Write your Article in a few easy steps

Writing an article

A guide to get the best mark in your writing task.

Infografía

How to write an article for the Cambridge exam?

In the second part of the Writing skill at the B1 and B2 levels, you will have to choose what type of text you want to write. Among the types of texts to choose from, we find the article. It is a guided writing, therefore, you’ll be given information about context, topic and target reader. Keep this information in mind!

Example

You see this announcement in a library’s website:

Characteristics

An article is an informal text that must entertain the reader. Therefore, you should use a catchy language, you can even ask direct questions to the reader such as: have you ever wondered…? Can you believe it?

The first thing the reader sees about the article is the title. So it should be interesting and appealing. After the title there is the introduction. In this paragraph you present the main idea that you will develop later in the text.

In an article, you are expected to express your opinion rather than a scientific, objective approach. You can write a paragraph with things people generally like about reading (for example) and another about the things you like most about it as well as some recommendations. Finally, there is the conclusion. In this last paragraph we don’t add new information, we simply summarize the content above mentioned and maybe add a closing sentence addressing the reader.

In case you are wondering what makes your informal text, informal, is not only the contractions, but also the language. You could include phrasal verbs, rhetorical questions, idioms and colloquial expressions, and exclamation marks. To make your writing more vivid, you can include adverbs and adjectives. This combination will give you the perfect mix for an interesting article.

Structure

Title: remember that it must be short, interesting and appealing.

Introduction. In this section the main ideas that will be discussed are presented. It must answer the question What am I going to talk about?

Body. Is made up of the main ideas you will discuss. Therefore, in this case you could write a paragraph stating the reasons why people don’t enjoy reading. Then, a second paragraph debating those ideas and providing arguments. Finally, you would make a recommendation of your favourite book and link the reasons why you like it with the arguments you provided in the second paragraph.

Conclusion. In this last part, you should make a quick summary of the ideas mentioned in the body introduced by connectors such as: in conclusion, in a nutshell, in short.

Términos y condiciones

Teresa

Degree in English Philology, Master in ICT for language teaching and processing, EFL teacher, translator in international meetings, and Cambridge preparer. Specialized in language processing and e-learning content creation.