ESSAY OUTLINE 1ere

CONSTRUCTION D'UN TEXTE ARGUMENTATIF


J'INTRODUIS LE SUJET
It is a well-known fact that...
In today's society
Nowadays
It's commonly said that
It's generally believed that...
Let us weigh the pros and cons of
We may wonder whether/to what extent


JE PRESENTE LE PROBLEME
To what extent..... ?
However / yet
Should we... ?


JE PRESENTE L'ARGUMENT QUE JE NE PARTAGE PAS
To start with.../to begin with...
First of all
It is clear that...


JE M'APPUIE SUR UN OU PLUSIEURS EXEMPLES
For instance/such as


JE MONTRE QUE JE CHANGE D'ARGUMENTATION
On the other hand
However/yet


J'AJOUTE DES ELEMENTS
Besides
in other words
To put it differently
, or even...


JE CONCLUS EN DONNANT MON POINT DE VUE
After weighing the pros and cons of this topic
To conclude
On the whole
All things considered
For all these reasons






EXEMPLE :


Should we always tell the truth ?


1. From an early age, we are taught that telling the truth is the right thing to do and is what we should always do. We admire those who live in a truthful manner and come to respect them. 2. However, humans do not always practice what they preach. So should we always tell the truth ?


3. First of all, it is clear that telling the truth can sometimes put you in an uncomfortable situation. The problem with humans is that we seem to run away from pain and discomfort. If a girl asks 'Does this dress make me look fat ?', it is a trap ! Do not answer this question and RUN AWAY.4 . Another more serious example is when it comes to telling somebody that they suffer from an incurable disease, for instance, and that they can only expect to live a few more months. Is it the right thing to tell the truth if the person is not ready to face it ? It may be better to hold your tongue if you know it will do more harm than good. There is no point in telling people things that they obviously do no want to hear.


5. However, when considering what to do, we should also bear in mind how unpleasant it is to discover that someone has lied to us. In fact the more you like the person, the more painful it is to discover you have been deceived. 6. Besides, once you have discovered somebody has lied to you, you find it hard to trust the person afterwards. This is why we whould think twice before lying.


7. So to conclude, it seems it is quite difficult to tell the truth all the time. The truth can sting and in some situations, lying makes life much easier. Yet, all things considered, it does not seem advisable to lie unless you know for sure that the truth can hurt the person more than a lie.