We can express our opinion on some topics of general interest to the public through different kinds of writing to show agreement or disagreement or discuss a problem and its solutions.
- A letter/email to a newspaper or magazine
- A letter/email to a radio or TV station saying what you think about a programme
- A message to an internet forum / message board expressing an opinion
- A factual article for a newspaper
- A report related to your work or area of expertise
All these kinds of writing are intended for an unkown general public and, consequently, the language we use may be more formal. This includes:
- Uncontracted auxiliary verbs
- Polite phrases
- Impersonal style
- Longer, more complex sentences
- Formal vocabulary and grammar
Whichever the kind of writing, the layout will be pretty similar, and should consist of:
a) A short introduction in which you clearly give the reason why you are writing and express your general opinion about the topic. Beware, however, of the fact that if your letter is written in reply to another letter, article or post in an internet forum you should also mention where and when you read it, as well as referring to any key information in the original writing.
b) A main body in which you present the problems and their consequences or suggestions and results in separate paragraphs. Bear in mind that space is limited and you may not be able to write your ideas in detail or about all the points you would like to. The main body should have three medium-sized paragraphs maximum.
c) A conclusion in which you summarise your opinion or restate it, using different words.
In addition, you should also respect the typical conventions we keep to when writing a letter or email:
Greeting
Dear Sir or Madam; Dear Editor
To begin the letter
I am writing in response to your article on
I am writing about Trent Council’s decision to build
I am writing with regard to
I am writing to express my approval/disapproval of
To end the letter
I hope my comments/suggestions will be taken into consideration
I hope the government/local council/we will
I hope something will be done about this urgently
Farewell
Yours faithfully
Apart from that we will have to use a variety of structures to express our opinion and show our attitude:
In my opinion
I (do not) feel/believe/think
I am (totally) opposed to/in favour of
I (strongly) agree/disagree with
It is my considered/honest/personal opinion that
The accepted/general/traditional view on this is
Personally, / As far as I know, / As far as I am concerned
Also bear in mind that after the short introductory paragraph, the body of the letter –the real reason for writing- will work like a discursive composition, and we must use the connectors one might expect to find in this piece of writing.
Whatever you are writing, avoid repeating words or phrases, either by using synonyms or alternative constructions. Also remember to write about all the points in the task and avoid copying whole phrases and sentences from it.
Typical tasks which entail writing a letter to a magazine would be:
You have read the headline below and feel strongly about it. Write a letter to the newspaper expressing your views.
CONGESTION CHARGES WILL EASE TRAFFIC CHAOS
The government is planning to put an end to IDs as a way of identification because the system is expensive to run, difficult to organise and easy to forge. From next year onwards, it will be enough for Spanish citizens to show bills and banks statements as a proof of identity. Write a post for the andnowtheywanttogetridofIDs forum expressing your views on this matter.
You are going to write a letter expressing your own opinions in reply to this letter written to a newspaper one week ago:
In these days of equality between the sexes, it seems to me perfectly reasonable that, in wartime, women soldiers should be expected to fight alongside their male counterparts on the front line. Unlike your reporter (Ref Why we should continue to protect our women, The Evening Times, Friday 13 April) I firmly believe that, given the right training and experience, women are as physically and mentally tough as men.
In my view, those who claim that women are not capable of fighting effectively because of their emotional make-up are guilty of simple, old-fashioned sexism.
Jenny Lavender (Manchester)
With information from Real Writing 4, Cambridge University Press; Intermediate Successful Writing, Express Publishing; First Certificate Expert, Longman.
