“I cannot think of a specific example” is the greatest obstacle in free composition. Develop a systematic way to generate persuasive specific examples within the time limit.
Basic Rules
Categories of specific examples (idea resources):
① Personal experiences (experiences of yourself, friends, or family)
② Educational settings (schools, classes, and club activities)
③ Society and the economy (efforts by companies or governments, and statistical trends)
④ Technology (the development of technology and its effects)
⑤ History and current events (past events and widely known cases)
When you hear the theme of a claim, try applying these five categories in order; you will always find at least one specific example.
Three ways to increase specificity:
① Change an abstract noun into a concrete situation: “convenience” → “being able to write a report on a train”
② Include numbers or frequency: “often” → “about three times a week”
③ Focus on one situation rather than making a general statement: “a particular student” is more memorable than “many students”
Bridging phrases to introduce specific examples: For example, / For instance, / A good example of this is ... / To illustrate, / Take ... as an example.
Weak specific example: Technology has made life more convenient. (Too abstract.)
Strong specific example: For example, a student can now translate an unfamiliar English word in less than a second using a smartphone, instead of spending several minutes flipping through a paper dictionary.
Points to Note
① A specific example does not have to be a true story. In an examination, an invented example is acceptable, but an implausibly unrealistic example (such as an alien helping you) loses persuasiveness.
② One specific example per claim is enough. Including several uses up your word count and prevents you from writing in depth.
③ After the specific example, do not forget a sentence returning to “therefore, the reason is valid.” An argument is incomplete if it ends with the example alone.
④ When you cannot think of an idea, consider the converse: imagine what would happen if the claim were not true. You may find a specific example from the opposite direction.
- Idea resources for specific examples: personal experience, education, society and the economy, technology, history and current events
- Converting abstract words into concrete situations and numbers increases persuasiveness
- One specific example per claim is enough. Prioritize depth
- After a specific example, always add a sentence returning to the reason
Practice
- Think of one specific example from the educational category supporting the claim “Reading is important for young people,” and write it in English.
- Rewrite the abstract sentence beginning with “Many people” as a concrete sentence focusing on one situation: “Many people feel stressed by social media.”
- Write one sentence returning to the reason (mini conclusion) after the example above.