Rhetorical Analysis – analyze the rhetoric in a professional image such as an advertisement

The Assignment: This assignment requires you to analyze the rhetoric in a professional image such as an advertisement, a public service announcement, a film cover, an album cover, etc. In 3 pages you will make an argument concerning the effectiveness of the ad’s rhetoric within the ad’s original rhetorical situation. In order to do so, you will need to identify: 1. the image (you will submit this either as a picture/pdf/link) attached to your essay (not included in the page count) 2. the rhetorical purpose of the ad 3. the ad’s context (background information) 4. the ad’s intended audience 5. the ad’s claim and reason(s) 6. the ad’s use of rhetorical tools and appeals At minimum, you must make and support a claim regarding the effectiveness of the ad’s use of rhetorical tools and appeals for its particular audience. Whether this requires you to address all four appeals, multiple tools, the balance of appeals, or not depends on the claim you are making. For example, all of the following claims are appropriate for a rhetorical analysis: • The ad’s over-reliance on appealing to viewers’ emotions actually minimizes the ad’s effectiveness as the audience turns what is supposed to be a sense of hopelessness into a sense of humor. • Although the use of statistics in the advertisement appeals to the audience’s logic, the complete lack of pathos makes the ad rather boring and hence ineffective. • By using imagery so often used in past anti-drunk driving public service announcements, this ad fails to evoke any emotion in the audience. • While the ad’s evocative imagery certainly convinces the audience to support the World Wildlife Foundation, the lack of logic means that support will probably not be financial. • The ad’s attempt to establish credibility through the use of financier John Smith is offset by its almost ridiculous use of neon colors. • The sense of movement in the advertisement increases the excitement the audience feels and as such makes them more inclined to purchase the bike. What you absolutely do not want to do for a main claim is make a generic statement like: • This analysis will analyze the use of appeals in the ad. • In this analysis, I will look at how the ad uses ethos, pathos, and logos. • This paper will argue the effectiveness of the ad. Also, please remember that a rhetorical analysis is about the effectiveness of the message for the intended audience. Do not argue the topic. For example, if you are analyzing a public service image designed to prevent texting while driving, your opinions about texting while driving are irrelevant.