The document provides guidance for writing a 5-6 page essay analyzing 2-3 print advertisements by breaking down how to deconstruct the ads and examine the visual and textual elements, strategies, and appeals used to communicate and persuade the audience. The analysis will enhance understanding of advertising techniques and their role in cultural messaging. Students are instructed to thoughtfully select ads that present interesting issues or questions.

1. The
Persuaders

2. FREE WRITE
What is your initial
reaction to this ad?
Do you think this is a
successful ad? Why or
why not.

3. PAPER II: THE AD ANALYSIS ESSAY
 Write a 5-6 page essay that analyzes, evaluates and compares and
contrasts 2 -3 print ads
 You will break the ads into their dif ferent par ts and see how they work
to deliver a specific message, and to fulfill the adver tiser's goals.
 Your choice of ads is the key to making your essay interesting and
meaningful.
 Good essays have clear and compelling reasons for being written; they
express a meaningful purpose or objective. To give your essay direction,
you will need to devote time and thought to the selection of your ads.
 Choose ads that present an interesting issue or problem or raise
compelling questions

4. LEARNING OBJECTIVES
The chief objective of this assignment is to enhance
your understanding of strategies that advertisers use
to communicate and persuade.
These strategies are relevant to effective writing and
design – of particular importance is defining a
purpose, identifying your audience, anticipating
obstacles to persuasion, and conceptualizing methods
of persuasion.

5. LEARNING OUTCOMES
You will learn to "read" images (as they are used in
advertisements) and to decipher the messages and
methods that ad designers use to persuade.

You will become a more perceptive cultural critic who
understands how ads contribute to the construction of
our cultural values, our self-image, our sense of what
is normal or ideal, and our ideas about gender, race
and class.

6. LEARNING OUTCOMES
You will come to understand how writing and design is
an act of persuasion, and you will begin to explore the
mechanics of visual and textual persuasion.
Finally, you will become a more savvy consumer and
citizen.

8. HOW TO ANALYZE AN AD
The key to analyzing an ad is
to deconstruct the ad by
asking and answering a
series a questions.

9. QUESTIONS

10. QUESTION EVERY THING!
Consider the context of the
advertisement. What kind of
publication is the ad located in? Who
is the audience for this magazine?
How does the context effect your
impressions of the ad?

11. ?
Look at the ad in its entirety.
 What are your initial impressions?
 What do you notice first? What seems to stand out
for you?
 What are the contents of the ad (image, text)?
 Where is the “product” positioned in the ad?
 What is the catch or hook for this ad? What aspect of
the targeted audience does the ad appeal to (fear,
vanity, needs)?

12. ?
Media
 What materials are used to create the ad?
Paintings, photos, collage ?
 What artistic styles are used to create ad? Pop art? Folk art?
Surrealism?
 What fonts are used in the text? Dif ferent fonts? What does
this suggest?
 How is text and image related?

13. ?
Por trayal
 Who is portrayed in the ad?
 What are the various actors doing?
 Who is doing what to whom?
 Where are the actors located in the ad?
 Are the actors looking at each other, away from the audience or
at the audience? What does this suggest? (Demand or Offer)
 Consider the viewers point of view. Are the characters close up
or distanced? How does point of view add to relationships with
the characters?
 Are there borders separating actors and text, actors and
product?

14. ?
Basic Elements of Design
 Consider the colors used. What impressions do you get from the
dominant colors? What might these suggest? Are colors intense
or subdued? Is the image black & white? If so, why might that be
used?
 Are vertical, horizontal or diagonal lines used? What might these
suggest?
 Are there any shapes that dominate the image ?
 Consider size and scale. What is large? Why are certain elements
larger than others? Does this add to meanings of position, power
or control?

15. ?
Framing / Composition
 Are the text or images bordered or framed? What does the
framing do, separate or connect? Do the frames suggest
anything on their own? Are there thick borders or faded
edges?
 How is text and image combined? Where is the text located?
Images located? Which dominates ?
 Are the images contextualized or in an abstract space? How is
negative or white space used?

16. ?
What types of signs does the ad employ ?
 --Iconic: A sign that has certain qualities in common with the
object it stands for: for example similarity.
 --Indexical: A sign that refers to its object because it is being
af fected by that object in some real way. Footprints on the
beach, for example, are af fected by the feet of somebody
walking there just as smoke is often caused by fire. The
relation between an index and its object is, in other words,
based on causality or physical connec-tion .
 --Symbolic: A sign with only conventional associations to the
object it stands for: for example, a rose is a symbol for love.

17. ?
What appeal, or combinations of appeals, is the ad using?
 Logos: Logos or the appeal to reason relies on logic or reason.
Logos often depends on the use of inductive or deductive
reasoning.
 Ethos: Ethos or the ethical appeal is based on
ethics, credibility or reliability.
 Pathos: Pathos, or emotional appeal, appeals to
needs, values, and emotional sensibilities.

19. I KNOW!
That was a lot of information, I know.
But, not to worry, just like with the
personal narrative essay, we’ll write this
essay in stages. We’ll start with pre-
writing to generate ideas (free writing,
looping, etc.) and we’ll draft and revise,
just like before. In other words, we’ll use
the writing process!

23. HOMEWORK
Find at least SIX ads that you
think are interesting. Bring them
to class on Monday.

24. REMINDERS
Monday: 12:15 lunch on top-floor.
Please, please, please, please, please come
up! X-tra credit opportunity!
Final Draft of Personal Essay due on Wed.
Nov. 14 th . Typed and double-spaced! Name on
first page!
Anti-Stereotype Campaign Presentation: Wed.
Nov. 21 st .