IELTS Writing Task 2/ Essay Topics with sample answer.
IELTS Essay # 17 - Compare advantages and disadvantages of three media for communicating information
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- Written by IELTS Mentor
IELTS Writing Task 2/ IELTS Essay:
You should spend about 40 minutes on this task.
Compare the advantages and disadvantages of three of the following as media for communicating information. State which three you consider the most effective.
- comics
- books
- radio
- television
- film
- theater
Give reasons for your answer and include any relevant examples from your own knowledge or experience.
You should write at least 250 words.
Model Answer 1:
In our daily life, we communicate information through lots of different media like the internet, televisions, radios, books, cell phones, films etc. We are living in such a time when information is one of the most important issues and the information technologies as well as the communication media greatly influence our lives. The rapid-growing websites and TV channels are many of few little examples how media are spreading to make information easily accessible. All the media for information interchange have advantages and disadvantages and not all can attract all types of audiences. Comics, books, radios, televisions, film and theatre are all very powerful media for communicating information. In my opinion books, televisions and film among those aforementioned six media are most effective.
Books are the witness of history and the main source from which we gain knowledge. From a very ancient period till now, books have been working as the light-house for our society. In our childhood, we gather most of our knowledge and skills from books. It opens new horizons in front of us. The writer writes down their experiences, imaginations, knowledge, explanation etc. about each and every issue of our lives. Books are the long-lasting protocol to make a bridge among writers and readers.
However, all are not happy to read books. They expect something easier and more vivid. Music, radios, films etc. are more appealing to them. Television is another powerful media. Watching television is a part of our daily lives. Most of the people who have a TV set, watch programs, news etc. with apt attention. It is a strong medium for Government and other organisations to send their messages to the mass population. Program representatives also broadcast the people's view and opinions about different controversial issues in TV programs. However, this medium has lots of demerits and bad impacts. Government and politically biased organisations often send negative and misleading news. Again young people watch different satellite channels and try to adopt the alien culture which is really harmful for the culture and tradition of a country.
Films are an audio-visual representation and can catch the attention of people from different geographical locations, races and cultures. A good film can shape someone's morality and doctrine and the film-makers with their huge amount of money, are so careful to make their films realistic and eye-absorbing. Every film has a direct or potential message or moral. On the contrary, some films also bring a wrong message to us. For example, protagonists are always smoking in the films and it seems that smoking is a good and smart habit. It causes many younger people imitate them smoking.
In conclusion, I would like to state that books, televisions and films are the most powerful and effective medias for communicating information.
(Approximately 459 words)
(This model answer has been prepared by the site developer. However, please note that this is just one example out of many possible answers.)
Idea Generation for this IELTS Essay:
Essay Type: Comparing the advantages & disadvantages + Discussion.
The main question of this IELTS Essay:
A. Pick three most effective media for communicating information.
B. Compare advantages & disadvantages of these three media for communicating information.
C. Explain why these three media are most effective for communicating information.
Comics:
Advantages: 'Comics' as a media for communicating information.
- Comics provide information in the most interesting and interactive way to the readers.
- It is more efficient for kids who are yet to start reading big books.
- Comics are often very effective to convey information and to produce an aesthetic response to the readers.
- Readers of comics find it very easy to remember the information delivered by stories and cartoons in comics. It is less time consuming to read comics.
- Comics provide information to the reader in the most interesting and interactive way.
- Comics represent the oldest continuous form of communication in history and a much-revered form of communication between generations.
- Comics can transcend language and cultural boundaries.
- Comics and comics’ techniques could be used in various types of business and technical communications. When Google launched its Chrome Web Browser the accompanying technical documentation was a widely distributed comics. The visitors guide for the European Organization for Nuclear research is also comics and that proves the efficiency of comics to educate people.
- Comics readers do not have to spend a lot of time on reading. This is preferred by many readers who do not like reading pages after pages.
Disadvantages: 'Comics' as a media for communicating information.
- While reading comics readers often do not pay attention to the main information due to irrelevant cartoon or story.
- It can be a waste of time for readers who wanted to receive useful information from comics.
- Comics are often published based on pure fiction and imagination and might have negative effects on the psychology of young kids.
- However, because of the simplicity of comic books, they can only communicate short information.
- Comics are not as much informative as books are.
Books:
Advantages: 'Books' as a media for communicating information.
- Books are very instructive and effective in conveying information as they comprise the writer's thought and life experience and are usually written over a longer period of time.
- The book is a significant media to receive information ranging from basic skills to professional knowledge.
- Reading books help us to nourish our mind and keep us moving forward in a positive direction.
- A reader always has a wide range of choices to pick a book based on his/ her interest.
- Books are everlasting while the basic formation of other media changes a lot over the time.
- Readers pay more attentions while reading a book and that is why they can learn better from reading.
- Books are the accumulated version of history, knowledge, experience and wisdom. Books have endless offerings and stories to bring out the best of creative readers.
- Reading books can give us an insight into many different cultures, and civilisations.
- The secret to a successful life is knowledge and information. The answers to nearly all our problems and query are documented in texts somewhere.
- Books can stimulate and excite a reader’s imagination as well as arouse his curiosity, thus bringing out the creative oneself.
- Books help to articulate our thoughts and reading books improve our vocabulary and communication skill.
- Reading the book is like peeking into the minds of the greatest people - A book is like a conversation with the writer and reading many books gives us an insight into the thinking process of different writers.
- Intercultural understanding will be developed by reading more related books. Humans will become more familiar with demographic of nations as they read more books about them.
- Individuals will have a better comprehension, grammar, communication skill, and more variety of vocabularies.
- Readers always have a wide range of options to read books that would entertain and interest them.
- Books are portable and people can access it from almost anywhere.
Disadvantages: 'Books' as a media for communicating information.
- Books are not always attractive to many people. For those people, books are not the greatest source of information and knowledge.
- It required more patience and time to read books.
- Book production requires cutting down trees, and that has a negative impact on our environment.
- Information presented on books could be outdated in many cases.
- Sometimes a writer can instil an ideology to a reader and can influence his thinking in a negative way.
- People have to have a high level of literacy to read some specific and advanced books.
Radio:
Advantages: 'Radio' as a media for communicating information.
- Accessible in anywhere and anytime, during driving or travelling.
- Radio is less costly than the other media devices, like TV. Unlike TV, which users have to pay a monthly payment for cable, Radio does not need this cost.
- It is available in the rural areas as well.
- Have less detrimental issues.
Disadvantages: 'Radio' as a media for communicating information.
- No access to any visual features which TV has.
- Less being developed compared to TV or other media devices. Every year, new versions of TV, like introducing of smart TVs, have led users to be satisfied more, while there are no any significant changes in the technology of Radio.
- Less accepted by the new generation.
Film:
Advantages: 'Film' as a media for communicating information.
- Becoming familiar with other cultures by watching movies.
- Watching films is a kind of entertainment. People have less stressful lifestyle by watching more films.
- Some films improve viewers’ relationships. Family films are the best ones helping families to have a better communication.
Disadvantages: 'Film' as a media for communicating information.
- Cultural invasion can happen. Young’s minds are more affected by watching other countries’ films.
- Addiction to watching film may be costly and time-consuming. We have to pay fees for Netflix or the cinema and have less enough time to concentrate on our work.
- It can reduce juveniles’ study performance. Instead of studying, they spend their precious time on watching plenty of films each month.
- Violence and sex scenes that are shown on movies can phenomenally increase the rate of crime among viewers.
[The above-mentioned points should be helpful for you to generate your own ideas and then turning them into a nicely written IELTS Essay. Add any point you think we have missed in the comment section at the end of this article.]
Model Answer 2:
Communication media plays a vital role in today’s world. It enables us to stay informed of the happenings in the entire world, provides access to real-time information, and entertains us. There are different kinds of media in use today, namely comics, books, radio, television, film, theatre etc. out of these, the most effective are the television, radio and books.
Television, or TV for short, is an electronic device that enables us to see and listen at the same time to an act that has been recorded. These can be replayed any number of times. News on a TV enables us to view the current events occurring in different parts of the world. Video of an event can be telecasted live as it happens through remote satellite links. A TV can also be a source of education and entertainment. Educational channels, such as Discovery channel, telecast several interesting programs on topics such as wildlife or solar system. Other channels, such as Star movies, telecast movies throughout the day.
A radio is an electronic device that uses microwave communication to send and receive information. Unlike a TV, a radio cannot display an image or a video, and the communication is limited to voice only. Typically, a radio is used for access information such as news and live traffic updates. The information is conveyed on fixed bands of microwave frequency called channels. A user can set the frequency of the radio to access a particular channel.
Books are the one of the oldest kind of communication medium. A book typically consists of several pages, made from wood pulp bound together. A book is typically identified by a title and an author, and optionally an ISBN number which identifies a book uniquely. A book usually contains a material on a given topic, divided by sub-topics in form of chapters. Books are often classified by genre, which is a theme in which the topic can be classified. Examples of genres include fiction, non-fiction, science fiction, mystery etc.
Of all the communication media available today, television, radio and books are the most important and effective ones. These are also the most commonly used media in the world today and they are responsible for binding the world together.
(Answer by Pankaj Kohli)
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