IELTS Writing Task 2 with sample answer.
You should spend about 40 minutes on this task.
Write about the following topic:
Some people think that in the modern society individuals are becoming more dependent on each other while others say that individuals are becoming more independent of each other.
Discuss both views and give your own opinion.
Write at least 250 words.
Model Answer:
We live in the modern world where technological accomplishments inconceivable in previous societies are within our grip. This is an era of genetic engineering, of space travel, of internet. Human beings are enjoying the freedom which no epoch of human history has suspected. Yet never before are we dependent on what we ourselves have created. Never before have we designed by that which we have designed. The more densely populated our world become, the more our lives characterized by feelings of loneliness and isolation. Everything, in the contemporary societies, seems pregnant with its contrary.
In modern society, there is a paradox of differentiation. That is to say that in day to day practice there is on the one hand an increase in independence, yet on the other hand there is an increase in dependence can be found. The increase implies to the process in which the division of labor is consistently getting more extensive. That means existing social units are being split up into independent sectors, each emphasizing on a particular function. However, the differentiation also induces a process of increasing dependence, since individuals all become more and more dependent on each other as they intend to meet their growing needs. Everybody has his own place in the intricate arrangement of modern society, and constitute, combined with other individuals, a part which have to assist other parts so that the system can be kept going on. A good instance here is the mode of production in garments industry. There are divisions of labor, such as different parts of a shirt are made by different workers in various divisions. Everyone has his certain task in order to complete the whole work.
All in all, I want to say that everyone is independent, yet nobody is independent. In the modern, differentiated society, individual leans on his fellow men has declined, but on the other hand dependency has increased on abstract, large and anonymous systems pertaining to care, information and money.