Essay2 intro
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The document provides guidance for writing a 5-6 page essay analyzing 2-3 print advertisements by breaking down how to deconstruct the ads and examine the visual and textual elements, strategies, and appeals used to communicate and persuade the audience. The analysis will enhance understanding of advertising techniques and their role in cultural messaging. Students are instructed to thoughtfully select ads that present interesting issues or questions.
Essay2 intro
- 2. FREE WRITE What is your initial reaction to this ad? Do you think this is a successful ad? Why or why not.
- 3. PAPER II: THE AD ANALYSIS ESSAY Write a 5-6 page essay that analyzes, evaluates and compares and contrasts 2 -3 print ads You will break the ads into their dif ferent par ts and see how they work to deliver a specific message, and to fulfill the adver tiser's goals. Your choice of ads is the key to making your essay interesting and meaningful. Good essays have clear and compelling reasons for being written; they express a meaningful purpose or objective. To give your essay direction, you will need to devote time and thought to the selection of your ads. Choose ads that present an interesting issue or problem or raise compelling questions
- 4. LEARNING OBJECTIVES The chief objective of this assignment is to enhance your understanding of strategies that advertisers use to communicate and persuade. These strategies are relevant to effective writing and design – of particular importance is defining a purpose, identifying your audience, anticipating obstacles to persuasion, and conceptualizing methods of persuasion.
- 5. LEARNING OUTCOMES You will learn to "read" images (as they are used in advertisements) and to decipher the messages and methods that ad designers use to persuade. You will become a more perceptive cultural critic who understands how ads contribute to the construction of our cultural values, our self-image, our sense of what is normal or ideal, and our ideas about gender, race and class.
- 6. LEARNING OUTCOMES You will come to understand how writing and design is an act of persuasion, and you will begin to explore the mechanics of visual and textual persuasion. Finally, you will become a more savvy consumer and citizen.
- 8. HOW TO ANALYZE AN AD The key to analyzing an ad is to deconstruct the ad by asking and answering a series a questions.
- 9. QUESTIONS
- 10. QUESTION EVERY THING! Consider the context of the advertisement. What kind of publication is the ad located in? Who is the audience for this magazine? How does the context effect your impressions of the ad?
- 11. ? Look at the ad in its entirety. What are your initial impressions? What do you notice first? What seems to stand out for you? What are the contents of the ad (image, text)? Where is the “product” positioned in the ad? What is the catch or hook for this ad? What aspect of the targeted audience does the ad appeal to (fear, vanity, needs)?
- 12. ? Media What materials are used to create the ad? Paintings, photos, collage ? What artistic styles are used to create ad? Pop art? Folk art? Surrealism? What fonts are used in the text? Dif ferent fonts? What does this suggest? How is text and image related?
- 13. ? Por trayal Who is portrayed in the ad? What are the various actors doing? Who is doing what to whom? Where are the actors located in the ad? Are the actors looking at each other, away from the audience or at the audience? What does this suggest? (Demand or Offer) Consider the viewers point of view. Are the characters close up or distanced? How does point of view add to relationships with the characters? Are there borders separating actors and text, actors and product?
- 14. ? Basic Elements of Design Consider the colors used. What impressions do you get from the dominant colors? What might these suggest? Are colors intense or subdued? Is the image black & white? If so, why might that be used? Are vertical, horizontal or diagonal lines used? What might these suggest? Are there any shapes that dominate the image ? Consider size and scale. What is large? Why are certain elements larger than others? Does this add to meanings of position, power or control?
- 15. ? Framing / Composition Are the text or images bordered or framed? What does the framing do, separate or connect? Do the frames suggest anything on their own? Are there thick borders or faded edges? How is text and image combined? Where is the text located? Images located? Which dominates ? Are the images contextualized or in an abstract space? How is negative or white space used?
- 16. ? What types of signs does the ad employ ? --Iconic: A sign that has certain qualities in common with the object it stands for: for example similarity. --Indexical: A sign that refers to its object because it is being af fected by that object in some real way. Footprints on the beach, for example, are af fected by the feet of somebody walking there just as smoke is often caused by fire. The relation between an index and its object is, in other words, based on causality or physical connec-tion . --Symbolic: A sign with only conventional associations to the object it stands for: for example, a rose is a symbol for love.
- 17. ? What appeal, or combinations of appeals, is the ad using? Logos: Logos or the appeal to reason relies on logic or reason. Logos often depends on the use of inductive or deductive reasoning. Ethos: Ethos or the ethical appeal is based on ethics, credibility or reliability. Pathos: Pathos, or emotional appeal, appeals to needs, values, and emotional sensibilities.
- 19. I KNOW! That was a lot of information, I know. But, not to worry, just like with the personal narrative essay, we’ll write this essay in stages. We’ll start with pre- writing to generate ideas (free writing, looping, etc.) and we’ll draft and revise, just like before. In other words, we’ll use the writing process!
- 23. HOMEWORK Find at least SIX ads that you think are interesting. Bring them to class on Monday.
- 24. REMINDERS Monday: 12:15 lunch on top-floor. Please, please, please, please, please come up! X-tra credit opportunity! Final Draft of Personal Essay due on Wed. Nov. 14 th . Typed and double-spaced! Name on first page! Anti-Stereotype Campaign Presentation: Wed. Nov. 21 st .