Rubric on Media Literacy for Highschool and College Students

1. Media Analysis Task & Rubric
You are a media critic. Your job is to examine and critique the effectiveness of today’s advertisements.
OBJECTIVE:
To understand the structure of advertisements by examining the differences between the implicit and explicit messages of
advertisements.
MATERIALS:
Lots of old magazines, scissors and glue.
Complete the following task:
 Find 3 magazine ads
 Cut out the ads
 For each advertisement, write/type a short paragraph which explains the following:
 What product is being sold?
 What ideas, emotions or events are being associated, or linked, to the product? Is the message implicit or explicit?
Explain.
 Speculate on why the advertiser has associated other ideas, emotions, or events with the product.
 Analyze the effectiveness of the product’s advertisement. Do the connections between the product and the
advertisement make logical or emotional sense? Is it ethical?
 Speculate on the target audience for the advertisement. Consider the age group, socio- economic class, values of the
targeted audience. Do you think the advertisement is successful with its intended audience? Does it make you want to
purchase, or consider purchasing, the product?
 Mount the ads and paragraphs on heavy paper with a title and your name.

2. Rubric
Level 1 Level 2 Level 3 Level4
Identification of
propaganda
devices
Has not
identified a
propaganda
device
Has identified only
one propaganda
device used in ad
Has identified two
propaganda devices
used in ad
Has identified
three or more
propaganda
devices used in ad
Explanation of
propaganda
devices
Limited
explanation of a
propaganda
device or
explanation is
missing
Developing
explanation of one
or two propaganda
devices
Adequately
explains how each
device
is used
Thoroughly
explains how
each device
is used
Evaluation of the
propaganda
devices
Limited, fuzzy or
missing
evaluation of the
effectiveness of
one device used
Developing
evaluation of the
effectiveness of
one or two
devices used
Adequately
evaluates the
relative effectiveness
of each device used
Thoroughly
evaluates the
relative
effectiveness of
each device
Opinion is barely Opinion is
developing
Thoughtful opinion is Insightful opinion
Synthesis of presented with
minimal
with minimal presented with is presented and
ideas or no elaboration elaboration limited elaboration elaborated in
mature
prose