Logic (1 of 10)

One of the biggest problems in IELTS essays is a lack of logic. IELTS writing requires detail and coherence. You must hit the target exactly (hence the picture). The writing must make sense!

At this point, I have to mention the dangers of memorisation. Students often memorise phrases and sentences, and put these pieces together pieces. These are usually from the ‘magic IELTS books’ [See ‘The Magic Easy Answer Everything Book’ series], meaning that the authors themselves are corrupt and dishonest, and usually not good writers. The end result can be a complete lack of logic. Entire essays make no sense!

So, one of the most important factors in producing logical writing is to believe your own words. When I get a very bad essay, full of memorised material, I often ask the student,

‘Do you actually believe these words?’

The students admit that they do not. My next question is,

‘Why did you write this then?’

The answer:

‘I read it from a book.’

Yes, the ‘IELTS Magic Book’. But the first step towards logical writing is you must write it yourself. Putting together a mix of writing you get from other sources just doesn’t work! Anyhow, in this series of posts, I will look at some of the logical problem which emerge (sometimes from memorisation, but sometimes just from unfamiliarity with English). I will give five sentences with each post. Each sentence has a logic issue, and it is your job to work out what it is. Let’s get started. The next nine posts will be logic exercises.