6dd30dfe15845e4b1d459a3e1b33ef98?s=96&d=mm&r=g","user_url":"","last_name":"Recine","first_name":"David","description":"David is a Test Prep Expert for Magoosh TOEFL and IELTS. Additionally, he's helped students with TOEIC, PET, FCE, BULATS, Eiken, SAT, ACT, GRE, and GMAT.\r\n\r\nDavid has a BS from the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire and an MA from the University of Wisconsin-River Falls. His work at Magoosh has been cited in<a href=\"https:\/\/scholar.google.com\/scholar?hl=en&amp;as_sdt=0%2C50&amp;q=Recine+magoosh&amp;btnG=\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"> many scholarly articles<\/a>,<a href=\"https:\/\/minds.wisconsin.edu\/handle\/1793\/65479\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"> his Master's Thesis<\/a> is featured on the<a href=\"https:\/\/www.readingwithpictures.org\/2013\/09\/research-highlight-teaching-english-language-learners-with-comics\/\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"> Reading with Pictures<\/a> website, and he's presented at the<a href=\"https:\/\/www.witesol.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/11\/2014-WITESOL-Program-FINAL-10-28-14.pdf\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"> WITESOL (link to PDF)<\/a> and<a href=\"https:\/\/issuu.com\/interoff\/docs\/nafsaregionv_2014conference\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"> NAFSA<\/a> conferences. David has taught K-12 ESL in South Korea as well as undergraduate English and MBA-level business English at American universities. He has also trained English teachers in America, Italy, and Peru.\r\n\r\nCome join David and the Magoosh team on<a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/channel\/UCra3KQoJlOP7RYwaCyH2qew\"> Youtube<\/a>,<a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/MagooshEnglishLearning\"> Facebook<\/a>, and<a href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/magooshenglish\/?hl=en\"> Instagram<\/a>, or connect with him via<a href=\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/david-recine\/\"> LinkedIn<\/a>!"}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2519","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/80"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2519"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2519\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2519"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2519"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2519"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/ppma_author?post=2519"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}