Reading fiction is more enjoyable than watching movies

IELTS Writing Task 2 with sample answer.

You should spend about 40 minutes on this task.

Do you agree or disagree with the following statement?

Reading fiction (such as novels and short stories) is more enjoyable than watching movies.

Give reasons for your answer and include any relevant examples from your own knowledge or experience.

Write at least 250 words.

Sample Answer:
Nowadays, we have various forms of entertainment and, fiction and movie are two of them. Some people prefer to watch movie, while others prefer reading fiction. However, the question of whether watching movie is more pleasurable than reading fiction triggers an interesting debate. In my case, I always enjoy reading fiction than watching movie because it sharpens imaginative power and improves my judging capacity that give me real pleasure.

First of all, reading seems an active task to me. Whenever I read novels or short stories, it forces me to imaging what is going on the book. I can imagine what the character is feeling in such a situation. Actually, I feel more involved with the characters of the novel than a movie. Usually the way it is composed is simply magical to me, I can imagine the scenes more vividly than a movie could ever dream to portray and feel feelings. For example, few days ago I read Doctor Faustus of Christopher Marlowe. I empathized with characters, particularly the protagonist of the play Doctor Faustus. Marlowe delineate the character in such a magical way that it evokes both my pity and fear. And I enjoyed it very much.

Second, the reason why I enjoy reading fiction more is that it improves my level of understanding from different perspectives, which by consequence helps me to understand my surroundings. That is to say that there are many characters who evaluate a situation from many angle that help to broaden our sense of judgment. In addition, it also helps us to come out from pigeonhole. A good example here is ‘A Doll’s House’ by Henrik Ibsen. This is the story about a women who struggles for her rights in a patriarchal society. If anyone reads the drama, he obviously discards his stereotypes about women, I think.

With all the reason I explain above, it is easy to draw the conclusion that it is more appropriate for us to read fiction for getting pleasure. I think words themselves have a magical quality that leads us to a imaginative world that gives us real pleasure. Although, movies are easily attract our attention because of their audio-visual dimension, but you think of authentic recreation, you need fictions rather than movies.