Types of Essays
With Samples
Writing an Advertisement
Aims:
persuading people to buy a product / informing people about a situation or an event / convincing people to donate…
Text organisation of an advertisement
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Headline: it should be attention-grabbing.
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Text: to stimulate the readers’ desire and emotion, highlight the benefits of your product / service… rather than its features because your aim is to convince the targeted public.
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“Call to action” phrase: it should be strong and solid to ask the reader to take action. e.g. “come and see”, “rush…” , “write immediately”, “ ring now”,
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Closing : ( advertiser name + contact information)
Some helpful tips:
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Make your ad short, clear and to the point.
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Write with a natural style: don’t try to be pretentious. Just write the way you would say it.
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Consider who you’re writing for, what you’re writing about and why? Suit your language to your intended audience.
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Good advertising involves manipulating the emotions of the readers.
A sample advertisement
Many hands make light work
Give to the needy students of our school and make them smile.
Writing a Biography
Useful Definitions
Biography: Person’s life story written by someone else.
Autobiography: Person’s life story written by himself.
A Sample Biography (Albert Einstein)
a - The verb tenses used:Past tenses (Active/Passive)
b - Order of events throughout the text: Chronological
Albert Einstein was born in Wurttemberg, Germany in1879. After six weeks, his family moved to Munich, where he began his schooling at the Luitpold Gymnasium. At the age of 17, he entered the Federal Polytechnic School to be trained as a teacher of physics and mathematics.
Einstein married Mileva Maric in 1903 and they had a daughter and a son. Their marriage was dissolved and he married his cousin Elsa Lowenthal.
Einstein always appeared to have a clear view of the problems of physics and the determination to solve them. In 1916, he published his paper on the general theory of relativity. He received the Nobel Prize in physics in 1921. During the 1920’s, he lectured in Europe and America and he was awarded Fellowships or Memberships of all leading scientific academies throughout the world. The father of modern physics died in 1955 in Princeton, New Jersey.
Writing a Description (a festival)
A sample description of a festival.
The Canadian Tulip Festival is held every year in Canada from the 14th till the 21st of May . The festival celebrates the Tulip flowers which Canada is famous for .It also exhibits the traditions and customs of the Canadian people and their way of life.
The preparations for the festival begin months beforehand .Special costumes are designed for the occasion, musicians and dance performers are trained to show the country’s folklore music and dance. Shortly before the beginning of the festival, streets are decorated with colorful flags, red and yellow tulip flowers. Music amplifiers are set in place to carry rhythmic sounds to the public during the celebration.
The festival lasts for 17 days. It is filled with music, dancing, entertaining activities and exhibitions. Thousands of visitors take part in the celebration and find the experience very exciting.
Text organization of the description
Paragraph 1 : Name of the festival + Place (town/country/city) + Duration : (give precise dates) + Aim : why it is held
Paragraph 2 : Preparation + Events + Participants :(tourists /local visitors )
Paragraph 3 : Characteristics : (activities / entertainment)
Writing a Postcard
Text organisation of a postcard
Write the information as follows:
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Write the recipient's name and address on the lines on the right hand side of the postcard. Don't forget to include the country.
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The left hand side of the postcard is for your message. Start by writing "Dear ...,(the name of the person you're writing to)."
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Leave a line and state where you are and what it's like, for example:"I'm in Paris, it's great."
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Write a sentence about what you're doing right now, for example: "I'm writing this postcard to you while I'm waiting for the double-decker tour bus."
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Write a sentence about your accommodation, like:"The hotel is lovely, it has a big fountain outside and there's a beautiful view from our window."
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Then include a description of something you did on one of the days that you enjoyed, such as:"Yesterday, we went on a boat trip across the river, I loved finding out about all the different sites in the city."
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Write a comment about something particularly good, bad or funny about the holiday, like:"I tried “frogs’ legs” but they were horrible, they tasted like cardboard!"
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Finish off by writing : "Wish you were here," or "See you on Friday," or any other ending you want to write and then sign off with : "Love (your name) xxx"
Writing a letter of complaint
When is a letter of complaint needed?
When people are dissatisfied with (concerned about):
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-a product they purchased;
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-a service they did not receive – or not in conformity with previous arrangement;
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-a right they’ve been deprived of.
Who is it addressed to?
-to the service provider (seller) or to the editor of a newspaper or magazine
Layout of a letter of complaint
Sender's address
Date(Month in words)
Receiver’s address
(name, title and address of the person you are complaining to)
Salutation
(Dear Sir / Madam, ; or Dear Mr. / Mrs. + Family name, )
Paragraph 1 : State the reason for writing and write like this :
I am writing to complain about / to show my dissatisfaction / my concern about ….
Paragraph 2 : State the problem / the relevant details of what happened
Paragraph 3 : the required measure; tell the receiver what you expect him to do.
Closing : I look forward to hearing from you / or I look forward to your (prompt) reply.
Yours sincerely (When the name is mentioned)
Yours faithfully (When no name is mentioned – only dear sir / madam is used)
Write your name and sign
A sample letter of complaint
Dear Sir / Madam,
I went on a package tour, arranged by your Travel Company, to Paris last week. I expected to spend a nice holiday since everything you advertised was great. Unfortunately, the whole package was awfully disappointing.
To start with, the hotel was not only dirty but also noisy; dust was everywhere and the bathrooms were smelly. Besides, the food was not delicious at all; the same dish was served every night. What made matters worse, the hotel was so crowded and noisy that we could not sleep at night.
Adding insult to injury, there was no guide for the tour; so we had to explore the place by ourselves and some of us got lost.
I hope that you understand how terrible our holiday was. I am expecting your company to consider a refund for the spoilt holiday and make sure customers get value for money when they rely on your services.
I look forward to receiving a prompt reply.
Yours faithfully,
Jane Milady
