Essay Analysis

    For this essay, you will conduct an interpretation of a print ad (NOT television commercial) found in a magazine, newspaper or on the web. Your purpose is to convince the audience (our class) that your interpretation is valid. Your goal: Make us understand how the ad works in a meaningful way. Your essay should be in MLA or APA format and be 2-3 pages in length. Approx 1000 words. Details, Include a print out of the ad or a photocopy of it with your essay. If you wish you can insert it on the first page of your paper, embed it in the text of the essay, or place it as an appendix at the end of the essay (see MLA or APA rules for how to create appendices at owl.purdue). You will need to include a thesis that suggests your interpretation of that advertisement. You should devote the body of your essay to defending and developing that thesis. Your essay should be in MLA or APA format and be 2-3 pages in length. Approx 1000 words. Your analysis will prompt your readers to critically engage with your particular ad and also with the larger culture around them. Furthermore, your interpretation might serve the additional purpose of entertaining your readers and yourself. What you will do in your paper and questions to consider: 1. Describe the ad (what you see, what is said, how it is organized and so on) and the ad's overall effect or tone. Is the ad old-fashioned, somber, disturbing, serene, purposely confusing, busy, funny, sarcastic, ironic, understated, sad, sexy, vague and so on? Does it sentimentalize, glorify, What grabs your attention? How do your eyes move across the page? Are the objects interacting in some way- implied or obvious? Is there implied movement? Foreshadowing? What is excluded? Be detailed. 2. Find the argument. What is the argument? What kind of lifestyle do you think your advertising tries to promote? What kind of values? What are the implied values? What about cultural codes?-- You can often identify cultural codes in the ad by using substitution; What would happen if the ad used a model that was the opposite sex? A different race or age? What if the background were different? Answering questions like these helps you think about why certain models or details in the ad were chosen rather than others. What are the explicit messages? What is the context? Discuss how the audience and the ad's message are linked. What kinds of knowledge or experience does the ad assume its audience possesses? What associations might the audience make with the images in your ad? How and why are these associations important? How do they connect with the product? How might these associations motivate viewers to purchase the product? Who do you think is the target audience and how do you know? ❤️ Prove the argument. Identify Rhetorical Strategies. What appeals are being used tosupport the argument? (see the Three Appeals of Argument pdf) Ethos? Credibility by name or brand or endorsement Pathos? Emotions Logos? Logic Consider diction if there's text! Consider context. 4. What can you deduce about American culture in general by looking at this ad? How should the target audience or public react to this ad?