{"id":492,"date":"2015-01-15T09:00:32","date_gmt":"2015-01-15T17:00:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/?p=492"},"modified":"2020-12-10T13:46:42","modified_gmt":"2020-12-10T21:46:42","slug":"toefl-independent-essay-structure","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/toefl-independent-essay-structure\/","title":{"rendered":"TOEFL Independent Essay Structure"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The <a href=\"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/toefl-writing-template\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">structure<\/a> of your independent essay is going to be at least a little different from that of the integrated essay you will have just finished. While your task in the integrated essay was to highlight similarities and contrasts, your task in this essay will be simply to defend your opinion. Because of this difference, you\u2019ll probably find it hard to write an independent essay in the same way that you write your integrated essay.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h2>Introduction and conclusion<\/h2>\n<p>I\u2019ve mentioned before that you should start and end by stating your opinion. That\u2019s the easiest way of saying that it\u2019s important to have a clear introduction and conclusion. Without these, the reader may be confused, as your argument will lack context, and your essay will be awkward to read.<\/p>\n<h2>Checking your work<\/h2>\n<p>You\u2019ll want to have an idea of the structure of your essay even before you start writing, so take a minute or two at the beginning of the writing period to jot down an outline. Then you can jump straight into writing. If possible, though, try to have all your thoughts on the screen at about the 27-minute mark. Use the last three\u00a0minutes to read through your essay again in its entirety and be sure that it flows well. Since your mind will probably jump around a bit as you\u2019re writing, it\u2019s really important that you leave yourself this time at the end to smooth everything out. This is also a good opportunity to check for spelling\/grammar errors and typos.<\/p>\n<p>Below is a brief outline you can model your essays on. This isn\u2019t something that you absolutely must follow every time to get a high score. It\u2019s just a learning tool and something to fall back on if you don\u2019t know how to tackle your topic on test day. Magoosh TOEFL&#8217;s lesson videos provide more detailed <a href=\"https:\/\/toefl.magoosh.com\/?utm_source=TOEFLBlog&#038;utm_medium=BlogPost&#038;utm_campaign=InText\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">guidance through exactly how to write each part of the essay<\/a>. <\/p>\n<p>I. Introduction<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\">A. Very general statement about the world<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\">B. Specify the topic<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\"><em>C. Optional: show the other side<\/em><\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\">D. Give your opinion<\/p>\n<p>II. Body<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\">A.\u00a0State your first reason<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 60px;\">1. Explain the reason if needed<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 60px;\">2 .Give a concrete example or detail<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 60px;\"><em>3. Optional: Second example or detail<\/em><\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 60px;\">4. Explain why the example supports your opinion<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\">B.\u00a0State your second\u00a0reason<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 60px;\">1. Explain the reason if needed<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 60px;\">2. Give a concrete example or detail<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 60px;\"><em>3. Optional second example or detail<\/em><\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 60px;\">4. Explain why the example supports your opinion<\/p>\n<p>III. Conclusion<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\">A. Restate main idea<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\"><em>B. Optional:\u00a0Reference reasons or opposite opinion<\/em><\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\">C. Real-world result of your argument<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 60px;\">\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The structure of your independent essay is going to be at least a little different from that of the integrated essay you will have just finished. While your task in the integrated essay was to highlight similarities and contrasts, your task in this essay will be simply to defend your opinion. Because of this difference, [&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-492","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 Independent Essay Structure - 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\/toefl-independent-essay-structure\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"TOEFL Independent Essay Structure\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The structure of your independent essay is going to be at least a little different from that of the integrated essay you will have just finished. 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Because of this difference, [&hellip;]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/toefl-independent-essay-structure\/\" \/>\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=\"2015-01-15T17:00:32+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2020-12-10T21:46:42+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\/toefl-independent-essay-structure\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/toefl-independent-essay-structure\/\",\"name\":\"TOEFL Independent Essay Structure - Magoosh Blog \u2013 TOEFL\u00ae\ufe0f Test\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2015-01-15T17:00:32+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/#\/schema\/person\/83c4cb93b4b527f8404029efa19cf318\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/toefl-independent-essay-structure\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/toefl-independent-essay-structure\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/toefl-independent-essay-structure\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"TOEFL Independent Essay Structure\"}]},{\"@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. 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