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This guide includes samples of student work and the level of achievement these samples demonstrate. The comments on “Strengths”, “Next Steps”, and “Notes on Quality of Writing” are provided for the consideration of teachers and students using this guide. However, they do not represent all possible feedback on the student work.
ENG4U Exemplars: Media Response Family Coke Ad
General Notes:
● As a rule, students should be careful of overgeneralizing about time periods and countries of origin.
● Students are not required to discuss all of the design elements listed in the rubric, but ideally they should discuss those that they mention.
● While a well-organized and well-written response may more effectively demonstrate understanding, the rubric used to mark this section separates writing from media understandings. Quality of writing will be considered for all responses on the exam.
ENG4U Media Response Exemplar 1
Student work:
In this Coca-Cola advertisement, the overt message that is being portrayed to its viewer is that drinking this beverage will make you and your family happy. The people seem to be quite close and carefree. On the other hand, the covert message being displayed stems from the idea that other than drinking Coca-Cola, you will only be happy if you’re caucasian, fit, good looking and financially stable. This message contradicts any progression in racial acceptance, diversity, and the largely discussed saying “money doesn’t buy happiness”. If you dig even deeper, it becomes clear that in this advertisement, the not-so-obvious message includes the notion that if you drink Coca-Cola, you will have the chance to lighten your skin, become more physically appealing and experience loads of monetary success! But whose standard of happiness is this? No self-respecting person of another race is going to look at this ad and think Coca-Cola = white = happy! These facts, together, lead me to believe that Coca-Cola would rather have well-off caucasian people buying their drink over perhaps an African-American lower class person, given the choice.
The obviously overt message being constructed as stated above, is that drinking Coca-Cola will bring happiness to you and your family. This notion is communicated through a combination of images, colour, layout and font that practically promises that this drink will unite your family. The main image presents smiling, fit, good looking, well off white people. It is the typical ideal of the perfect American family. They are all holding bottles of Coke, the woman even has her nails painted red, the companys main colour. The advertisement has a dark background, to highlight these perfect beaming people in their overly bright clothing, certainly done purposely. The family is arranged in such a way that further idealizes themselves, with the tall slender father in the back and center. So tall even, that his head didn’t even fit into the advertisements frame! Overall, Coca-Cola did a very good job in conveying the presumption that drinking Coca-Cola will bring your happy family together. Through the use of images, font, colour and brightness they successfully lull the viewer into a false sense of complacency while they buy their beloved Coca-Cola, before they become obese, addicted and broke, of course!
ENG4U Media Response Exemplar 1 Evaluation
Media Studies 1.2 and 1.6: 2+
Media Studies 2.1: 2-
Overall Achievement: 2
Strengths
● The first sentence shows understanding of overt and implied messages.
● The third sentence shows an understanding of what an implied message is.
● The rhetorical question speaks to the prompts about biases and embedded beliefs; it is a critical question.
● There are many phrases that indicate a possible interpretation/explanation of the messages (although the student does not necessarily connect them to the messages).
● Paragraph two begins well. The writer identifies some of the design elements and specifically discusses colour and layout.
Next Steps
● Although the writer may be attempting to be ironic or facetious, the discussion of the implicit message needs to show analysis. Because this is not a personal response, students should write analytically and support generalizations.
● The student should develop the response to the rhetorical question in a critical way; rather, the student resorts to hyperbole and does not provide evidence.
● Since the writer states that font will be explored, he or she should show recognition of the design purposes of font. (nb Students are not required to discuss all of the design elements listed in the rubric, but ideally they should discuss those that they mention.)
● The student should explain how the design elements create meaning.
● The final sentence suggests many messages (complacency, obesity, addiction and financial insolvency) that are not substantiated. The student should consider focusing on fewer messages and should not introduce unsubstantiated points.
Notes on Quality of Writing
● There is a good use of rhetorical question: “But whose standard of happiness is this?”
● The overuse of exclamation marks detracts from objective voice.
● There is a comma splice: “as stated above, is that drinking”.
● An apostrophe is missing: “companys main colour”.
ENG4U Media Response Exemplar 2
Student work:
A successful family drinks coca-cola.
This ad for Coca-Cola has a target audience of families. The ad portrays three people, seemingly unified as a family. They are all smiling and seem to be close to each other (both in where they stand and the atmosphere). The father figure is standing at the back, behind a female who is meant to be his wife, and the boy assumed to be his son. While it is clear this is the father, as portrayed by his apparel and facial features, the wife is very young, resembling the boy more in age. The husband and wife are dressed very nicely in suits. The boy is wearing a tanktop, showing off the fact that he is fit, and seems to play a sport, successfully. They are all Caucasian and give off the vibe of being wealthy. Their skin seems to glow, showing that they are healthy. The stand in a formation that reveals the power sequence in the household, and the colours they are wearing reflect that (purple, blue, red for father, mother, and son). From all of this, it is gathered that the audience is supposed to assume that the ideal family is one with the father in charge, with a young (happy) wife, and a son who is fit and muscular. This family is caucasian and are wealthy. It is implied this is because they drink coca-cola. They even glow from the light coming from the direction of the coca-cola logo.
ENG4U Media Response Exemplar 2 Evaluation
Media Level 1.2 & 1.6: 2-
Media Level 2.1: 2-
Overall Achievement: 2-
Strengths
● The student identifies and differentiates colour, light and composition as important design elements.
● The student identifies some aspects of the implied message. For example, the student writes that the family ‘glows’, implying they are ‘healthy’; ‘A successful family drinks Coca Cola’.
Next Steps
● The analysis is rather underdeveloped. The student should connect the implied or overt messages to important design elements.
● There are some unsubstantiated conclusions (such as “the family is wealthy”). To improve this answer, the student should provide more evidence to support such claims.
Notes on Quality of Writing
● There is a lack of academic diction, with many colloquialisms (‘gives off the vibe...’).
● The organization of ideas is very poor.
ENG4U Media Response Exemplar 3
Student work:
Many believe having a son is more ideal than a daughter which is represented in the coke ad. Having something that can relate to the consumers will most likely increase the number of sales. The physical look of coca-cola can often also be important since many think it tastes different in a bottle than usual can. The ad is biased since everyone in it is holding a bottle of coca-cola but in reality, people sometimes dislike pop drinks and know pop can rot teeth and turn them yellow. The values of the father, the man of the family, is that he is proud of his successful family. Coca-cola shows power in this ad relating it back to peer pressure and how every single person in the ad is drinking coke just like how friends would pressure others into bad things like drugs. The use of colours of shirts, background and font help reflect the bright red colour of the big round coca-cola logo.
ENG4U Media Response Exemplar 3 Evaluation
Media Studies 1.2 & 1.6: R
Media Studies 2.1: R
Overall Achievement: R
Strengths
● The student refers to both overt and implied messages.
● The student recognizes some design elements, such as the placement of the father.
Next Steps
● The student should develop either overt or implied messages.
● The student should provide a correct explanation of the idea of bias in media.
● The student should connect design elements to message construction.
Notes on Quality of Writing
● None of the points have unity or development.
ENG4U Media Response Exemplar 4
Student work:
In this ad, the first thing that sticks out to me is that they’re a upper class family, they are all dressed up nice and fancy and have their hair slicked back and the dad figure is wearing an expensive suit. The Mom and the Dad are both wearing a dark blue while the son is wearing a white shirt with a white sweater around his neck. I think they added the red circle to help point out the shape of the coca-cola sign. The family is portraying a “perfect family” showing that if you drink coke then you can also have the same perfect family. This shows power by the way the family is organized and dressed implying that they are wealthy and have power. The family is put at the center of the ad because your eyes go to the most verbal or interesting thing being the coca-cola sign on the side and the “its a family affair.” This message is trying to imply that the whole family should drink coke which means you have to buy more so they make more money! The back ground is black so that all the other colours stand out and catch your eye so you read the ad.
ENG 4U Media Response Exemplar 4 Evaluation
Media Studies 1.2 & 1.6: 1
Media Studies 2.1: 1
Overall Achievement: 1
Strengths
● The idea of the "perfect family" shows an emerging understanding of how the message is related to embedded beliefs.
● The student recognizes design elements including colours and layout.
● The student relates the colour red to the Coca-Cola logo.
Next Steps
● This answer does not go very far beyond the overt message of the slogan. The student should expand the analysis by explaining how design elements create meaning. For example, the student could explain the symbolic significance of the colours.
● The student should expand the analysis of overt and implied messages and relate them specifically to the messages they convey.
Notes on Quality of Writing
● The organization could be improved, i.e. points about colour should be grouped together; the mention of the background being black should come earlier.
● The student should be careful with sentence structure, including run-on sentences and verb tense errors.
ENG4U Media Response Exemplar 5
Student work:
A) The overt message that is conveyed in this advertisement is to drink Coca-Cola because the whole family will enjoy it. This is quite evident from the only depiction is of a white middle class family. The implied message is that the classic nuclear family will enjoy it more than anyone else because they are the target audience for this ad. It is implied that they are happy because they are smiling. The identity of the characters depicted are a white family around the 50’s era, in those days the value of family was very high which would be the reason that Coca-Cola is targeting that audience. In the mid 20th century the father of the family typically made all of the family's income. So this ad would be playing on his emotions to make his family happier by buying them some Coca-Cola. This ad is biased towards the white middle class family and excludes anybody of ethnic background so the target audience for this would be very specific but in that time would be the dominate target audience. The belief system that they had in the mid 20th century was quite different from the belief system we have today one of the beliefs were that family was one of the most important things to them. It is also implied in the ad that the Father came from work because he is wearing a suit.
B) The message that if the whole family drinks Coca-Cola the family will be happier. This message of the family being happier from drinking Coke is clearly conveyed by the whole family smiling and looking quite joyous after having a sip of Coke. The dark background brings out the glow of there face which shows that they are happy having a good time. Also the white of the clothing that the characters are wearing is the same white as the Coca- Cola lettering and the red circle is the same red as the Coke button red at the top right hand corner of the ad. The centering of the advertisement is quite subtle of suggesting that the father or older male in the picture has all the power of the family putting him above the rest of the family and in the center of the the ad. The father in the ad looks to be the most happy shown by having the biggest smile and the most facial expression than anyone else, this could be because he provided the coke for the family. The font of “It’s a family affair” is the same font and colour as the writing inside the red coke button both are in yellow writing.