Prompt:

For your second essay assignment, you will conduct a formal evaluation of a video advertisement. You will need to examine the ad’s rhetorical strategies and cultural appeals, and you are expected to use cited evidence from our course readings to support your discussion.

Your essay should be 4 to 6 pages in length and formatted to MLA specifications. In order to complete this assignment successfully, you will want to choose an ad that you find compelling, problematic, or loaded with interesting details. Remember, like any good text, nothing in an advertisement is there by accident, so look closely at the details and decipher their intentions. You will also want to use what you learned from Essay 1 and look closely at different signs and symbols and how consumers might relate to these items.

As mentioned above, you will need to examine a combination of rhetorical strategies and cultural appeals in your essay. Rhetorical strategies refers to how the advertisement presents its argument and/or content, and applicable talking points include logos, ethos, pathos, and kairos. Cultural appeals, on the other hand, include specific appeals to a target culture or demographic. You will need to identify and examine various signs within the advertisement and explain how they may be interpreted by (and appeal to) the ad’s intended audience.

You will need to cite/summarize specific details from your chosen advertisement throughout the essay. In addition, you are also expected to incorporate a minimum of two relevant readings from Signs of Life in the USA in your evaluation. Please note that it is not enough to simply cite a brief quote from these articles. You must also include proper in-text citations and a works cited page. Those looking to earn strong grades are encouraged to incorporate additional sources to help support your evaluation.