JC 1 EGP 2020 - Essay Writing Worksheet

(A)The paragraphs in this essay are mixed up. Arrange them in the right order.

Is advertising beneficial or harmful to society?

1. Furthermore, from the consumer’s point of view, advertising is beneficial in engaging suppliers
and manufacturers in active competition, and this enables consumers to benefit from better
quality goods at better prices. Take ‘Coke’ and ‘Pepsi’ for example. They are the biggest drink
producing companies in the world and they are in constant competition. So, to outdo each
other, they ventured into creating different flavors and types of ‘Coke’ and ‘Pepsi’ to satisfy
consumers’ different demands, such as ‘Diet Coke’ and ‘Pepsi Twist’. This will give customers
to opportunity to enjoy improved products. Thus, advertising is a good motivation for
competition between companies, so as to enable consumers to get better range of goods at
better prices.

2. Slogans like ‘just do it’ and ‘happy meals’ are quite familiar to us and we can immediately relate
to the brand or the product that is being advertised. Indeed, advertisers use such techniques to
influence consumers to buy their products. Besides influencing peoples’ decisions, advertising
is a way of promoting certain goods and services to people. In the 21 st century, advertising has
become a part of our daily lives. We see it everywhere, on buses to the television at home to
even on our hand phones. Just imagine a day without it. But the question arises whether this
flooding of advertisements has benefitted or been detrimental to society. I am of the opinion
that advertising has brought about more benefits than harms to society.

3. In conclusion, it is true that advertising is essential and beneficial in many ways. It is an

effective way to disseminate information, motivates people to think out of the box and boosts
healthy competition. However, we cannot deny that it can cause some problems as well, such
as causing people to believe in materialism. Nevertheless, although advertising creates some
problems, on the whole, it has resulted in numerous far-reaching benefits for many in society.

4. However, some critics may charge that advertising encourages materialism and impulse
buying. They argue that when people become attracted to something, they will find the need to
have that item, which in turn, would cause them to buy more than what they need. An example
is the ‘Sookee’ jeweler advertisement, where beautiful actresses with beautiful jewels and
‘sexy’ cars were used to create a false image of luxurious lifestyle and because of human’s
gullible nature, people would then crave for the product and buy things, which they do not
actually need. Therefore, advertising may be harmful. However, not everybody reacts in this
way and there are more discerning consumers who do not fall prey to such tactics. Therefore, it
may not be a major problem and one should not be quick to conclude that advertising is then
more harmful.

5. Advertising is necessary and beneficial as it is an efficient way to disseminate information to

the masses. Through various forms of mass media such as the televisions and magazines
which appeal to the public, suppliers can easily showcase their products or services through
advertisements. A prominent example is the continual publicity of the latest technological
gadgets, including mobile phones and computer technologies. Such advertisements are
virtually are found anywhere from television, signboards, the Internet, newspapers to mobile
advertisements on buses and trains. In this way, consumers are well-informed of the range of
available products and services that cater to their diversified needs and interests, thereby
increasing their choices. Hence, advertising is necessary as a source of information and
promotion of goods and services.
(B) Rearrange these sentences to form an effective argumentative paragraph.

1. One such advertisement is the promotion of ‘Double A paper’.

2. Advertising encourages creativity, which in turn helps to create a more vibrant society.

3. In this modern society, ordinary ideas will not bring one far from their current status in the
society, or make an impression upon others.

4. With advertisements, people are encouraged to showcase their creativity to outshine the other
competitors and in this process, society as a whole becomes more colorful.

5. Instead, they used an advertisement showing a photocopy machine coming to life, and
rejecting other brands of paper.

6. This creative strategy is the appeal factor that aids in winning customers.

7. The need for such strategies stems from the competitive spirit and such strategies livens up the
environment that we live in and is clearly beneficial to society.

8. The company wants to show to the masses that their paper is of top quality.

(C) Rearrange these sentences to form an effective argumentative paragraph.

1. This causes viewers, especially men, to look down and see women as weak and full of self-
indulgence in terms of how they look.

2. Another adverse effect of advertising would be the negative portrayals of women which
result in creating stereotypical perceptions of women in society.

3. In some advertisements, women are portrayed to be in need of help from males.

4. However, even though some advertisements that project women in a negative light should
not be condoned, the majority of advertisements use other types of appeal that are not
controversial.

5. Some portray women as seductive, revealing their figures and seeking perfection.

6. Thus, on the whole, advertisements are still beneficial to society.

7. And also the ‘Marie-France bloodline’ advertisement which shows how women want their
figure to be perfect before they are satisfied.

8. These advertisement portray women dependent and shallow.

9. Examples of such advertisements are ‘Dynamo’, where housewives do not know what to do
with their dirty clothing and have to turn to a male professional for help.