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ENG 105: Composition I Essay Assignment
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Ad Analysis Assignment
No doubt, we are all exposed to the variety of features common to many ads: erotic displays of the
human body; promises of beauty, fame, and popularity with the simple purchase of mundane products;
and ambiguous language that purposefully misleads (to name but a few). And while each ad differs
somewhat, all ads tend to do much more than merely sell merchandise. In fact, many scholars claim that
ads play a vital role in shaping the culture in which we live. For example, ads can work to define our
needs and our desires. They can attempt to manipulate and intensify our insecurities. Or they might
indulge and expand our quest for power and success. Consider, too, the various ways advertising can
work to shape our perceptions of issues such as gender, race, class, education, and success.
For this assignment, then, please select an advertisement from a magazine that contains graphics and
a written text. Analyze the ad according to the criteria that follow. As you consider the ways this ad
might work to shape values, ideas, and beliefs in our culture, also work to account fully for the
rhetoric of the ad you examine. Carefully review the lectures regarding rhetoric and regarding the use
of rhetorical appeals (logos, ethos, and pathos) to persuade consumers to buy particular products.
Audience Specify in what publication the ad appeared, when, and in what context (does it appear amid
other ads or amid copy that supports or contradicts it?–in the latter case, for instance, consider the
tactic of a dessert ad that appears amid articles on dieting), and determine who you think is the target
audience for this publication and ad. (Again, relate your observations to your thesis.) To what does the
ad appeal: the audience’s financial status, social class, intellectual aspirations, sexual interests? Which of
the audience’s values or vices does the ad seek to exploit in order to sell the product?
Graphics Describe features of the ad’s composition, layout, color, style, scale, and focus that pertain to–
that ultimately will help support–your thesis. What overall effect do these features convey?
Language Offer observations about tone (does the ad use sentences or fragments? Are they declarative,
interrogative, or imperative? Is the text humorous, somber, pretentious, hip, enigmatic?); about style (is
the diction spare or ornate?); about length of text (this might offer insight into the ad’s intent: is its
appeal primarily logical or emotional?); about use of figurative language, puns, double-entendre; and
about use of “weasel words” (“help,” “new,” “like,” etc.). (Again, select your observations carefully so
that they clearly and effectively support your thesis.) What overall effect does this language convey?
Argument Identify and evaluate the ad’s overall message(s) by drawing upon your observations about
the graphics, language, and audience. In short, how does the ad utilize rhetoric to persuade consumers?
What explicit claims does the ad make about the product? Are these claims plausible and logical? What
implicit assumptions does the ad make about the product, about the audience, and about the culture at
large? Are these assumptions beneficial or harmful? What might the connections or discrepancies
between these explicit claims and implicit assumptions tell us about the ad’s meaning overall? What
events, trends, attitudes, beliefs, or stereotypes would help account for why this ad appeared when it
did? And what insight into our culture might its appearance provide?
ENG 105: Composition I Essay Assignment
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The above guideline seeks 1) to help you create an effective structure for your essay, and 2) to provide a
set of questions to help you investigate the form, content, and cultural significance of your ad. By no
means need you consider only this structure or these questions. If you discover a more suitable means
of organizing your essay or can raise additional relevant questions to pursue, by all means do so. Still,
you should not overlook these requirements:
1. Your essay must have a discernible structure (in general, this means that it must include an
argument and effectively organize evidence that supports this argument).
2. Your essay must thoroughly explore your ad’s use of rhetoric to put forth explicit and implicit
messages.
3. Your essay must address the ad’s larger cultural significance (it must, in short, address the issues
the underlined questions raise).
4. Your essay must incorporate at least one quote from one of the assigned readings in this unit
(see the Course Schedule).
5. Your essay must incorporate at least one quote from the actual ad. In other words, quote the
ad’s text. What exact language does the ad use and why is it used?
Remember that you are writing an essay and not simply responding to each section as you might on an
exam. This means that you must consider the attitudes and beliefs of your audience (members of this
class and of the academic community at large), introduce your subject, analyze the form and content of
the ad in the body paragraphs, and ultimately draw some conclusions about the cultural significance of
the ad overall.
Basic Requirements
Your essay should be 4-6 double-spaced, typed pages (not including the Works Cited page).
Please use 12-point Times New Roman font and follow MLA style.
Include a Works Cited page. Following MLA style, document the ad you analyze as well as the
assigned reading that you quote.
Include at least one quote of the ad’s language within your essay. Use this quote to analyze the
ad’s language.
Integrate at least one quote from the assigned reading options. See the Course Schedule for
reading options.
Upon submitting the essay, please include a scanned copy of the ad.
© Kameo Cragoe and Indian Hills Community College
