Name ______Date ______AP Language and Composition Advertisement Analysis

Analysis Paper—Advertising and Popular Culture

Analysis (or division) means to separate a piece into all its parts in order to establish the meaning of the whole. When we ask you to write a critique of a piece of literature (novel, short story, poem, play) in your English classes at Wachusett, we are generally looking for you to write an analysis, to divide the story into its parts (plot, setting, characters, conflict, dialogue, symbols, figures of speech) in order to articulate its dominant impression (theme, mood, and tone). My guess is that we’ve beaten you to bloody pulp with this genre of writing, and that as a result it is hard to get excited about critiques. In order to breathe new life into this mode of writing for you, you are to choose a subject outside the realm of literature for analysis: a piece of mass media. You may choose one of the following:

 a full page, color advertisement from a magazine (laminate it or mount on strong paper)  a 30-60 second television advertisement (record it onto a DVD or VHS tape or other appropriate medium for us to view)  a toy in its packaging  a fast food/convenience food item (particularly one marketed to children). If the food is perishable, please eat it and retain its packaging but record the appearance, smell, taste, texture of the actual food itself as you consume it. (Or you may bring in a fresh sample to class, though be sure to check with me first.)

Your subject should be one for which you have an enthusiastic interest and also one that is complex enough to be interesting, powerful, and full of subtle appeal. Take great care and time in choosing a unique, appealing subject. Each of you must analyze a different advertisement, and your teacher must approve each advertisement before you begin. Once your advertisement is approved, you are not allowed to switch to a different advertisement.

Your analysis should identify the purpose of the advertisement or of the item’s marketing/packaging (purpose = theme; here: what the advertisement/packaging seeks to accomplish) and then show by analysis how the advertisers make the consumer product appeal to the audience (What tone do they use? In what mood do they put the consumer?) In other words, you must identify the dominant impression of your subject as the thesis of your essay. To determine the dominant impression, you must first break your subject down into its parts: words; images; colors; form; arrangement—foreground, middle ground, background, juxtaposition; light; allusions; illusions, etc. Make lists of the parts. Take careful notes.

Consider next the specific audience to whom the piece is directed. How do you know who the advertiser’s target audience? How do the parts emotionally attract that audience?

Finally determine the theme and tone. What does this advertisement mean literally (denotation) and what is its overall tone (connotation)? How do its many elements connect to become one persuasive whole?

Now you are ready to draft. Although you will have a strong personal response to your subject, your analysis will be more compelling if you remain objective and speak in third person narration throughout. Your analysis may be organized as one organizes a critique: thesis paragraph with motivator, thesis, and blueprints; at least three well-developed supporting paragraphs; a summary conclusion; however, you may notice that the analyses we have read in our texts and handouts often have a more sophisticated and subtle organization, so you may experiment. You may even find places where description and narration are necessary and compelling modes to aid your analysis. Take risks in choosing an organization that works for your emerging style. Consider that the College Board (a.k.a. the people who administer and oversee the grading of AP tests) rarely awards top scores to traditional five-paragraph essays.

A Quick Note On Drafting Requirements Advertisement Analysis Drafting Requirements (to be handed in with final draft): 1. prewriting, including: -breaking subject down into parts -clearly articulated SOAPSTM/rhetorical triangle analysis with dominant impression 2. first draft 3. 1st peer revision with at least two copies marked by peer responders 4. 2nd peer revision with at least two copies marked by different peer responders

In order to receive full credit for item #10 on the assessment, all of these must be submitted with the final draft. If you missed class on a peer response day, you are still responsible for getting feedback from at least two peers.