This is an IELTS writing task 2 sample answer essay on the topic of international stars and historic figures and why young people are more interested in celebrities from the real IELTS exam.
Please consider supporting me on Patreon.com/howtodoielts to receive my full, exclusive IELTS Ebooks – you can even sign up for private live lessons with me!
Dave
IELTS Essay: International Stars and Historic Figures
Many young people today know more about international pop or movie stars than about famous people in the history of their own country.
Why is this?
What can be done to increase young people’s interest in famous people in the history of their country?
Younger generations today are often more interested in international celebrities rather than figures from their country’s past. In my opinion, this is a natural tendency related to mass media and can be mitigated by improving history lessons in schools.
Younger people today organically gravitate towards individuals they resonate with and see in entertainment. This applies equally to those in the film and music industries. For example, one of the most popular singers for the last decade has been Taylor Swift, an artist who prolifically releases albums, updates her Instagram, and is generally present online and in the entertainment world. Young people listen to her songs and identify with her and then follow her personal life closely in order to enjoy a vicarious, uplifting feeling. This stands in marked contrast to historical figures who no longer contribute or offer any present value.
This tendency to value current stars can be countered with more engaging history classes. History lessons in most contexts focus on dry facts and propaganda. However, there are historians who can enliven historical events such as in Robert Caro’s non-fiction or Hilary Mantel’s historical fiction. If students were introduced to passages from those sources, there is a stronger likelihood that it would instill in them a lifelong passion for the study of history and the figures that have shaped our current world. If such lessons were combined with more relevant current events lessons, then students might be more compelled to understand, respect, and continue researching great historical actors.
In conclusion, though there is a natural inclination to pay more attention to contemporary pop culture figures, an emphasis on quality texts could encourage young people to care more about individuals from the past. This will not cause a seismic shift but could have a marginal impact.
Analysis
1. Younger generations today are often more interested in international celebrities rather than figures from their country’s past. 2. In my opinion, this is a natural tendency related to mass media and can be mitigated by improving history lessons in schools.
- Paraphrase the overall essay topic.
- Write a clear opinion. Read more about introductions here.
1. Younger people today organically gravitate towards individuals they resonate with and see in entertainment. 2. This applies equally to those in the film and music industries. 3. For example, one of the most popular singers for the last decade has been Taylor Swift, an artist who prolifically releases albums, updates her Instagram, and is generally present online and in the entertainment world. 4. Young people listen to her songs and identify with her and then follow her personal life closely in order to enjoy a vicarious, uplifting feeling. 5. This stands in marked contrast to historical figures who no longer contribute or offer any present value.
- Write a topic sentence with a clear main idea at the end.
- Explain your main idea.
- Develop it with specific or hypothetical examples.
- Start a second method.
- Keep developing it fully.
1. This tendency to value current stars can be countered with more engaging history classes. 2. History lessons in most contexts focus on dry facts and propaganda. 3. However, there are historians who can enliven historical events such as in Robert Caro’s non-fiction or Hilary Mantel’s historical fiction. 4. If students were introduced to passages from those sources, there is a stronger likelihood that it would instill in them a lifelong passion for the study of history and the figures that have shaped our current world. 5. If such lessons were combined with more relevant current events lessons, then students might be more compelled to understand, respect, and continue researching great historical actors.
- Write a new topic sentence with a new main idea at the end.
- Explain your new main idea.
- Include specific details and examples.
- Add as much information as you can and make sure it links logically.
- Develop the example fully.
1. In conclusion, though there is a natural inclination to pay more attention to contemporary pop culture figures, an emphasis on quality texts could encourage young people to care more about individuals from the past. 2. This will not cause a seismic shift but could have a marginal impact.
- Summarise your main ideas.
- Include a final thought. Read more about conclusions here.
Vocabulary
What do the words in bold below mean? Make some notes on paper to aid memory and then check below.
Younger generations today are often more interested in international celebrities rather than figures from their country’s past. In my opinion, this is a natural tendency related to mass media and can be mitigated by improving history lessons in schools.
Younger people today organically gravitate towards individuals they resonate with and see in entertainment. This applies equally to those in the film and music industries. For example, one of the most popular singers for the last decade has been Taylor Swift, an artist who prolifically releases albums, updates her Instagram, and is generally present online and in the entertainment world. Young people listen to her songs and identify with her and then follow her personal life closely in order to enjoy a vicarious, uplifting feeling. This stands in marked contrast to historical figures who no longer contribute or offer any present value.
This tendency to value current stars can be countered with more engaging history classes. History lessons in most contexts focus on dry facts and propaganda. However, there are historians who can enliven historical events such as in Robert Caro’s non-fiction or Hilary Mantel’s historical fiction. If students were introduced to passages from those sources, there is a stronger likelihood that it would instill in them a lifelong passion for the study of history and the figures that have shaped our current world. If such lessons were combined with more relevant current events lessons, then students might be more compelled to understand, respect, and continue researching great historical actors.
In conclusion, though there is a natural inclination to pay more attention to contemporary pop culture figures, an emphasis on quality texts could encourage young people to care more about individuals from the past. This will not cause a seismic shift but could have a marginal impact.
Answers
For extra practice, write an antonym (opposite word) on a piece of paper to help you remember the new vocabulary:
younger generations people who are not old – under the age of 25 or so
interested in care about
international celebrities stars
rather than instead of
figures important people
natural tendency organic desire
related to concerning
mass media entertainment, news, etc.
mitigated lessened
improving made better
organically gravitate towards naturally go in the direction of
resonate with connect with
entertainment movies, music, etc.
equally the same as
last decade last 10 years
artist singer, musician, etc.
prolifically releases albums make a lot of music
updates new posts
generally present online all over the internet
entertainment world people in music, film, etc.
identify connect with
follow her personal life closely pay attention to her life
in order to so that
vicarious living through others
uplifting enjoyable
This stands in marked contrast to this is very different from
no longer contribute not add to any more
offer any present value means something now
tendency likelihood
countered with fought with
engaging paying attention to
in most contexts in many situations
dry facts boring information
propaganda self-serving and biased information about a country
historians people who study history
enliven historical events bring history to life
non-fiction true, reality
historical fiction books based in history but not 100% true
introduced first shown
passages texts
stronger likelihood better chance
instill engender
lifelong passion care about your whole life
shaped cultivated
current world right now
combined with put together with
relevant current events lessons classes about news now
compelled encouraged
continue researching great historical actors keep looking up people from the past
natural inclination organic desire
pay more attention to care more about
contemporary pop culture figures stars famous now
emphasis focus on
quality texts good books
encourage reinforce
seismic shift big change
marginal impact small effect
Pronunciation
Practice saying the vocabulary below and use this tip about Google voice search:
ˈjʌŋə ˌʤɛnəˈreɪʃənz
ˈɪntrɪstɪd ɪn
ˌɪntə(ː)ˈnæʃənl sɪˈlɛbrɪtiz
ˈrɑːðə ðæn
ˈfɪgəz
ˈnæʧrəl ˈtɛndənsi
rɪˈleɪtɪd tuː
mæs ˈmiːdiə
ˈmɪtɪgeɪtɪd
ɪmˈpruːvɪŋ
ɔːˈgænɪk(ə)li ˈgrævɪteɪt təˈwɔːdz
ˈrɛzəˌneɪt wɪð
ˌɛntəˈteɪnmənt
ˈiːkwəli
lɑːst ˈdɛkeɪd
ˈɑːtɪst
prəʊˈlɪfɪk(ə)li rɪˈliːsɪz ˈælbəmz
ʌpˈdeɪts
ˈʤɛnərəli ˈprɛznt ˈɒnˌlaɪn
ˌɛntəˈteɪnmənt wɜːld
aɪˈdɛntɪfaɪ
ˈfɒləʊ hɜː ˈpɜːsnl laɪf ˈkləʊsli
ɪn ˈɔːdə tuː
vaɪˈkeərɪəs
ʌpˈlɪftɪŋ
ðɪs stændz ɪn mɑːkt ˈkɒntrɑːst tuː
nəʊ ˈlɒŋgə kənˈtrɪbju(ː)t
ˈɒfər ˈɛni ˈprɛznt ˈvæljuː
ˈtɛndənsi
ˈkaʊntəd wɪð
ɪnˈgeɪʤɪŋ
ɪn məʊst ˈkɒntɛksts
draɪ fækts
ˌprɒpəˈgændə
hɪsˈtɔːrɪənz
ɪnˈlaɪvn hɪsˈtɒrɪkəl ɪˈvɛnts
nɒn-ˈfɪkʃən
hɪsˈtɒrɪkəl ˈfɪkʃən
ˌɪntrəˈdjuːst
ˈpæsɪʤɪz
ˈstrɒŋgə ˈlaɪklɪhʊd
ɪnˈstɪl
ˈlaɪflɒŋ ˈpæʃən
ʃeɪpt
ˈkʌrənt wɜːld
kəmˈbaɪnd wɪð
ˈrɛlɪvənt ˈkʌrənt ɪˈvɛnts ˈlɛsnz
kəmˈpɛld
kənˈtɪnju(ː) rɪˈsɜːʧɪŋ greɪt hɪsˈtɒrɪkəl ˈæktəz
ˈnæʧrəl ˌɪnklɪˈneɪʃən
peɪ mɔːr əˈtɛnʃ(ə)n tuː
kənˈtɛmpərəri pɒp ˈkʌlʧə ˈfɪgəz
ˈɛmfəsɪs
ˈkwɒlɪti tɛksts
ɪnˈkʌrɪʤ
ˈsaɪzmɪk ʃɪft
ˈmɑːʤɪnəl ˈɪmpækt
Vocabulary Practice
Y____________________s today are often more i_________________n i______________________s r______________n f___________s from their country’s past. In my opinion, this is a n_________________y r____________o m_____________a and can be m____________d by i________________g history lessons in schools.
Younger people today o__________________________s individuals they r_________________h and see in e_________________t. This applies e________y to those in the film and music industries. For example, one of the most popular singers for the l_____________e has been Taylor Swift, an a_______t who p__________________________s, u____________s her Instagram, and is g_________________________e and in the e______________________d. Young people listen to her songs and i___________y with her and then f______________________________y i_______________o enjoy a v___________s, u____________g feeling. T_______________________________________o historical figures who n___________________e or o______________________e.
This t___________y to value current stars can be c___________________h more e____________g history classes. History lessons i___________________s focus on d__________s and p_____________a. However, there are h_______________s who can e________________________s such as in Robert Caro’s n_____________n or Hilary Mantel’s h_________________n. If students were i_____________d to p__________s from those sources, there is a s__________________d that it would i_______l in them a l___________________n for the study of history and the figures that have s_________d our c_____________d. If such lessons were c______________h more r_____________________________s, then students might be more c____________d to understand, respect, and c_____________________________________s.
In conclusion, though there is a n__________________n to p________________________o c____________________________s, an e____________s on q_____________s could e_________e young people to care more about individuals from the past. This will not cause a s_____________t but could have a m_________________t.
Listening Practice
Reading Practice
https://www.brandwatch.com/blog/top-most-instagram-followers/
Speaking Practice
Famous People
- Have you ever met a celebrity?
- What kinds of celebrities are you interested in?
- Are there any celebrities you would want to interview?
Writing Practice
Some people think that famous people can help international aid organizations to draw attention to important problems. Others believe that the celebrities can make the problems seem less important.
Discuss both views and give your opinion.
Sorry Dave. Tried to write short essay but could no fit all ideas in lesser words.
It is common for younger generations to have more knowledge of today’s international artists rather than of renowned people from the past of their own nation. This is mainly due to the invention of the internet and modernisation. Increasing the interest of young people in knowing about their country’s eminent people in history can be achieved by encouraging them to visit museums and historical sites by reducing the entrance fees and promoting filmmakers to create biographical films on such people.
To begin with, due to the advancement of the internet, young people have access to all the news, be it local or foreign. Social media websites such as Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram are popular platforms where celebrities keep posting about their personal and professional lives. Therefore, young people get constant feed updates about their favourite actors and actresses. Secondly, young people are inclined towards modernisation, and they feel knowing about history will do them little or no benefit. For example, when they socialize with friends, the hot topic of discussion is always the current affairs of celebrities. If someone talks about stories of the past, other youngsters will find it untypical. Thus, people want to keep abreast of the times to look cool in front of their friends and society.
However, young people can be encouraged in the following ways to show an interest in past figures. Firstly, the government can reduce the cost of entrance tickets to museums and historical sites. When young people get first-hand experience of visiting such places, it is highly likely that they will be intrigued by the details they are exposed to and want to find out more about the people in the history. For instance, when youngsters visit Jallianwala Baag in Amritsar, India, they get chills, seeing the garden where the infamous massacre occurred. Furthermore, cinema can assist in spreading the untold stories of brave past heroes. The Indian movie “Bhagat Singh” was a great success in disseminating the facts about how bravely freedom fighters fought for India’s independence from the British colonization. Such films should be promoted by offering government subsidies.
To conclude, although the internet and the influence of modernisation have made young people more interested in international celebrities, viable measures such as reducing the price of tickets to museums and historical sites and promoting historical-genre cinema will engender an interest in historical figures among the younger citizenry.
GREAT
awesome, love it!
There is a statement that youth are more familiar with singers or actors than famous people in history. In my opinion, the main reason of this situation may be that modern entertainment is more interesting than history story. We should find out and present history in a form that youth like.
Pop and movie stars offer entertainments which are much more exciting than history tales. The new version of entertainment is trying their best to attract people and collect fans from all over the world. Let us take movies as an example. Movie has only black and white color when it was first invented, and then is added many colors later. The sound effect and vision effect have also developed quickly in the past decades. All of such developments make movies more interesting and exciting. However, history story never changes, which settles on history books. Therefore, history becomes less attractive than many kinds of modern entertainment, and youth are more interesting in entertainment producers, such as singers and actors, than history characters.
To attract the youth, history should catch up with modern technology. The methods to present history are not only textbooks or museums, but also movies, songs, websites, video games and so on. As a result, stars that young people like are more likely to be involved in such a project, and it would further increase youth’s interest in history. For example, there are many movies about World War 2, which are acted by plenty of famous actors. They presented history and showed the real image of the war. Moreover, video games can have even better performance. A series of video games called Assassin Creed which are combined with many single stories about different assassins. One of them lived in Italy, and one was born in the Independence War of America and so on. In the game, players can experience history and work with famous people, such as outstanding Italian artist Da Vanci and the first president of the US Washington. Players can feel extremely excited during the game route, because they can walk on the streets of Paris in the 18th century, or stand on the peak of Big Ben in the 19th century of London. With the help of modern technology, youth would likely love history and find out the amazing part of history themselves.
In sum, new entertainments attract a lot of young people, and the old form of teaching history may be responsible for the decrease in interest. We should present history with modern technology which would catch up with the tendency. In addition, educational departments should invest in historical entertainment to enlarge the influence of history.
Gakki very nice ideas. A few grammer mistakes. But overall good and precise.
Did you write this in 40 min?
Yes, but I corrected a lot of grammatical mistakes before I posted it. I think that grammer is my weakness.
Oh boy! I understand . I am lacking in grammar too. I use this web site to check my grammar- quillbot.com/grammar-check
When are u apprearing for the test?
I use this website also! My test are in the day after tomorrow, which is Thursday this week.
All the best, my friend!
Please do let me know your score when it’s out.
Hi Dave, can you give me your comments on this essay?
thanks a lot in advance!
Recent years have witnessed a rise in many young people’s interest in the lives of internationally recognized celebrities together with a dwindling care about their countries’ historical individuals. There are several reasons for this trend, and steps are being proposed to promote the interest in their nation’s remarkable figures.
It is the pervasive and constant publicity that movie and pop stars receive that create their great pulling power for the young. In fact, most young people now spend a great deal of time on social networking sites, such as Facebook, Tweeter, or Instagram to stay updated with the news. Naturally, people are curious about other people’s lives, especially well-known personalities. To satisfy this innate need, the tabloids and celebrity rags keep updating news about such people to the minute. However, the main reason that drives young people away from finding out about their great ancestors is that they are fed with dull history lessons at school with long wordy textbooks and uninteresting classroom activities.
Since this trend has had negative impacts, there is an urgent need for action to rekindle the young’s love for their country’s remarkable historical individuals. One way forward is for teachers to make their lesson more exciting. Role-playing is a marvelous way of helping students take a keen interest in the roles that they have to play as they need to put in time and efforts to relive that character. In addition to this, a federal investment in changing the present dry textbooks into a more attractive form of conveying history lessons. It is worth the country’s effort to channel some government spending on making movies about the country’s heroes. This would make more impact on students as they can learn the lesson from not only words in books but also animated images from movies, which are more memorable.
In conclusion, although the media and the education system have a role to play in the growth of this current trend, the main problem lies in the latter. Therefore, steps like adapting the textbooks into movies as well as making students participate more are key to the success.
(355 words)
Good work, Hoang, it is a little long though so you should be worried about timing.
Really strong writing – the main issue is with some informal vocabulary and paraphrasing – otherwise really high level!
Keep it up!
In today’s time, Lots of youth know more about global pop or film stars rather than about popular people in the history of their nation. In my opinion, it is related to a following pattern of developed nation cinemas and can be migrated by improving the structure of filmmaking.
To begin with, most developing nations are following the pattern of a developed nation in most of the sectors. People are mostly attracted to the global stars because they see the different styles of making a movie and the performance of the stars compared to their nation. The history of a particular nation is very huge, and it’s on the books that require lots of time to read. The younger generation doesn’t like to read too much because they are habituated to seeing a visual representation of the stories.
For solving this issue, Government should have to include compulsory subjects in schools that explain history well. Furthermore, the movie makers or filmmakers should have to take a story from their own countries history and present it on the huge screen in the form of entertainment. So people can enjoy it, gain the interest in famous people in history, and have a good knowledge about their nation. For example, During the COVID-19 epidemic, people like to see some of the historical shows like Ramayana and Mahabharata which is the biggest historical event that happened in India.
To sum up, Government have to spread awareness that youngsters have to take knowledge about their nation because they belong to this culture.
Well done, Meet!
You don’t have to capitalize government though – also careful with your present perfect use.