Some people say that it is possible to tell a lot about a person’s culture and character from their choice of clothes while others think one can’t be judged on the basis of one’s clothes. Discuss both the views and give your opinion.
Sample Response
Time and again, it has been seen how people form quick judgments based on how one looks and especially the clothes one wears. Some people hold it that one can be easily assessed by their clothes while some say that it is impractical and baseless to judge people upon how they dress. In the paragraphs to come, I shall be putting forth my views on both the topics and peddle up my opinion on the topic.
Some people consider that it is very much possible to talk about a person’s character and traditions based on their dresses. Very commonly it is seen how people hastily opine about one’s personality. One can’t be known entirely and therefore, what we see a person wearing tends to make us form opinions about them. Talking about evaluating one’s culture and going by the ethnic wear, it is quite easy to differentiate an individual from one part of the world from another person belonging to a different culture. For example, a Rajasthani (a person from an Indian state of Rajasthan) can be conspicuously recognized by their dress. In addition to that, a person from a western country can be very easily identified based on their western clothes, and hence, we may get to know where a person comes from and what are the cultural values that a person has been brought up with as per their attire.
In stark contrast to that, a significant number of people expound that the notion of judging a person’s character and culture as per their outfit is extremely erroneous and untenable. I find myself swinging along with this viewpoint. Judging one on one’s dress is erroneous and filled with loopholes. Firstly, talking about gauging one’s cultural values one holds and the traditions one pertains to is extremely erroneous as one won’t be wearing one’s traditional attire every time, especially given how the people today are inclined towards comfort and ease. One might not always want to undergo the hassles of carrying a cultural dress and hence perhaps would be donning a cloth much facile to carry. Moreover, people around the globe are often seen wearing and aligning towards western clothes these days, thereby making it all the more difficult to sniff the roots of a person. From the character aspect, it is immensely unpragmatic and shallow to evaluate a person’s character merely upon how one chooses to dress as to how a person is at heart has no pertinence to what one selects to look as on the outer front.
Conclusively, we may therefore say that though one could be analyzed based on one’s outfit, one can’t be judged and adjudicated thoroughly based on their dress and appearance. After all, a piece of cloth can’t reflect the complex personality of an individual and hence is a faltered way of analyzing one.
IELTS Writing Correction
- 1. Correct reporting phrase Original: hold it that Suggested revision: believe that Why it matters: The original reporting construction is not idiomatic in this context.
- 2. Correct preposition Original: upon Suggested revision: by Why it matters: Use “by” to express the basis on which a judgment is made.
- 3. Refer to views Original: both the topics Suggested revision: both views Why it matters: The prompt presents two views on one topic, so “views” is the accurate noun.
- 4. Use collective noun Original: dresses Suggested revision: clothing Why it matters: “Clothing” refers generally to what people wear, whereas “dresses” names a specific garment.
- 5. Fix sentence opening Original: Very commonly it is seen how Suggested revision: It is common to see how Why it matters: The replacement provides a natural English clause structure.
- 6. Improve collocation Original: conspicuously Suggested revision: readily Why it matters: “Readily recognized” is the natural collocation for being identified easily.
- 7. Use embedded order Original: what are the cultural values Suggested revision: what cultural values Why it matters: An embedded clause uses statement word order rather than question word order.
- 8. Use precise relation Original: as per their attire Suggested revision: from their attire Why it matters: “From” states directly that the inference is being drawn from clothing.
- 9. State agreement clearly Original: swinging along with this viewpoint Suggested revision: agreeing with this viewpoint Why it matters: The original phrase is an unnatural way to express agreement.
- 10. Use accurate description Original: filled with loopholes Suggested revision: fundamentally flawed Why it matters: “Loopholes” normally refers to gaps in rules or laws, not weaknesses in a judgment.
- 11. Correct collocation Original: the traditions one pertains to Suggested revision: the traditions one follows Why it matters: A person follows or observes traditions rather than pertains to them.
- 12. Remove unnecessary article Original: given how the people today Suggested revision: given how people today Why it matters: “People” is used generally here and does not take the definite article.
Suggested Rewrites
- hold it that believe that
- upon by
- both the topics both views
- dresses clothing
- Very commonly it is seen how It is common to see how
- conspicuously readily
Why this response received Band 7.0
The response addresses both perspectives and maintains a clear preference for judging people by more than clothing, with relevant cultural examples and sustained development. Its main weakness is that frequent strained phrasing and overextended sentences reduce precision and make some reasoning sound less natural. Prioritise clear, idiomatic wording and tighter sentence construction while distinguishing more sharply between what clothing may reveal about culture and what it cannot prove about character.
IELTS Writing Criteria Scores
Task Response
Both views are addressed with a clear opinion and relevant support, although the case for judging by clothes concentrates more on cultural origin than character.
Develop the character dimension of the first view separately and qualify more precisely what clothing can and cannot reveal.
Coherence and Cohesion
The four-paragraph structure provides clear progression, though repetition and lengthy chains of reasoning occasionally weaken the flow.
Use shorter, more focused sentences and reduce repeated statements of the same judgement within paragraphs.
Lexical Resource
The response shows a broad and ambitious vocabulary, but frequent awkward or inaccurate collocations reduce precision and naturalness.
Prefer familiar, idiomatic combinations such as infer a person's background and judge someone by their appearance over forced alternatives.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy
A range of complex structures is used and meaning remains clear, despite recurring problems with articles, prepositions, agreement, and overloaded clauses.
Control one main idea per complex sentence and proofread article and preposition choices before adding further subordinate clauses.
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IELTS Writing Task 2
Some people say that it is possible to tell a lot about a person’s culture and character from their choice of clothes while others think one can’t be judged on the basis of one’s clothes. Discuss both the views and give your opinion.
Your response
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