Talk about an illness that you or someone you know has experienced. You should say: What the illness was What the symptoms were How it was treated and explain how it affected the person's life.
Sample Essay with Corrections
Expert Feedback
The essay effectively addresses the task by discussing the illness experienced by the writer's father, detailing symptoms, treatment, and the impact on his life. Key strengths include a clear structure and a logical progression of ideas. However, critical areas for improvement include grammatical accuracy, particularly with subject-verb agreement and verb tenses, as well as the use of more varied vocabulary to enhance the description of symptoms and emotions. Structural changes made include correcting verb forms and improving sentence clarity, particularly in the introduction and body paragraphs. Suggestions for further improvements not implemented in the corrected version include providing more specific examples of how the illness affected daily life and relationships, as well as incorporating more cohesive devices to enhance the flow of ideas. The tone used is appropriate for the context, conveying a personal and emotional reflection on a serious family issue.
Detailed Scores
What this means:
The essay has a logical structure, but the flow of ideas could be improved. Some sentences are awkwardly constructed, which disrupts the coherence. For instance, phrases like 'the heart attack happening' could be rephrased for clarity. Using more cohesive devices, such as 'furthermore' or 'in addition,' would enhance the connection between ideas.
How to improve:
- Use a clear paragraph structure
- Connect ideas with appropriate linking words
- Maintain logical progression
- Use referencing effectively
What this means:
The writing contains numerous grammatical errors, including subject-verb agreement issues ('my father have' should be 'my father had') and incorrect verb tenses. While the meaning is generally clear, these errors detract from the overall quality. To improve, the writer should focus on using correct verb forms and sentence structures, as well as proofreading for minor mistakes.
How to improve:
- Use complex sentence structures
- Maintain grammatical accuracy
- Use a variety of sentence patterns
- Check for common grammar errors
What this means:
The vocabulary used is generally appropriate, but there are several instances of repetition and incorrect word forms, such as 'ilness' instead of 'illness' and 'affecting' instead of 'affected.' The writer could benefit from using a wider range of vocabulary and more precise terms to describe symptoms and emotions, which would elevate the overall quality.
How to improve:
- Use a wider range of vocabulary
- Demonstrate awareness of collocations
- Avoid word repetition
- Use more sophisticated vocabulary accurately
What this means:
The response addresses the task by discussing an illness experienced by the writer's father, detailing symptoms, treatment, and the impact on his life. However, the explanation lacks depth in some areas, such as the specific treatment details and the emotional impact on the family. To improve, the writer could provide more specific examples of how the illness affected daily life and relationships.
How to improve:
- Address all parts of the task fully
- Support ideas with specific examples
- Develop each point thoroughly
- Stay relevant to the topic
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