{"id":489,"date":"2014-10-08T09:00:23","date_gmt":"2014-10-08T16:00:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/?p=489"},"modified":"2020-12-10T13:47:00","modified_gmt":"2020-12-10T21:47:00","slug":"essay-2-independent","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/essay-2-independent\/","title":{"rendered":"TOEFL Essay 2: Independent"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>After you\u2019ve finished the <a href=\"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/toefl-integrated-writing-complete-guide\/\">integrated essay<\/a>, you\u2019ll move immediately on to the independent essay. For this essay, you\u2019ll be asked a question about your opinion on a given issue or topic. Your essay should explain your position on that issue. Usually, the independent essay is a little longer than the integrated one, since you\u2019ll have more time to write it (30 minutes as opposed to 20).<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h2>There\u2019s no right or wrong answer<\/h2>\n<p>Essay graders are told\u00a0to accept any viewpoint, so it\u2019s not possible to answer the question incorrectly. The most important thing is to support your argument and write as clearly\u00a0as possible. Sometimes, this may even mean defending the opposite of the opinion that you actually have. If your true opinion is based on emotional arguments or abstractions rather than concrete facts or personal experiences, it may be better to choose the side that is easier to support. Usually, your actual opinion will be easier to support (there&#8217;s a reason you believe it, after all!), but it\u2019s never a bad idea to practice defending positions that you don\u2019t believe in your practice essays, as this will help you learn to defend arguments well.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h2>Focus on the answer<\/h2>\n<p>Most independent essays are about 300 words long; the best are significantly longer. But bear in mind that every sentence you write should be related to your thesis. Another side of this is that you shouldn\u2019t go overboard in your examples. Pick one or two that demonstrate your point really well, and spend a short paragraph explaining how each of them fits into the topic. You won\u2019t have time to provide much background information about your examples, and you probably won\u2019t want to pick more than two or maybe three. It\u2019s definitely better to deal with a small number of topics in-depth than to list\u00a0a bunch of different examples without explaining them. Making the relationship between an example and your main idea clear is absolutely key.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h2>Structure your essay well<\/h2>\n<p>For now, there are three main points I want to make. First of all, start and end your essay by stating your opinion so it\u2019s very clear to the reader where you\u2019re going. Second of all, take a few minutes at the beginning to jot down your ideas and make a short outline to keep you on track through the writing process. Although this may seem like a waste of time, it will probably save you valuable minutes in the long run, since you\u2019ll spend less time thinking about what you want to say or reorganizing your sentences when you realize that something doesn\u2019t make sense. Finally, don\u2019t forget to use <a href=\"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/toefl-writers-workshop-transitions\/\">transitions<\/a> to make the essay flow better.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>After you\u2019ve finished the integrated essay, you\u2019ll move immediately on to the independent essay. For this essay, you\u2019ll be asked a question about your opinion on a given issue or topic. Your essay should explain your position on that issue. Usually, the independent essay is a little longer than the integrated one, since you\u2019ll have [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":47,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13614],"tags":[],"ppma_author":[13632],"class_list":["post-489","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>TOEFL Essay 2: Independent - 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\/essay-2-independent\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"TOEFL Essay 2: Independent\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"After you\u2019ve finished the integrated essay, you\u2019ll move immediately on to the independent essay. For this essay, you\u2019ll be asked a question about your opinion on a given issue or topic. Your essay should explain your position on that issue. Usually, the independent essay is a little longer than the integrated one, since you\u2019ll have [&hellip;]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/essay-2-independent\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Magoosh Blog \u2013 TOEFL\u00ae\ufe0f Test\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/facebook.com\/MagooshTOEFL\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2014-10-08T16:00:23+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2020-12-10T21:47:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/files\/2016\/09\/Facebook-SEO-Default.png\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"628\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Kate Hardin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@MagooshTOEFL\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@MagooshTOEFL\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Kate Hardin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/essay-2-independent\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/essay-2-independent\/\",\"name\":\"TOEFL Essay 2: Independent - Magoosh Blog \u2013 TOEFL\u00ae\ufe0f Test\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2014-10-08T16:00:23+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/#\/schema\/person\/83c4cb93b4b527f8404029efa19cf318\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/essay-2-independent\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/essay-2-independent\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/essay-2-independent\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"TOEFL Essay 2: Independent\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/\",\"name\":\"Magoosh Blog \u2013 TOEFL\u00ae\ufe0f Test\",\"description\":\"Online TOEFL Preparation\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/#\/schema\/person\/83c4cb93b4b527f8404029efa19cf318\",\"name\":\"Kate Hardin\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/f695eb57ce131bb657ee5d3203ed66f9\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/b8502df78e82e1b38fd3b3ef66174425ec804827b7270a78ea571396a998ee25?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/b8502df78e82e1b38fd3b3ef66174425ec804827b7270a78ea571396a998ee25?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Kate Hardin\"},\"description\":\"Kate has 6 years of experience in teaching foreign language. She graduated from Sewanee in 2012, where she studied and taught German, and recently returned from a year spent teaching English in a northern Russian university. Follow Kate on Google+!\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/author\/kate\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"TOEFL Essay 2: Independent - Magoosh Blog \u2013 TOEFL\u00ae\ufe0f Test","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/essay-2-independent\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"TOEFL Essay 2: Independent","og_description":"After you\u2019ve finished the integrated essay, you\u2019ll move immediately on to the independent essay. For this essay, you\u2019ll be asked a question about your opinion on a given issue or topic. Your essay should explain your position on that issue. Usually, the independent essay is a little longer than the integrated one, since you\u2019ll have [&hellip;]","og_url":"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/essay-2-independent\/","og_site_name":"Magoosh Blog \u2013 TOEFL\u00ae\ufe0f Test","article_publisher":"https:\/\/facebook.com\/MagooshTOEFL","article_published_time":"2014-10-08T16:00:23+00:00","article_modified_time":"2020-12-10T21:47:00+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1200,"height":628,"url":"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/files\/2016\/09\/Facebook-SEO-Default.png","type":"image\/png"}],"author":"Kate Hardin","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@MagooshTOEFL","twitter_site":"@MagooshTOEFL","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Kate Hardin","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/essay-2-independent\/","url":"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/essay-2-independent\/","name":"TOEFL Essay 2: Independent - Magoosh Blog \u2013 TOEFL\u00ae\ufe0f Test","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/#website"},"datePublished":"2014-10-08T16:00:23+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/#\/schema\/person\/83c4cb93b4b527f8404029efa19cf318"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/essay-2-independent\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/essay-2-independent\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/essay-2-independent\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"TOEFL Essay 2: Independent"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/#website","url":"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/","name":"Magoosh Blog \u2013 TOEFL\u00ae\ufe0f Test","description":"Online TOEFL Preparation","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/#\/schema\/person\/83c4cb93b4b527f8404029efa19cf318","name":"Kate Hardin","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/f695eb57ce131bb657ee5d3203ed66f9","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/b8502df78e82e1b38fd3b3ef66174425ec804827b7270a78ea571396a998ee25?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/b8502df78e82e1b38fd3b3ef66174425ec804827b7270a78ea571396a998ee25?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Kate Hardin"},"description":"Kate has 6 years of experience in teaching foreign language. She graduated from Sewanee in 2012, where she studied and taught German, and recently returned from a year spent teaching English in a northern Russian university. Follow Kate on Google+!","url":"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/author\/kate\/"}]}},"authors":[{"term_id":13632,"user_id":47,"is_guest":0,"slug":"kate","display_name":"Kate Hardin","avatar_url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/b8502df78e82e1b38fd3b3ef66174425ec804827b7270a78ea571396a998ee25?s=96&d=mm&r=g","user_url":"","last_name":"Hardin","first_name":"Kate","description":"Kate has 6 years of experience in teaching foreign language. She graduated from Sewanee in 2012, where she studied and taught German, and recently returned from a year spent teaching English in a northern Russian university. Follow <a href=\"https:\/\/plus.google.com\/+KateHardin123?rel=author\">Kate on Google+<\/a>!"}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/489","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\/47"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=489"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/489\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=489"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=489"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=489"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/ppma_author?post=489"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}