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Hey guys.

I've been watching all of Ryan's IELTS videos on YouTube and have a query regarding the Discussion Essay. For example if the question states:
----(a) Discuss the advantages and disadvantages of....
----(b) Discuss the topic with examples...

I've noticed that Ryan in his videos uses only ONE example to discuss the pros and ONE example to discuss the cons in a paragraph each.

Since the question says advantage'S'- plural. Would it be better instead, if we constructed a paragraph each for pros and cons listing out A FEW examples each, because then the essay would contain more core information.

Which is the better approach?
(A) To use ONE well explained example EACH for pros and cons
(B) To make a paragraph for pros listing a FEW examples and cons listing a FEW examples.

Cheers.
Dr. Salil MK

Hi,
I am an ex-ielts examiner.
both of them work equally fine.
What you don't want to do is give a shopping-list of ideas. Also giving more examples, doesn't automatically get you more points.
If you choose to write only 2 body paragraphs, then you will probably need 2 just to get to 250 words. Also, if the third paragraph is missing it's probably easier to demonstrate a thoroughly developed essay with 2 examples in each paragraph.

That said, if you only give one example that is very thorough, that would be enough for a full score as well.

Hope this helps.

Examiner/Tutor
steve@bostonielts.com