Analyzing an Advertisement
Context: When you write, whether you're trying to persuade, entertain, or inform, you engage with an audience; therefore, you need to learn how to tailor your writing to meet your particular audience's interests and needs. To help you practice that skill, this first assignment will direct your attention to advertising: a field which depends upon persuading a target audience. In addition, it will provide practice in analysis of visual forms, critical thinking skills, and formulating a thesis.
Assignment: Write a 1,000-word minimum essay in which you analyze a print or television advertisement of your choice. Briefly describe the ad, explain what it is selling and to whom, but focus most of your paper on how the advertisement uses the rhetorical strategies of persuasion (the Greek triangle). Your thesis should be an evaluation of the advertisement's effectiveness or ineffectiveness based on its use of the three elements of the Greek triangle (logos, pathos, and ethos). If you use a vintage ad, you should also discuss its historical and cultural context (kairos). You should also point out at least one logical fallacy, exaggerated use of pathos, OR misuse of ethos (often all referred to as fallacies). Your goal is to explain the ad in a way that would not be obvious to someone else who saw it.
These issues are discussed and explained in "Strategies in Persuasion," the textbook reading I have posted in Moodle under the "Essay Project 3" banner. You may also wish to review the PowerPoint we discussed in class, which is also on Moodle under the same banner.
You must choose a REAL advertisement or commercial, and NOT a fake advertisement. (If you do your research online, you'll find many fake ads and commercials that are parodies or satires; don't be fooled.) When in doubt, it's better to choose a different ad. In addition, make sure you understand the product or service the ad is selling as well as the target audience.
To support your thesis (which will relate to your ad's effectiveness or ineffectiveness), consider the following:
- What are the goals and purpose of this advertisement? Is it attempting to persuade this audience to take action, or is it attempting to influence the way this audience perceives the advertiser?
- Who is the advertisement's intended audience? Why do you believe the ad is aimed toward this particular audience? What are the assumptions the advertiser is making about its particular audience? How does the advertiser structure its appeals to reach this particular audience?
- What is the literal meaning of the images in the ad? How is the audience expected to interpret these images in the context of the accompanying text?? Is there something particular about the image's point-of-view, composition, or tone that forces the audience to interpret it in a specific way? Is there a symbolic or metaphorical meaning to these images? If a television ad, is there something significant about the editing, pacing, and movement of these images? How do the images utilize logos, ethos, and pathos to persuade the target audience?
- What is the significance of the ad's text, or the TV commercial's sound elements (music, dialogue, voice over, or sound effects)? Is there something particular about the text or sound elements that forces the audience to interpret them in a specific way? Is there a symbolic or metaphorical meaning to the text or sound elements? How do the text or sound elements utilize logos, ethos, and pathos to persuade the target audience?
- In attempting to persuade its audience through logos, ethos, and pathos, does the ad or TV commercial contain any fallacies? How would you describe these fallacies?
Please note: You must attach a copy of your advertisement to your final draft of your paper. No paper will be accepted without a copy of the actual original advertisement. If you use a TV ad, please include a link to the website where you found the ad in your "References" list.
Required elements:
1. Your advertisement must be carefully described so that a person who cannot see the ad would be able to visualize it and understand your analysis clearly.
2. Your essay must have a thesis statement in which you analyze how the advertisement uses logos, pathos, and ethos (at least two of three) to sell its specific product to its targeted group. You may mention the fallacies in your thesis or not, as long as you analyze one or more fallacies in the body of your essay.
3. Your paper must be a minimum of 1000 words, and may be more.
4. You must turn in a copy of the original print advertisement. (Instructions to follow).
5. Your paper should include a References list that lists the ad. You may use other sources, but they cannot be sources that analyze the ad you are using.