Essay

a 3-4 page analysis of a print advertisement of
your choice. You should analyze these advertisements just as you would any other text.
Some considerations include:
 What is the purpose of this ad? What argument is it making?
 Who is this ad’s target audience? How can you tell?
 What effect is this ad trying to have on its target audience?
 How would you describe the tone of this ad?
 How does this ad compare to other ads in its genre?
 How does the ad conform to and/or subvert conventions of that genre?
While you should consider all aspects of the rhetorical situation in your essay (including
purpose, audience, tone, genre, context, format), you may not mention them all by
name, and they should be integrated smoothly into your paper. So for example, you
should not have one paragraph about purpose, one paragraph about audience, etc.
The purpose of this essay is to provide your audience with a deeper meaning of the
advertisement and to prove your ability to closely “read” visual text.
You should include plenty of specific details from the ad to support your analysis.
Assume that your audience is not familiar with the ad and is not viewing the ad while
reading your paper. Make sure you include enough description and details that even an
unfamiliar audience would easily understand your paper.
As this is an analytical paper, you do not need an argumentative thesis, but you should
have a statement of purpose, e.g. In this advertisement, Nike uses stark imagery and a
famous, if controversial athlete, to appeal to diverse, albeit youthful audience.
Like all your papers, this essay should include an introduction and conclusion, along
with several well-organized body paragraphs. [continues]

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