You will write an analysis & synthesis essay in which you analyze a thirty second commercial and synthesize what you find to be the subtext of the commercial. You will break down the commercial into its various parts and discover connections. From there, you’ll take the information you’ve learned, coupled with your critique of the commercial and synthesize your thoughts on the subtext. Your synthesis is your way of providing something new to the conversation as opposed to simply agreeing or disagreeing with the points being made in the commercial. Some questions to ask yourself as you watch the commercial:

• How do you respond?

• Is it persuasive?

• Do you have an emotional response to the surface text about what they’re trying to sell you?

• What are you reacting to?

• What’s the story of the commercial?

• Who’s in the ad? What do they look like?

• How would you describe them in terms of demographic (age, gender, race, etc) and personality? Now you are ready to analyze the commercial.

• Who is the ad targeting? Why?

• How do you know?

• What is important or valuable in the world of the ad?

• What would be viewed as good and bad in the world of the ad? Once you have your analysis, you will then create your synthesis wherein you delve into the subtext of the commercial.

Based on your analysis, what do you think the commercial is saying? Is it commenting on some aspect of our culture/society? Your synthesis is where you get to add something new to the conversation
based on the observations you’ve made throughout your analysis