Onterra TutorShould museums return objects taken during the colonial period?
TOEFL iBT writing question in the official format, with a full model answer and notes on why it scores. Write your own version below it and get an instant rater-style score.
The question
Your professor is teaching a class on anthropology. Write a post responding to the professor's question. In your response, express and support your opinion and add to the discussion in your own words. A strong response has at least 100 words.
Professor Mensah: Many museums in Europe and North America hold objects taken from other countries during the colonial period. Should these objects be returned to their countries of origin?
Clara: They should be returned. These objects were taken without consent, and they mean something entirely different at home, where they belong to a living culture rather than a display case.
Hiroshi: I sympathise, but large museums let millions of visitors from everywhere see world history in one place. Returning everything would scatter collections and reduce access for ordinary people.
Model answer
I agree with Clara, though Hiroshi's concern about access is the strongest argument against her. What resolves it is that access and ownership are separate questions. A returned object can still travel: countries lend to each other constantly, and a loan agreed between equals is a different relationship from possession decided by an empire. Hiroshi imagines collections scattered, but most disputed objects sit in storage rather than on display, seen by nobody at all. The stronger case for return is that meaning depends on place. A mask made for a ceremony is documentation in London and something closer to a relative at home, and no label can carry that across a continent.
Why this answer scores
- Names the opposing argument as the strongest one, then dismantles it, which reads as confident rather than dismissive.
- The distinction between access and ownership reframes the debate in one line.
- Ends on a vivid, precise image (documentation versus a relative) instead of a summary.
Do not memorise model answers; raters recognise recycled essays instantly. Study the moves, then make them with your own ideas, and check where you stand with a scored practice.
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