Abeshaus 2016

AP Language

ANALYZING ADVERTISING

DUE DATE: 12/9/16

GOAL: To write an essay that analyzes a specific print advertisement--to see what the larger messages or meanings of the ad are beyond the picture and text and the immediate message they convey

  • Thematic Statement: Clearly articulate a thematic statement that makes a specific statement (argument) about the larger, underlying message of the ad.Each paragraph of your essay must analyze a specific detail that contributes to your interpretation and thus supports your thesis, the claim(s) you propose in your thematic statement.
  • Set the Context. Examine the details of the ad and identify what is in it.
  • Fowles’ Appeals: Analyze the ad for a minimum of 3 of Fowles’ appeals.
  • Social Context.Synthesize sources by discussing the social implications beyond thesurface purpose of selling a product.This REQUIRED sectionREQUIRES that you use one of the REQUIRED readings (Bordo or Solomon). The following should help with your thoughts:
  • Think critically about why the appeals are used and what they mean beyond the surface purpose of selling a product. Go beyond stating whether or not the ad is effective. Go beyond simply recounting the details and making general interpretations of their meaning.
  • Consider the underlying (as opposed to the obvious) messages of the ad. Go beyond accepting the face value of the ad's components and insightfully interpret them -- consider how each detail appeals to broader societal concerns and cultural significance.
  • Analyze how the ad plays into stereotypes or resists them, how the ad appeals to certain needs and whether or not these needs have merit. You are encouraged and expected to be critical of how the ad fits into a larger societal concern or issue. In other words, look critically at the manipulation that ad companies use to attract consumers.
  • MLA Citation Format.Properly cite sources (MLA) within the essay and in the Works Cited, including the advertisement.
  • Include a Copy of the Ad. Submit the ad with your essay (mandatory).

Reminders

  • Choose an ad that interests you and that has a lot going on. Not all ads can be analyzed in great depth, so you must select an ad about which you have a lot to say. The ad must be a print ad from a magazine, not an ad on television, internet or the newspaper.
  • Remember -- this assignment does not ask you to report on the merits of advertising in our society.Do not spend your time debating the good and evil of advertising. Focus on the specific ad you chose.

Resources.There are several REQUIRED resources to get you started. Look them over carefully.

The first group of readings will help you in completing your analysis; they are sources that are devoted to describing how to analyze advertisements. Of these, Fowles’ Appeals is required; the others will help but use at your discretion, quoting as appropriate.

  • Jib Fowles, “Fifteen Basic Appeals.”Use a minimum of 3 appeals in your essay(WR 288)
  • “What is Advertising” (WR 286)
  • “Checklist for Analyzing Print Advertisements” (WR 287)
  • Antonio Lopez, “Advertising Analysis” (WR 294).

The second group of readings (available online) looks at the advertising, offering social critique and insight:

  • 12/7: Jack Solomon, “Masters of Desire: The Culture of American Advertising”
  • 1/6: Bordo, Susan. “Hunger as Ideology” (PR = annotated bib entry)

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RESOURCES FOR ADVERTISING

DUE DATE / READINGS and VIDEOS: ADVERTISING
In class / Fowles, Jib. “Advertising’s Fifteen Basic Appeals.” Common Culture: Reading and Writing about American Popular Culture. Ed. Michael Petracca, Madeleine Sorapure. Upper Saddle River: Prentice Hall, 1998. Shirlsite. Shirley Galloway. 4 Jan. 2011. Web. 1998.
12/1 / Solomon, Jack. “Masters of Desire: The Culture of American Advertising.” The Signs of Our Time. (1990): 59-76. Indiana University. Web. 31 Jan. 2011.
12/8 / Bordo, Susan. “Hunger as Ideology.” Eating Culture. Ed. Ron Scapp. New York: U of NY Press, 1998. 11-35. Print.
optional / Kilbourne, Jean. “Buy This 24-Year-Old and Get All His Friends Absolutely Free.” Can’t Buy My Love: How Advertising Changes the Way We Think and Feel. (2000). Jean Kilbourne. Free Press. (1999). Web. 13 Jan. 2014.
Video / Lebenoy. “Psychology and Advertising.” Online video clip. Youtube, 8 Dec. 2009. Web. 13 Jan. 2014.
Video / Influence at Work. “Science of Persuasion.” Online video clip. Youtube, 26 Nov. 2012. Web. 13 Jan. 2014.
Video / Rutgersmedia. “History of Branding: The Battle For Your Dollar.” Online video clip. Youtube, 10 Jun. 2009. Web. 13 Jan. 2014.
Video / Sutherland, Rory. “Life Lessons from an Ad Man.” TED. Jul 2009. Lecture. 24 Nov. 2015.
Video / Cobley, Dan. “What Physics Taught Me About Marketing.” TED. Jul. 2010. Lecture. 24 Nov. 2015.
Video / “Ads Worth Spreading 2014.” TED. n.d. Presentation. Nov. 2015.

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