Some people say that art (e.g. painting, music, poetry) can be made by everyone whereas others believe that it can be only made by those with special abilities. Discuss both views and give your opinion.
Sample Response
Art is a diverse range of creative activities that express the creator’s imaginationimaginations. Naturally, one can assume, to create art, all you need is a good imagination. However, some others believe that you need to learn special skills to become an artist. This essay shall discuss both viewsboth the views in detail.
Any person with a creative vision and ingenuity can create art forms such as writing poetry, painting or composing songsa song or two. Drawing up a mental picture of your feelings and expressing them effectively on paper will make you an artist. For example, people are sometimessome people are sometimes driven by longing or grief for someone, which makes them express their feelingsspill their feelings out in a song or a painting. This is why people feel that creating art is not particularly difficult to attemptnot that hard and can be attempted easily.
On the other handOn the contrary, there are people who firmly believeopine that without learning how to express oneself creativelylearning how to express creatively, imagination alone cannot help one become an artist. It requires years of training for people to become great artists. To become a musician, for instance, one needs to learn all the fundamentals of rhythm and melodyfundamentals of rhythms and melodies; to play the guitar, one needs to learn the relevant chordsall the right chords. A vivid imagination is insufficient by itselfIt doesn’t help if your imagination is vivid; you need to know the appropriate techniques for expressing one’s ideascorrect technique of expressing the same to distinguish your creation from the ordinary worksmediocrities.
To conclude, I’d like to say that as easy as it sounds, creating art is definitely challengingnot a piece of cake. Sure, one might have an innate ability in some art formsone might be innate in some art forms, but enhancing that skill is very important to create masterpieces.
Why this response received Band 7.5
The response offers a well-organized discussion of both views, using relevant examples and a flexible range of language. Its main limitation is that the writer's own position appears chiefly in the conclusion and does not clearly distinguish the ability to make art from the training required to produce exceptional work. The highest-priority improvement is to state that distinction in the introduction and apply it consistently throughout both arguments.
IELTS Writing Criteria Scores
Task Response
Both views are relevantly developed and an opinion is given, but the precise position is delayed and the key distinction remains somewhat blurred.
State from the outset whether everyone can create basic art while training is needed for mastery, then evaluate both views against that position.
Coherence and Cohesion
The response follows a clear four-paragraph progression, and each body paragraph develops one side with well-integrated examples.
Strengthen the transition into the conclusion by explicitly synthesizing the two body arguments rather than simply shifting to a final opinion.
Lexical Resource
The essay shows a broad topic-specific range, but several choices are awkward, overly ornate, or imprecise despite remaining understandable.
Prefer natural formulations for ideas such as innate talent and artistic technique, and avoid expressions such as ordinary mediocrities.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy
Complex sentences are varied and mostly accurate, with strong control of subordination, conditionals, and punctuation across the response.
Refine the few awkward constructions and check noun forms and comma placement to make the control consistently polished.
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IELTS Writing Task 2
Some people say that art (e.g. painting, music, poetry) can be made by everyone whereas others believe that it can be only made by those with special abilities. Discuss both views and give your opinion.
Your response
Write the task yourself, then compare your choices with the annotated response.