Partly agree essays: should museums be free?
You can agree with part of a Task 2 statement and make the limit of your agreement clear from the first paragraph to the last.
You don't have to agree or disagree completely with a Task 2 statement. Agreeing with part of it is a position too, provided the examiner can see exactly which part.
The band 7 descriptor reads: a clear and developed position is presented. At band 6, the conclusions drawn may be unclear, unjustified or repetitive. So a partial answer needs a limit that is easy to see.
The statement here says museums and galleries should be free for everyone. We'll find a limit in it that you can defend for a whole essay.
Warm-up
Where does it stand?
The statement is Museums and art galleries should be free for everyone. Read one writer's position and decide where it stands.
Entry to the main collection should cost nothing, although a small charge for special exhibitions is reasonable.
How it works
You should spend about 40 minutes on this task.
Some people think that museums and art galleries should be free for everyone to visit.
To what extent do you agree or disagree?
Give reasons for your answer and include any relevant examples from your own knowledge or experience.
Write at least 250 words.
The question asks to what extent, so a partial answer is allowed. You can accept the statement in some cases and reject it in others, as long as you say where the line falls.
I partly agree is only half a position. It tells the examiner that a line exists, and leaves them to guess where it is.
Two positions
Free museums have advantages and disadvantages, and the answer depends on the situation. The reader cannot tell what the writer thinks, or what it depends on.
Permanent collections should be free, but charging for special exhibitions is fair. The reader knows which part the writer accepts and where the line is.
Planning a partly agree essay
- 1Split the statement
Free and for everyone are two separate claims, and museums and galleries may differ too. Each part can be accepted or rejected on its own.
- 2Make the limit concrete
Free for the permanent collection, paid for special exhibitions. Free for children and students, a fee for adults. A limit such as in some situations shows the examiner nothing.
- 3Put the position in one sentence
I agree that ..., but ... goes at the end of the introduction.
- 4Give each side a body paragraph
The first explains the part you accept. The second explains your limit. Each needs a reason and an example.
- 5Keep the same line to the end
The conclusion states the same position with the same limit. A line that moves between paragraphs makes the position unclear.
Watch me do one
I read the statement twice: Museums and art galleries should be free for everyone to visit. It makes two claims, free and for everyone.
I test the strongest version first: everything free, for everyone, always. I can't defend that well, because borrowed exhibitions cost a museum a great deal.
Then the opposite: everyone pays. I can't defend that either, because most collections already belong to the public.
So I agree with part of it, and I need a concrete line. The permanent collection free, special exhibitions paid is one I can explain.
My position: I agree that permanent collections should be free, but it is fair to charge for special exhibitions. Body paragraph 1 gives the reasons for free collections, and body paragraph 2 the reasons for paid exhibitions.
Last, the conclusion has to end on the same line. If I catch myself writing museums should charge everyone a small fee, I have changed sides.
A model answer
Some people think that museums and art galleries should be free for everyone to visit. To what extent do you agree or disagree?
In many countries, visitors pay to enter museums and art galleries, and some people believe these places should be free for everyone. I agree that a museum's permanent collection should be free to see, but I think it is fair to charge for special exhibitions. The strongest argument for free entry is that most collections already belong to the public. They were bought with taxes, or given by people who wanted them to be seen, so asking visitors to pay again seems unreasonable. An admission charge also keeps some people away. A family with three children may decide that a museum trip costs too much, while free entry allows a student to drop in for half an hour between classes. When the history museum in my city stopped charging, it began to attract many more school groups and young people. Special exhibitions, however, are a different case. To borrow paintings or objects from other countries, a museum has to pay for transport, insurance and extra security, and these costs can be very high. If visitors paid nothing, the money would have to come from the museum's other work, such as caring for its own collection or running classes for children. A ticket for this kind of show is also easier to accept, because the exhibition is temporary and nobody has to go. Many people are happy to pay for the chance to see works that normally hang on the other side of the world. In conclusion, I agree that museums and galleries should be free, but only for their permanent collections. Charging for special exhibitions lets them show the public more, while anyone can still walk in and see what already belongs to them.
- TaskThe position and its limit in one sentence: what the writer accepts, and where the agreement stops.
- CoherenceThe first body paragraph opens with the part the writer accepts.
- GrammarPassive verbs and a relative clause, controlled in one sentence.
- VocabularyDrop in means visit briefly. It makes the point about free entry concrete.
- CoherenceThe turn to the limit, signalled in the first words of the paragraph.
- GrammarA second conditional, for a situation the writer is imagining.
- TaskThe same limit as the introduction, in new words.
Coloured text shows what the examiner is looking for.
A partial position is easy to lose halfway through an essay: the limit can shift a little in each paragraph. If you want a teacher to check that yours holds, Kriti and Christine go through essays like this one in their classes.
Practice with Elita6 questions
Four questions on the position and the paragraphs. After that, a new statement for you to plan and introduce.
A limit you can see
The statement is Museums and art galleries should be free for everyone. Choose the position with a clear limit.
Which position has a clear limit?
Which side does it support?
The position is: permanent collections free, special exhibitions paid. Which body paragraph does this idea belong in?
Borrowing paintings from abroad means paying for insurance and transport.
A conclusion that holds
The introduction ends: I agree that permanent collections should be free, but it is fair to charge for special exhibitions. Which conclusion keeps the same position?
Choose the conclusion.
Phrases for a partial position
Fill both gaps. The first completes a fixed phrase. The second joins the two halves of the position.
I agree with this view a point. Free entry makes sense for children, adults who can afford a ticket should pay.
Write no more than 2 words in each gap.
Your plan
Plan an essay that partly agrees with this new statement. Give yourself five minutes. Notes are fine here.
Governments should spend public money on keeping traditional festivals alive. To what extent do you agree or disagree?
Set up your learning path at the top of this lesson to get band-specific feedback.
The introduction, with your limit
Turn your plan into an introduction of two sentences. The second sentence gives your position and its limit.
Write the introduction for: Governments should spend public money on keeping traditional festivals alive. To what extent do you agree or disagree?
0 / 35 words
Set up your learning path at the top of this lesson to get band-specific feedback.
Words to keep
The objects a museum owns and keeps on show. The permanent collection is free to see.
A show that runs for a limited time, often with borrowed works. Tickets for the special exhibition sold out in a week.
Borrowed for a period of time. The paintings are on loan from a gallery abroad.
An arrangement that pays for loss or damage, in return for regular payments. Insurance for borrowed paintings can cost more than the transport.
Visit briefly, often without planning to. Free entry lets students drop in between classes.
To some degree, with limits. I agree with the statement up to a point.
Before you go
Partly agreeing is a position, as long as you say which part you accept and where you stop.
Make the limit concrete, and state the whole position in a single sentence that closes your introduction.
Give the part you accept one body paragraph, and your limit the other.
End on the same line. A conclusion that agrees with everything has moved the position.
Next: Next, for the Academic paper: a table of visitors to five attractions. General Training candidates move straight on to Unit 9, which opens with formal English.