Digital photography is very common nowadays, but some people think that by taking photos of every beautiful place we go, we actually get less benefit from the experience. To what extent do you agree or disagree?
Sample Response
In the twenty-first century, it has become very common for people to use their phones to take photos, and social media allows anyone to sharesocial media has meant that anyone can share their pictures with the world. As such, people instinctively take photos whenever they see something beautiful. This essay will argue that it probably reduces their overall level of enjoyment. To begin with, cameras can help us to appreciate our surroundings more fullyappreciate our surroundings more because they let us capture images of themit. By focusing on light, shape, and colour, we are able to gain a better understanding of the world around us and to focus on themit for longer than we normally would. However, most people do not take the time to appreciate these things. Instead, they pull out their phone and snap a quick picture without really thinking about it. In this sense, using a camera makes them spendtheir camera is making them spend less time actually enjoying the view. We also tend to think of cameras as a way of recording a moment so that it can be enjoyed laterenjoyed again later, and this is undoubtedly true in many cases. People go to amazing locations and take beautiful pictures partly so that they can look at them again later and remember the place they visited. However, it could be argued that it is better to simply enjoy the place and then remember it properly from the experience rather than the picture. When people just stare at their phone, they are not really taking in their surroundings, and so their surroundings will be easily forgottenthese will be easily forgotten. In conclusion, cameras are great for capturing moments, but they probably do not help people to fully appreciate and remember these experiencestimes. Perhaps it is better to simply put the camera away and experience the scene directlyenjoy the scene naturally.
Why this response received Band 8.0
The response presents a clear, consistent position and develops a thoughtful contrast between photography as a tool for appreciation and as a distraction from direct experience. The main limitation is that some claims about memory and enjoyment remain general rather than firmly illustrated; the highest-priority improvement is to support the central argument with a more specific real-world example or a fuller causal explanation.
IELTS Writing Criteria Scores
Task Response
The question is answered directly with a clear degree of agreement and relevant consideration of the opposing perspective.
Add a concrete example showing how habitual photographing changes either attention, memory, or enjoyment in practice.
Coherence and Cohesion
The argument progresses smoothly from a qualified counterpoint to two closely related reasons supporting the position.
Make the distinction between immediate enjoyment and later memory even more explicit when moving between the body paragraphs.
Lexical Resource
Vocabulary is flexible, natural, and precise, particularly when describing visual attention, recording moments, and absorbing surroundings.
Replace a few general expressions such as amazing locations and beautiful pictures with more specific wording where useful.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy
Complex sentence forms are handled confidently and most sentences are accurate and easy to process.
Check pronoun agreement and reference carefully in phrases such as surroundings and images of it and in uses of these.
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IELTS Writing Task 2
Digital photography is very common nowadays, but some people think that by taking photos of every beautiful place we go, we actually get less benefit from the experience. To what extent do you agree or disagree?
Your response
Write the task yourself, then compare your choices with the annotated response.