To be labeled a ‘Work of Art’, a painting, sculpture or other art forms should display certain qualities that are unique. However, over the past century, there has been a decline in the quality of prize-winning artwork and it is now possible for quite ordinary pieces of art to be labeled ‘masterpieces’ whilst true works of art pass unnoticed. To what extent do you agree or disagree?
Sample Response
The taste of people for artworks have changed to an extreme extent in this present age. As a direct result, many ordinary artworks are entitled as masterpieces while true pieces go unnoticed for the lack of evaluation amid thousands of cheap pieces. I completely agree with the statement for the following reasons. The number of art loving people has reduced significantly. With the passage of time, maintaining a decent life is difficult. So, people are busy in making a comfortable living. They hardly manage time to focus on artworks and are willing to hang the artworks on their wall or preserve them in their showcases instead of visiting them at galleries. Such activities have greatly reduced the value of real artworks. Besides, the real artists are losing their interest to create some extraordinary pieces for wider reasons. Firstly, they are not appreciated. Additionally, the prices of raw materials are on the rise. So, the artists lose interest to create some ‘true’ pieces due to lack of art lovers’ admiration to them. In fact, people are no longer interested in art anymore for recreation. For instance, my next door neighbour is a painter. When inquired, preferring anonymity, he told that all types of artworks started declining after the Second World War. Though there had been some changes after the 1990s, the real artworks were lost amid the cheap pieces after that decade, he said. He also believes, a large number of artist gave up job considering the matters. In fact, he was true. Furthermore, the art galleries reduced in competition with local market artworks. The artworks meant for gallery exhibitions are confined to local markets within a cheaper price for home décor. Subsequently, the aesthetic arts are experiencing rainy days in the supremacy of ordinary pieces. So, the ordinary pieces turned dominating. To conclude, determining the true art and awarding those unique works is a task that should be done very carefully in order to appreciate the work or genius from ordinary works.
IELTS Writing Correction
- 1. Use natural noun phrase Original: The taste of people for artworks Suggested revision: People's taste in art Why it matters: Taste in art is the standard collocation and the possessive is more concise.
- 2. Fix singular agreement Original: have Suggested revision: has Why it matters: After the revised singular subject taste, the verb must be singular.
- 3. Use concise adverb Original: to an extreme extent Suggested revision: dramatically Why it matters: Dramatically expresses the degree of change more naturally and concisely.
- 4. Remove redundancy Original: this Suggested revision: the Why it matters: This and present duplicate the same time reference.
- 5. Use correct passive Original: are entitled as masterpieces Suggested revision: are labelled masterpieces Why it matters: Labelled takes the complement directly without as in this structure.
- 6. Express the cause Original: for the lack of evaluation Suggested revision: because of inadequate evaluation Why it matters: The revised phrase states the causal relationship and quality of evaluation more naturally.
- 7. Hyphenate the modifier Original: art loving people Suggested revision: art-loving people Why it matters: The compound modifier before people requires a hyphen.
- 8. Use intransitive decline Original: reduced Suggested revision: declined Why it matters: A number declines by itself; reduce would normally require an object in this use.
- 9. Use gerund directly Original: busy in making Suggested revision: busy making Why it matters: Busy is followed directly by a gerund without in.
- 10. Use time collocation Original: hardly manage time Suggested revision: can hardly find time Why it matters: Find time is the natural collocation for having an opportunity to do something.
- 11. Use plural walls Original: wall Suggested revision: walls Why it matters: The plural pronoun their refers to multiple people's separate walls.
- 12. Use viewing collocation Original: visiting them at galleries Suggested revision: viewing them in galleries Why it matters: People view artworks in galleries rather than visit artworks at galleries.
Suggested Rewrites
- The taste of people for artworks People's taste in art
- have has
- to an extreme extent dramatically
- this the
- are entitled as masterpieces are labelled masterpieces
- for the lack of evaluation because of inadequate evaluation
Why this response received Band 5.5
The response has a definite position and offers several reasons for the decline of recognised art, with a broadly traceable progression from public interest to artists and galleries. However, much of the discussion concerns art consumption generally rather than explaining how ordinary work wins prizes while genuine quality is overlooked, and frequent awkward phrasing reduces precision. Prioritise developing one direct, credible explanation about judging standards or prize selection, supported by a clearly relevant example.
IELTS Writing Criteria Scores
Task Response
The writer clearly agrees and supplies several related reasons, but development often shifts from prize-winning quality to the broader decline of interest in art.
Build the argument around how judging criteria, publicity, or market influence cause ordinary pieces to win recognition while stronger work is missed.
Coherence and Cohesion
The sequence from audiences to artists and galleries is broadly understandable, but the single-block presentation, repetition, and mechanical transitions weaken progression.
Use separate body paragraphs for public taste and prize selection, with each topic sentence directly tied to the central claim.
Lexical Resource
The response shows some range in discussing art and evaluation, but frequent inaccurate word choices and collocations make several claims awkward or imprecise.
Replace expressions such as 'entitled as masterpieces', 'busy in making', and 'experiencing rainy days' with direct, conventional academic phrasing.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy
A mixture of sentence forms is attempted, but subject-verb agreement, articles, plural forms, prepositions, and clause construction contain frequent errors.
Prioritise agreement and noun phrases, including 'people's tastes have changed', 'artists have given up their careers', and 'at a lower price'.
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IELTS Writing Task 2
To be labeled a ‘Work of Art’, a painting, sculpture or other art forms should display certain qualities that are unique. However, over the past century, there has been a decline in the quality of prize-winning artwork and it is now possible for quite ordinary pieces of art to be labeled ‘masterpieces’ whilst true works of art pass unnoticed. To what extent do you agree or disagree?
Your response
Write the task yourself, then compare your choices with the annotated response.