The goal of a rhetorical and visual analysis is not to analyze what a writer is arguing about concerning an issue, but to analyze how an argument is made. You’ll do this by analyzing the use of rhetorical strategies. This assignment asks you to watch two commercials/advertisements and to “read” each ad as if was a text. This is an exercise in visual literacy. This essay assignment asks you to view advertising with new eyes; to “read” and analyze it, becoming aware of its power of persuasion. Your job is then to explain the methods each commercials uses to persuade and whether they are successful in selling its product.
ASSIGNMENT:
You are to take TWO commercials (minimum 15 seconds, maximum 3 minutes in length), which have a product (such as a sneaker or hamburger) or idea (such as the concept of beauty) in common, but yet are not too similar, and analyze each one and then compare them. Your comparison may say one is better than the other, that one has a point to point, that one is sexist, that another is racist, that one sells a brand and the other a product, or any other points of agreement and divergence.
Then, write a 3-5 page essay in which you analyze the way in which the commercials each use rhetorical strategies to persuade its audience. In answering this question, discuss how the ads try to reach its audience with ethos, pathos, and logos (if they do). Make sure to have a clear and precise argument as you analyze the rhetorical strategies employed in the text that you are examining.
A successful essay will include both description and analysis. You’ll use description to highlight what you want viewers to see and provide a foundation for your analysis. Because these ads contain so many elements, your analysis should focus on
the dominant points of comparison/contrast that you can develop and support with concrete details.
Your thesis should make a claim about the differences in the way the ads establish their purposes and achieve their persuasive effects. For the purpose of this essay, your thesis may be as simple as “X persuasively sells Y better than Z because A, B, and C” – what you have to prove is HOW this is done. If you wish to be more daring, you may even try to tie the two commercials together to prove a larger point such as “The advertising of X and Z prove Y” with “Y” being anything from racism to sexism to ageism to misogyny. But again, you will have to prove HOW. Remember that a thesis is something that is arguable (not something that is obviously a fact) and you still have to prove it – even if it is something as simple as saying one thing is better than another.
You may use any two commercials of your choosing (as long as they meet the criteria above) or use any of the commercials (already separated by product) posted on Canvas.
The essay should contain the following:
ü Clear
introduction and conclusion.
ü Who
is the target audience?
ü What
is the purpose (what is being sold – a product, a brand, or something
2
else)?
- ü How is the product being sold? What persuasive methods are being used?
- ü Discuss the look of the commercial, the action of the commercial, the subtext.
- ü Remember: all these commercials are the result of millions of dollars, many
months or years of preparation, and dozens of people being involved. Everything within an ad – no matter the length – is there on purpose. You have to answer why.
ü How successful do you think commercial is in persuading its target audience (who, remember, may not be you)?
ü Which commercial is more successful or unsuccessful in its goals and why? Or perhaps neither succeeds, or both? Again, explain why.
SOME TIPS (AGAIN):
- Ø Be Specific! Use Examples! Avoid generalities that say nothing and get repetitive! Did I mention to Be Specific? BE SPECIFIC!
- Ø Remember when summarizing something – present tense! Always PRESENT TENSE!
- Ø Remember: Pathos = Emotion, the use of language and images to evoke an instinctual response. Ethos = Credibility, persuasion by appealing to the character of a personality such as endorsements or testimonials. Logos = Logic, focuses on facts, data, historical
evidence, statistics, studies, surveys. In commercials that could 3 also mean buzz words or adjectives that have no real meaning but sound logical to the consumer.
Use MLA formatting (check the OWL
Purdue website at https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/747/01/
if you need a refresher) which means 1-inch margins all around,
double-spaced, with 12 pt. font. Each page should be numbered and have your
name at the top. Each paragraph should be indented. Your name, the instructor’s
name, the class (English 1301) and the date should appear at the time of page
one (on the top left).
Have correct grammar, punctuation, and spelling. Papers not formatted correctly
will be docked points.
BASIC GRADING RUBRIC: The paper will be graded on an A+ to F letter basis. Papers that are late without significant reason will be docked a letter grade. On the whole papers will be judged on a sliding scale to in-between grades like a B+/A- minus paper will have elements of an “A” paper and a “B” paper. On the whole each paper will graded on the following basic guidelines:
An “A” paper will have:
- A very explicit and clear thesis that is the theme/viewpoint of the essay as a whole
- An interesting introduction that makes the reader want to read on and a thought- provoking conclusion.
- A creative and imaginative theme/concept/writing style the reader will find interesting
- Uses many specific and supportive examples to back up their thesis and persuade the reader
- A detailed summary
- Paragraphs flow together well so that ideas and thoughts seem to be
developments and don’t seem to come out of nowhere
- Paragraphs are neither overlong (a page) or too short (a few sentences)
- There are no awkward sentence structures or run-on sentences
- Formatted correctly with no grammatical mistakes
