Analysis of an advertisement or political cartoon

Analysis of an advertisement or political cartoon-On a daily basis, consumers are surrounded by visual material. Using the combined knowledge of visual argument and the rhetorical situation allows us understand how the language (and symbols) of a text create meaning.

Topic: Using elements of the Rhetorical Situation, write an analysis of an advertisement or political cartoon.  The advertisement or cartoon may be found using YouTube, Google Images, or other Internet locations where advertisements or political cartoon may be found.

Do not select topics from the following list unless you have permission from your instructor.  These topics fall into the following categories: too broad (you will not write a book for this class), the topic is too current making reliable sources difficult to obtain, or the instructor has seen the issues too many times to read another paper on the issue.

Purpose: The purpose of your analysis is to apply critical thinking skills to visual rhetoric and understand how the piece achieves its effect.  Be sure you have read “Ad Analysis” from Writing Commons.

Audience: Gear your analysis for you, your classmates, your instructor, and the original audience for the visual selected. You will need to carefully review the intended audience for the piece.

Length and Source Requirements:  Essay should be 700-800 words in length, plus Works Cited/References page (follow  MLA ormat and documentation per your professor).  The advertisement is the only source required.

Format: Follow MLA style for format and documentation as directed by your instructor.

Focus:  Your analysis should show the intended audience for the piece as well as the purpose and implied purpose for the piece.  Carefully analyze how the piece has presented its ideas and what “tools” have been used to persuade the intended audience. When choosing a piece, choose a piece that captures your attention. What argument is being made in that one piece? Who or what is the piece about?

Organization and Development: After choosing the visual argument you will analyze, do some background reading.

Use the parts of the Rhetorical Situation to help you analyze the advertisement selected:

• Audience-who is the target audience for the piece?  Young children (McDonald’s ads), Adults (Sandals Beach), Elderly (Medicare), etc.
• Context-A little knowledge about the company or advertising agency may be useful. For instance, McDonald’s would not produce a commercial with Paris Hilton washing a Bentley (Hardees).
• Purpose-Overall goal of the advertisement
• Tone-Attitude toward the subject
• Arrangement-Where items are placed in the visual. Specific descriptions will be needed to help your reader visualize the piece.  Location of each piece in the advertisement is important to the analysis.
• Scale-Size can tell a great deal about the primary focus for the advertisement.
• Text-Every text on an advertisement has a purpose.
• Color-Do the colors act as a “flashing” light?  In the movie Beetlejuice, the character Beetlejuice used flashing neon lights and arrows to attract attention. What has your piece used?

Style:  Use sensory details to describe the piece and make the piece “vivid” to your audience.  Do not assume the audience has seen this particular piece before reading your analysis.