Humanities Homework Help

Topic: 

Many of the discussions for our class explore issues surrounding consumption and advertising. One common thread in the readings is how advertisers use rhetoric and our fears/desires to manipulate us into buying their products.

Write a complete 4-page essay (minimum of 1300 words) in which you select ONE successfully advertised consumer product or idea. Please note that your 4 pages must be full – you cannot stop halfway through the 4th page. Please add your word count at the end of the paper.

Your goal is to uncover the subtext of the advertisement — all of the messages around the signs and the use of rhetoric. Remember that this is a critical essay; you need to analyze the forces behind the sale of your product rather than writing a series of personal anecdotes. Also, consider how your product is marketed to the masses, including the target audience (gender, race, age) and consumer manipulation.

Your purpose is to answer the question: How do advertisers use their tactics (rhetoric, signs and cultural myths) to convince consumers to buy the product or idea?

Respond to these prompts in your essay: 

What are the ways in which Ethos, Pathos and Logos are used in the advertisement? You must show examples of at least 2 rhetorical approaches used by the advertiser. Be very specific with your examples and your analysis.

Which signs in the advertisement show the target demographic (gender, race, age) and how can you tell? What messages do these signs send to the intended audience of the ad? Signs can be characters, words, objects, images, forms of behavior, music, setting/sets, special effects, lighting—any detail from the ad that takes on meaning based on the context (i.e.—the system) the signs are in.

What cultural myths come across in the ad, and how do advertisers use these to convince consumers to buy the product? Cultural myths are any mainstream social ideas, values, or ideals. You can figure out the cultural myth(s) by looking at all the signs in the ad—what idea is being used to sell you this product? Keep in mind that cultural myths in ads often prey on our fears and desires. Ask yourself what specific fears or desires (or both) the ad is speaking to in order to get you to buy the product or idea.

Requirements: 

Your assignment must be 12 pt. font, Times New Roman, properly paragraphed and double spaced. Please follow all MLA rules. 

You are required to use either the Carroll text and/or the Cohn text in your essay.

1. You must have at least four cited direct quotes or four cited paraphrases from either/or Carroll and Cohn. You may use both if you wish.
2. You must also use evidence from your advertisement. How much you use will be up to you, but you must show evidence for each claim.

You are required to have a Works Cited page. On there, you will have Carroll and/or Cohn, and your advertisement. You must also include anything else you have independently chosen to use (i.e. Aristotle’s rhetoric or any other reading from or outside our class). Double check your MLA citations both on the Works Cited page and in your essay. See the Purdue Owl websites for MLA explanations and examples.

1. Your audience: assume that the reader is intelligent, but that they may know nothing about the topic you’re addressing. Share information accordingly.

Your tone should be professional, unbiased, and polished. Any shared sources should be credible.

You must include a thesis. Your thesis must be an argument, based on research. Make sure you have a clear, direct thesis statement that is guiding the rest of the paragraphs. Your thesis statement should be an arguable claim you make that answers the following question: How do advertisers use their tactics (rhetoric, signs and cultural myths) to convince consumers to buy the product or idea?

Make sure your body paragraphs are properly developed (1. topic sentence, 2. quotes/evidence, 3. analysis, 4. relate back to your thesis).

While there is no paragraph count requirement, you must paragraph the paper effectively and correctly, and follow a “5 paragraph model,” although you will likely have more than 5 paragraphs. Start with an introduction, share your argumentative body paragraphs, and end with a conclusion. 

Your essay must demonstrate good writing skills, including control of sentence structure, minimal subject-verb and noun-pronoun agreement errors, consistent point of view, proper punctuation, and correct spelling.

• Step-by-Step Prewriting Process: 
• Directions: To prepare for drafting, complete the following in your notes.
• Choose an advertisement that will help reflect all your arguments. You may choose the type of advertisement; television or radio commercials, single-image ads, website, posters, audio commercials, or any other type of advertisement may be used. Take thorough notes about the most prominent rhetoric being used, the significant signs in each ad, who the target demographic is, and what cultural myth(s) are being used to sell the product or idea. Make sure to note where your sources are coming from so you can find them again, and if you’re examining a commercial, note when your signs are taking place in the ad for reference. Be very specific with your evidence and analysis.

Compile useful quotes from your sources. Revisit your close-reading annotations you’ve done over the assigned class readings. Look for quotes that speak to what you’re noticing about the signs, cultural myths, & manipulative tactics advertisers use to sell the product. Look for quotes that also speak to ethos, pathos and logos. Be very deliberate with your chosen evidence and choose whatever is the absolute strongest.

Write out one—or several—working thesis statements. Choose the best one. Your thesis statement should be an arguable claim you make that answers the following question: How do advertisers use their tactics (rhetoric, signs and cultural myths) to convince consumers to buy the product or idea?

Drafting Outline 

Directions: Use your notes and quotes from above as you work on your rough draft of Essay 1. As you draft, make sure your paragraphs adhere to the following requirements: 

• INTRO: Introduce and briefly describe the topic of your paper. 
• Make sure to set-up your thesis statement by explaining relevant background information/context for your reader on your chosen product. 
• End this paragraph with your thesis statement. 
• BODY: The body of your paper will be made-up of several paragraphs that address the questions on the assignment prompts above and that incorporate quotes from the various readings to support your ideas, as well as detailed, specific examples from chosen product’s advertisements. Use the following structure in EACH of your body paragraphs: 
• Start with a topic sentence that addresses a portion of the assignment prompt. 

Quote: Bring in a quote or paraphrase (don’t forget to cite!) that illustrates the above.

Analysis: Explain how the quote/advertisement example supports your topic sentence and your thesis. You can repeat the Quote/Analysis pattern again in your paragraph if you have multiple quotes/examples that address the same topic and/or help you expand on it. 

Make sure to have a minimum of 3-5 sentences of analysis/explanation after each quote. 

Thesis: End by relating the ideas in the paragraph to your thesis. 

CONCLUSION: Instead of summing up what you’ve already said, save an important, main idea for your last paragraph, one that helps clearly illustrate your thesis. Don’t add anything that has to be newly argued.

WORKS CITED page: 

• This page should list all of your sources. Make sure to list any articles you’ve used, and to list any websites with information or advertisements of your chosen product that you’ve referenced/quoted in your paper.
• Please see the Purdue Owl website for examples of how to cite electronic sources, such as YouTube and product websites.