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 English 104
Advertising (Rhetorical) Analysis
Choose any advertisement (from TV, a book, a magazine, etc.) and analyze the ad in a 2-3 page paper.

Note: Be sure to state what ad you chose to analyze, and please staple a photocopy of your ad (if not from TV) to your paper; you do not have to rip it out of whatever magazine.

Any good advertisement takes into account the rhetorical situation. How does the rhetorical situation influence or impact the ad? When analyzing your advertisement, show me how particular components from the ad are affected by audience, purpose, or context. Don't just say, "It's a billboard"; fully explain how the fact that the ad is a billboard affects the way the message is presented (tell about its size, how will people see it, how much time the audience actually has to view it, how this affects the creation of the billboard, etc.).

Show how the audience, purpose and context affect each other; for example, we have seen that when you alter the context of a situation, the particular audience can also be affected (because of the events of 9-11-01, advertisers have begun incorporating patriotic themes into their ads, trying to appeal to Americans' pride in the U.S.), so be sure to show how the components intertwine and are affected by one another.

This is a rhetorical analysis, so remember: do not summarize or evaluate the advertisement. Your readers know what the ad is, and it doesn't matter whether you think it's good or bad; an analysis should tell your readers how the advertisement responds to its rhetorical situation.

You may—but don't have to—choose to focus on:

  • a particular interaction between different elements of the rhetorical situation; your ad may have audience, purpose, and / or context that really tie in together and affect each other; you may want to examine how these things work together
  • how advertisements address audience, purpose, and context to shape the way an argument presents its message (your advertisement is essentially an argument—the advertisers are arguing that you should use / purchase their service / product for whatever reasons; e.g. "Pepsi, for those who think young. [wink]" - or so says Britney Spears)
  • showing how advertisements influence their audiences; how does your ad relate to its audience and the interests of its audience? how does this connection cause readers / viewers to feel a particular service or product out-performs another
or any other particular interest within your advertisement that you feel is important in understanding how that ad works. Basically, that is the point of this paper: figure out exactly (and in detail) how your advertisement works, then write a paper that explains that to your readers.

This paper is due Thursday, December 12th.