Brainstorming and Planning:
Lesson 3
Once you have analysed the question in the IELTS test you need
to brainstorm some ideas to include in your answer.
Let’s look at the same question we looked at in the first two lessons:
The crime rate among teenagers has increased dramatically in many
countries.
Discuss some possible reasons for this increase and suggest solutions.
Brainstorming is an important part of the planning process.
In order to get a good score it will not be enough just to put a list of ideas - you need
to extend and explain those ideas.
If you look at the IELTS prompt, it says this:
"Give reasons for your answer and include any relevant examples from your
own experience or knowledge".
So you need to support your ideas using reasons and examples.
Developing Focus Questions
For this question, you need to write about reasons for the increase in teenage crime
and solutions.
In order to make sure you fully answer the question it is a good ideas to develop
some focus questions i.e. questions that will help you focus on what you need to
write.
These are possible focus questions for this essay question:
Focus question 1: Why has teenage crime increased?
Focus question 2: What can be done about it?
You then need to brainstorm answers to these questions:
Why has teenage crime increased?
Breakdown in the nuclear family
Lack of things to do
What can be done about it?
Government - Provide better support for families & stricter punishments
Individuals – take responsibility
[Nuclear family is a term used to define a family group consisting of a pair of adults
and their children, as opposed to single-parent families].
Extending and Supporting your Ideas
However, you now need to think about how your are going to extend and support
those ideas you have brainstormed. In other words, you need to ask yourself further
questions about each of your ideas. For example:
Why has there been a breakdown in the nuclear family?
What is the effect of this?
What is a good example of it?
Answering questions like these will make sure you have fully supported and
explained all your points.
For example:
Why has there been a breakdown in the nuclear family?
- high divorce rates
What is the effect of this?
- no male role model; boys go astray & may commit crime
Planning
When you have extended your main ideas, this then provides the basis for your plan.
Here is an example of the brainstormed ideas with further support, which has now
become the plan for the essay:
Essay Plan
Why has teenage crime increased?
1) Breakdown in the nuclear family
- high divorce rates = no father as ‘role model’
– boys go astray, drugs & crime
2) Lack of things to do
- e.g. TV has shown nothing to do
– children see crime as entertainment
What can be done about it?
1) Govt - Provide better support for families
- e.g. more youth centres
– guidance and activities, sport
2) Parents – take responsibility
- provide loving environment, relative as role model
The essay can now be written. Here is an example essay written from the plan, with
the main supporting ideas highlighted in bold:
Sample Essay
You should spend about 40 minutes on this task.
Write about the following topic:
The crime rate among teenagers has increased dramatically in many countries.
Discuss some possible reasons for this increase and suggest solutions.
Give reasons for your answer and include any relevant examples from your own
experience or knowledge.
Write at least 250 words.
Model Answer
Over the last decade there has been a massive rise in the level of crime committed
by teenagers in a number of countries. It is important to establish why this has
happened and to look at ways to solve the problem.
One reason is the break down in the nuclear family. The high divorce rates have
meant many children have been brought up in one-parent families with no father to
act as a role model which is detrimental to their development. This is particularly
important for boys, who without this guidance are easily led astray by bad influences
such as drugs and crime. Another factor is the lack of things to do for the young.
For example, in the UK, many television programs about this issue have shown that
teenagers hang around in the evenings with little to do. When this happens, the
boredom means they will find their own entertainment, which is often crime.
There are, however, ways to tackle these problems. Firstly, the government
should provide more support for families. They could, for instance, invest more
into building and staffing youth centers which would provide guidance through the
youth workers and also enable teenagers to focus their attention on sport and other
activities. Parents should also be encouraged to take more responsibility for
their children. Ultimately, the onus is on them to ensure their children are brought
up in a loving environment which would make them less likely to turn to crime. They
could, for example, find a male relative to act as a role model.
Therefore, it is clear that there are various reasons for this rise in crime, but solutions
are available. If we begin to tackle the issue now, we may be able to prevent the
situation declining further.
(294 Words)
A common mistake is to have lots of ideas that are not explained properly.
However, you can see that as a result of brainstorming some key ideas and making
sure you have explained each of them, you have a fully supported and well
organized essay.
