Real-Life Communication
A travel agency has contacted your copywriting company. They are
having a tough time selling a trip to Iceland. They think it's a slow sell
because their description of the destination and the holiday package is too
boring.
They want you to jazz up the copy on their travel brochure
so that more people will be interested in the trip. This is the brochure they
sent you in the mail:
"Much of the economic wealth of Icelanders
is gleaned from industries such as seafood processing and aluminum manufacturing.
They have a 100 percent literacy rate. Only 260,000 people live in Iceland
-- they are called Icelanders. About 100,000 of these people live in the capital,
Reykjavik.
"Vikings, Norse seafarers, came to Iceland in the ninth
century. Iceland has fire as well as ice. It has geysers, hot springs and
steam vents. Geothermal energy heats 80 percent of the homes in Iceland. Glaciers
cover one-tenth of the land. The climate is moderated by the North Atlantic
sea drift.
"Sheep graze on grasslands, and many anglers enjoy fishing
for world-famous salmon.
"Fly on Icelandic Air. Tickets to London cost
$500. Buy one ticket and get another one free. Maybe stay over a day or a
week in Iceland on your way to Britain."
Whew! No wonder
nobody bought a ticket. By reading carefully, you can see that Iceland is
an exciting place. You just have to organize the information in a way that
shows off the country. Rewrite the paragraph to promote Iceland.
Rearrange
the material, starting with the most important and eye-catching details. Be
prepared to leave out information that isn't relevant or makes the article
sound boring. Jazz up the sentences so that every word sounds exciting.