In writing your advertisement analysis essay, you will choose a print ad or
short commercial that you can spend some time with, get to know, and think
deeply and critically about. Your evaluation will offer thought-out commentary
and criticism. You will develop an evaluative thesis about your advertisement
that moves beyond liking or disliking. You will then develop claims and support
for your thesis about this ad.
As with your narrative, this paper should have a rather narrow focus. You want
to choose the most important details to evaluate. Focus on analyzing the
rhetoric of the ad. The course textbook, HTWA, has a chapter on “Rhetorical
Analysis” that offers detailed information about how to write an analysis essay
like this one.
Your assessment on this paper will be based on the goals of this unit:
1. Find a relevant advertisment for analysis. Then, understand and think
critically about this text.
2. Read rhetorically, paying attention to strategies of persuasion, the
purposes of an author or creator, and the effect of a text on an
audience. Analyze texts in order to better compose your own.
3. Integrate other voices into your writing—through summary, paraphrase
and quotation. Use citations properly.
4. Revise your analysis so that it is clear, well-organized, and polished