Writing 121
- Cora
Agatucci
English Composition [Expository Essay
Writing]
Fall 2000 WR 121 Assignments 3 Fall
2000
Online
Handouts - Short Cuts:
Sample Formal Academic Summaries
Organizing
Comparing and Classifying Essays
Writing an Ad
Analysis Essay & How to Analyze
a Print Advertisement
Assignment deadlines:
see WR 121 Course
Plan
Assignment grading policies: see WR 121 Syllabus
See WR
121 Assignments (1) for
Exercises, Writer's Profiles, Essays, Formal Academic Summary
See WR
121 Assignments (2)
for
Criteria-Referenced Evaluation forms
used in Grading Writing Assignments
& Progress Reports on meeting relevant Course Competencies
Examples of WR 121
student writing Student Writing
Online Resources for Student Writers & Researchers COCC
Links
Sample
Summaries
Note Well: The Final
Draft of your Formal Academic Summary should be double-spaced. I
have not done so below only to save web-space.
Cora Agatucci
Writing 121, Prof. Agatucci
Sample Summary
11 October 1999
Summary
of "Hollywood Conducts Coverup for Naked Men"
In her article
"Hollywood Conducts Coverup for Naked Men," from
the 22 November 1992 Oregonian, Suzanna Andrews
investigates why the Hollywood film industry,
unlike producers of other creative forms, practices a double
standard in depicting male and female nudity. While partial
or complete female nudity in U.S. movies is taken for
granted, unclothing male actors is largely taboo. To explore
the reasons why, Andrews interviewed several psychologists
and filmmakers. Some theories appealed to aesthetics (e.g., that naked female
bodies are inherently more pleasing than male nudity) and
psychology (e.g., that naked male bodies seem somehow more
vulnerable and disconcerting to female viewers). Yet such
theories are supported by little evidence, according to
Andrews. The economic bottom line, that frontal male nudity
is more apt to earn a commercially unprofitable NC-17 rating,
is undeniable, but it reflects underlying socio-political
realities. Other commentators explain that the Hollywood
movie industry, like U.S. society at large, has been
male-dominated and reflects male preferences and fears. Thus,
women are exposed and men are protected from exposure. However, these patterns seem to be changing as more female
filmmakers gain power in the industry. It is becoming easier
now for female actors to refuse to strip, Andrews observes,
and recent female directors are less willing to exploit
female or male nudity in their films.
------------------------------------------------------------------
Cora
Agatucci
Writing
122, Agatucci
Summary
#1
15
January 1999
Summary
of "Communication: Its Blocking and Its Facilitation"
In his essay "Communication: Its Blocking and Its
Facilitation," psychotherapist Carl R. Rogers presents two main ideas:
that the individual's tendency to evaluate, from her own point of view,
another's statement is a major block to interpersonal communication; and
that this problem may be solved if the individual listens to and genuinely
tries to understand the statement from the other's point of view.
This solution is powerfully effective in psychotherapy, the whole
task of which is to deal with failures of communication.
While Rogers' solution seems simple, there are many reasons why it is
difficult to achieve empathetic understanding of another's frame of
reference. One challenge is
finding the courage to risk changing ourselves when we undertake this
process, especially when our emotions are strongly engaged in our own
positions. In such cases,
Rogers explains, a sympathetic, disinterested third party can help the
antagonists achieve mutual understanding, especially if they can be induced
to approach the task as partners trying to solve a problem together, rather
than as opponents attacking each other.
This "test-tube" solution to communication failures could
be successfully applied to large groups worldwide, Rogers believes, if
Western civilization had enough faith in the social sciences to invest in
projects like his. In fact, he
asserts that our continued survival may depend upon such an investment.
For
more examples, review WR 121 Student Summaries of
Robert S. Morse’s
“Stirring Up Trouble” (AT&W pp. 100-103) available online:
http://www.cocc.edu/cagatucci/classes/wr121/stwrtg.htm
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Organizing
Comparing & Classifying Essays
Comparison and/or Contrast Essays explain how two
things are alike or how they are different. Sometimes both
similarities and differences are discussed. In choosing the
points of similarity and/or difference for discussion in an
essay, you will need to be able to identify your basis of
comparison/contrast. This basis should be "significant"
in way(s) that you can explain—that is, you need to develop
a theory of significance. The choices of whether to focus
on similarities or differences or both, and of which
similarities and/or differences to discuss, should depend upon
the thesis and purpose of your essay. An essay needs to make a
central, controlling point (i.e. a thesis) built upon your own
theory of significant similarities and/of differences—a
theory which gives a unifying purpose to your writing. Your
imagined readers are always entitled to ask the question,
"So what?" Your thesis and theory of significance
should be offered to answer that question.
There are two common strategies for
organizing comparison
and/or contrast essays. Following one of these organizational
strategies will strengthen the coherence of your essay and make
it easier for readers to follow.
1. Subject-by-Subject Organization
treats separately
the two main subjects (e.g. Francine Patterson and Dian
Fosse) being compared or contrasted: that is, Subject #1
(e.g., Patterson) is treated fully; then the essay moves on to
discuss Subject #2 (e.g. Fosse). Within the discussion of
each subject, a limited number of points of similarity and/or
difference are developed (e.g., research goals, research
methods, research findings). The internal organization of these Subject
discussions should parallel each other—that is, the
points of similarity/difference should represent the same
bases or points of comparison and/or contrast, and
should be arranged in the same order in each
Subject section. Clear, well-placed transitions—especially
in the discussion of Subject #2-- are particularly important to
maintaining coherence by pointing out comparative relationships
between points made in the initial discussion of Subject #1.
2. Point-by-Point Organization is organized by the
key points of similarity and/or difference between two main
subjects. Thus, a comparison or contrast of the AT&W
excerpts by Benjamin Franklin and Malcolm X would be organized by
comparative points such as (a) why each wanted to learn to read,
(b) how each learned to read, and (c) how each used what he had
learned. The body of such an essay would devote at least one
well-developed paragraph (more than one paragraph if there’s
a lot to say) to each of these points. The discussion of each
comparative point would address first subject 1 (e.g. Franklin)
on that comparative point, then subject #2 (e.g. Malcolm X) on
the same comparative point. Clear, well-placed transitions
are important to ensure that the reader can follow the shifts
from subject #1 to subject #2 on the comparative point under
discussion. The essay would then proceed on to point 2, etc.
Within the discussion of each comparative point, coherence is
strengthened if the two subjects are treated in the same order
within the body paragraph each time (e.g. Franklin first, then
Malcolm X).
Chart 1. Organizational Outlines for
Comparing Essays
Of course these strategies could be reversed and applied to
either of these topics, as the second chart illustrates. (TIPS:
Subject-by-Subject organization may often be best when the
internal points to be compared/contrasted are not too numerous or
two complex. Point-by-point organization may work better when
there are many or complex points of similarity and/or difference
to be discussed.)
Chart 2. Organizational Outlines for
Comparing Essays
Here is an organizational plan for a possible essay of
comparison/contrast.
Introduction to things to be
compared/contrasted, and presentation of thesis/purpose
– theory of significance. (Introduction may also
include a preview of the key points of comparison
and/or contrast. TIPS: If you preview, be sure to
preview all main comparative points to be
discussed, and listed in the same order that they
will be developed in the body of the essay, to strengthen
coherence.)
Example Introduction:
Humankind has drawn upon various sources to justify
its right to rule the world and all its creatures. One
more modern example is offered by the French philosophes,
who based their claims for human superiority on the human
capacity to communicate—unique, philosophers said,
to humankind, evidence enough that humankind were
destined to rule over all other species who lacked this
capacity. But what contradictory creatures these humans
are! Another defining quality of humankind seems to be
its curiosity to know--more and ever more about the world
and its creatures. Had the philosophes only
understood that curiosity can kill more than a cat!
Modern science is question driven, and the insatiable
curiosity of humans leads us ever into troublesome
paradoxes and contradictions of our own making. Sooner or
later, some troublesome human will run up against a
traditional assumption (for example, everyone knows that
apes cannot talk) and turn it into a serious question
(but how do we know that apes can’t talk?), and then
set out to find an answer with the patience and zeal of a
Parcival seeking the holy grail.
Francine Patterson and Dian Fosse belong to this tribe
of troublesome, passionate human questors. They may not
have been the first to pose the question, Are primates
capable of language? Researchers before them blazed
trails and fired their curiosity. Curious and committed,
Patterson and Fosse picked up those trails even if their
research led them very different paths. to arrive at
their common goal, each contributes another valuable
piece to the big puzzle.
|
| Subject #1: Francine
Patterson’s "Conversations with a Gorilla"
(421-424) & how her research contributes to answering
the question: "Are apes capable of language?" |
Point #1: Review
of previous research findings to pick up where others
have left off (e.g. with Washoe, the Chimpanzee), and
prove that apes are capable of language Point #2:
Patterson’s Method: her work with the gorilla
Koko using American Sign Language is conducted under
"formal and controlled scientific testing"
conditions."
Point #3: Patterson’s findings: Primates
can learn a human communication system, and they use it
to express the same kinds of messages.
|
| Subject #2: Dian
Fosse’s "More Years with Mountain
Gorillas" (pp..) & how her research contributes
to answering the question: "Are apes capable of
language?" |
Point #1: Review of
previous research findings to pick up where others
have left off (e.g., of Dr. George B. Schaller, 1959-60) Point
#2: Fosse’s Method: Study gorillas’
behavior and communication patterns unobtrusively in the
wild by the most effective means: i.e. learning to
"Sound" and communicate "like a
Gorilla.".
Point #3: Fosse’s Findings: While
intra-group gorilla communication may use different vocal
signs than those of humans, it is a communication system
used to express the same kinds of the messages.
|
| Conclusion (Tip: Restate
points of comparison/contrast in terms of their
significance to your thesis, and [re-]emphasize your
thesis point.) The work of previous researchers
captured the curiosity of Patterson and Fosse, and led
them into extended studies of primate communication. They
pursued very different scientific methods to satisfy
their curiosity: Patterson taught a primate to use a
human communication system in a controlled laboratory
situation, while Fosse learned a primate method of
communication as the most effective way to study gorillas
in the wild. Yet however their methods and motives may
differ, Patterson and Fosse have each contributed
valuable pieces needed to solve the larger puzzle. Their
research findings both answer, "Yes, apes are
capable of communication."
|
Organizing Classification
Essays
Classification essays begin with a group of related
things that belong to a common class (e.g. "college
students"). One such broad, general class might be
"college students," but think of the diversity that
exists within that common class (i.e. people who are college
students): those that can be classed within this group are very
diverse and can be further classified in many different
ways—e.g. by age or gender or ethnicity or religion, by
purposes for attending college, by types of colleges they attend,
by how well they succeed, etc., etc. A focused classifying essay
will further delimit the unifying basis of
classification—and will do so to serve a thesis purpose.
This unifying principle of classification will serve some theory
of significance that can be revealed by discussion of the types
within a classification system. Again, any essay needs to make a
central, controlling point, (i.e. a thesis) built upon the
writer’s own theory of significance, which gives a unifying
purpose to the writing. Your imagined readers are always entitled
to ask the question, "So what?" Your thesis and theory
of significance should be offered to answer that question, and
justify the reader’s close attention to your classification
system.
A unifying principle of classification will take a broad
general class of things (e.g. "college students") and
then select one focused, significant basis on which this general
class can be subdivided into groups or types--and thus be better
understood (e.g. the reasons why "college students"
have decided to go to college). Using this unifying principle
(e.g. reasons why people go to college), subgroups within the
general class (e.g. "college students") can be
distinguished (e.g. by different types of reasons for going to
college). Usually, at three or more subgroups or types are
defined and illustrated. (If there are fewer than three distinct
types, then the above directions for comparing only two items
should be followed.) The subcategories or types must share common
overarching features (ie., all are "college students"
and all have "reasons" for going to college), but must
different enough from each other (i.e. mutually exclusive) to
constitute different types of college students, based on the
classifying principle (e.g. different types of reasons for going
to college). To distinguish these different types or subgroups,
defining skills must be used to clarify and illustrate the
differences.
(A closely related partner to "Classification" is
sometimes called "Division"—a kind of
"Analysis" that divides a single thing into
classifiable and distinct parts that help us better understand
the whole thing.)
CHART 3: Organizational Outline for a
Classifying Essay
| Introduction will present the general
class of things (e.g. Primatologists like Patterson
and Fosse who study ape communication ), identify the unifying
basis of classification (e.g. based on types of
research methods used to study ape communication), and
assert a thesis point & theory of significance
(e.g. different research methods produce different types
of findings regarding ape communication, and combining
the findings produced by different research methods will
yield more complete and accurate answers). [The
introduction may also preview the types of reasons to
be discussed in the body of the essay, but if so, all types
should be previewed and in the same order in which
they will be discussed in the essay body]
|
| Research Method Type #1:
Patterson represents a controlled laboratory research
method of studying ape communication. This method lends
itself best to yielding a one type of research findings. |
| Research Method Type #2: Fosse
represents a field research method of studying ape
communication. (Key distinctions between Type #1 and Type
#2 must be presented.) This method lends itself best to
yielding a second type of research findings. |
| Research Method Type #3:
Professor X used research methods which combine both
controlled laboratory (ie., type #1/Patterson above) and
field (i.e. type #2/Fosse above) methods of research. (In
this case, it must be evident that key distinguishing
features of Type #1 and Type #2 are both represented in
Professor’s X’s method.) OR…if
Professor X did not conduct both types of research, she
augmented her own research with the types and findings of
other researchers representing both types (laboratory and
field). |
| Conclusion: Both Professor
Patterson and Professor Fosse contributed valuable
findings on the question of ape communication. Yet
Professor X’s method of combining both laboratory
and field research methods and findings (of Type #1 and
Type #2 above), to augment her own research, has yielded
more complete and therefore more persuasive findings on
the key question being investigated: Can apes
communicate?…. |
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Ad
Analysis
Writing an Ad Analysis Essay
1.
Essay Title & Advertisement (Working) Title:
Give your analysis essay a title that is descriptive of the contents of
your essay. For example:
Analysis
of MacDonald’s "Girls, Girls, Girls"
However,
you may choose to create a more interesting title reflective of the thesis and
emphasis of your Ad Analysi Essay: for example:
MacDonald’s "Girls, Girls,
Girls":
How Dumb Do Advertisers Really Think We Are?
If you don’t know the official title of your
advertisement, make up a working title (one that reflects the
advertisement’s contents and/or the corporate producer) and use this ad title
consistently in your essay to refer to the ad that you are analyzing.
2.
Introduction, Thesis, & Main Point Preview.
(a.) In your introduction, introduce the topic (key terms from the
prompt) and the advertisement to be analyzed: the ad’s (working) title,
product/service being sold, the advertiser/product creator.
(The final exam topic may not give you information about the publication
context in which the ad appeared and/or the likely targeted audience—but if
you are given this information, use it!)
(b.) Your essay introduction should also present (or strongly hint
at) a clear thesis – the central point that unifies and gives purpose to
your ad analysis. Your thesis
should accurately and clearly project the conclusion(s) you have reached through
close study, analysis (and evaluation, if applicable,) of the print
advertisement. The final exam
topic may suggest a thesis purpose, and if so you should adopt it as part of the
given topic choice. But if it does
not, one of the following questions may help you develop a thesis point for
your ad analysis essay:
·
Why is it useful or valuable to analyze closely an
advertisement such as the one(s) you’ve selected?—for example, can you
use this assignment to help you and others’ learn to "read"/view and
analyze image-based advertising closely and critically so we can become wiser
and more thoughtful consumers?
·
Is this advertisement effective?—i.e., is it likely to
achieve its purpose with the targeted audience(s)?
If you choose to use your analysis to evaluate the advertisement, be
sure to develop and apply clear evaluation criteria (as discussed in class).
·
Does the advertisement(s) give socially responsible messages
and/or use ethical/logical persuasive appeals to achieve its purpose with
the targeted audience?
(c.) Optional Preview of
Main Points of Analysis (to be developed in the body of your analysis
essay) may also be presented in your essay introduction.
[These points of analysis should, of course, be presented not for
their own sake, but as the means to support your essay’s thesis/purpose.]
If you do decide to preview main body points in your introduction, be
sure (1) to identify all major points to be discussed and (2) to list them
in the same order that they are actually discussed in the body of your
essay. Such previews can
strengthen coherence only if they accurately predict what’s coming and
in what order.
3.
Essay Body: Development,
Unity, Organization. You
should apply what you have learned about sound essay composition in your
in-class essays, reviewing criteria used to evaluate past WR 121 essays.
You will need to closely “read” and analyze the print advertisement
to identify, develop, and group related points of your ad analysis.
Read
“How to Analyze a Print Advertisement”
(below)
You may not “discover” your thesis purpose until after
you have done this analytical groundwork. Your
thesis will, in turn, give you a unifying principle for selecting the best
analytical points and specific development to support your thesis/purpose.
Once you have identified distinct points of analysis and grouped closely
related specific development, you can decide upon your organizational
strategy—the most effective and logical arrangement and ordering of your body
points and paragraphs. You should
also be able to state how each body point/paragraph relates to and supports your
thesis/purpose. To make this
relationship clear, integrate timely, explicit thesis transitions in your body
paragraphs to connect your body points of analysis to your overall
thesis/purpose.
4.
Essay Conclusion. Re-emphasize
or summarize key points of your ad analysis; reaffirm your thesis and persuasive
purpose in writing this essay, perhaps deliver an appropriate call to action
from your readers, and provide a satisfying sense of closure.
How to Analyze
a Print Advertisement
~ with sincere thanks to George Jolokai
for helping me develop this assignment ~
See also Cora
and George's Visual Literacy Links:
http://www.cocc.edu/cagatucci/vislit.htm
Caveat emptor
(Latin)—“Let the buyer beware”
People, both young and old, need critical analysis tools
to separate the message from the advertiser's intention to make a sale.
“Affluenza
Bug Busting Tip # 4. Become
an advertising critic.
Don't be sucked in by efforts to make you feel inadequate
so you'll buy more stuff you don't need.”
From "Affluenza"
"Af-flu-en-za
n[oun]. 1. The bloated, sluggish and unfulfilled feeling that results
from efforts to keep up with the Joneses. 2. An epidemic of stress,
overwork, waste and indebtedness caused by dogged pursuit of the American
Dream. 3. An unsustainable addiction to economic growth.
4. A television program that could change your life."
"Affluenza
is a one-hour [Public Broadcasting Corp.]
television special that explores the high social and environmental costs
of materialism and overconsumption. Here you can learn more about the show,
get an Affluenza diagnosis
and check out resources for treatment.
Don't miss our Teacher's
Guide, available only on this Web site."
From "Affluenza" 
http://www.pbs.org/kcts/affluenza/
When
you describe and analyze a print advertisement, consider the following
analytical categories, tools, and questions:
1.
Analyzing
the Rhetorical Context & Targeted Audience(s):
In analyzing the rhetorical context, you are
trying to determine:
·
why the
advertiser chose this particular publication, at this time of the year, to
feature this particular ad for this type of product, service, corporation.
·
who the
targeted audience(s) is—who is most likely to read this kind of magazine and
be influenced by this kind of ad.
·
how the
rhetorical context (the publication in which the ad is placed) might influence
the meaning and reception of the advertisement.
a. Who has
created/sponsored the ad?
Who is the advertiser/product creator/distributor?
b. What is the advertiser's
purpose(s)?
Of course, with advertisements, the ultimate persuasive purpose would be
to sell something, usually a product or a service.
What service or product is being sold?
Note that the product or service is not always the main focus in
today’s ads; in fact, it’s not always immediately apparent what
product/service is being sold. Rather,
advertisers are often selling a certain image—of the audience and/or of the
corporate producer—to be associated favorably with the product/service.
If this is the case, how would you describe that image, attitude,
feeling, etc. conveyed by the ad and its producer?
c. Where, when, in what context(s) did you find the ad?
Review the magazine to determine as much as you can about what kind of
publication it is; what kinds of interests it caters to; what kinds of articles,
features, and other ads it contains; the date and source of publication.
Is the ad geared toward a particular time of the year, season, current
fashion, topical issue in the news, or theme prevalent in the magazine?
d. Where, physically, in the print publication does the ad
appear? Is the ad in a conspicuous place (e.g., front or back cover,
near the lead article)? If the ad
is sandwiched among other ads, how did it manage to catch your eye?
What other kinds of ads and/or articles surround it?
How do the ad’s surroundings affect how you view it?
Is the ad distinctively different in any visual way from the ads/articles
surrounding it?
e.
Is the ad part of a multiple ad compaign?—that
is, do ads for this product/service appear more than once, or do other
products/services of the same corporate producer also appear in the same
publication? Do these other ads
share a common look or any common visual features?
Was this ad already familiar to you—that is, have you seen this same
type of ad in other locations? Is
there a sight recognition factor at work in drawing attention to this ad?
f.
Who are the readers most likely to be
for this type of magazine?
Consider the type of publication, the type of ad, the
product/service/corporate producer being sold to help you determine who the
“target audience” is for the advertisement. Advertisers are typically interested only in “market
share”—that is, what at least 1,000 people will buy as a group. Remember, advertisers do extensive research on who’s buying
and not buying—and why-- their products, services, corporate producers’
images. They may be trying to keep
an existing audience buying, or to expand a “market” and attract a new
target audience to a product/service.
g.
Now, try to describe that intended “target” audience more
specifically.
Focus on factors that would seem most significant to this particular
advertisement and rhetorical context: age/generation, gender, regional identity,
urban/rural, "race"/ethnicity, national identity, values and beliefs,
socio-economic class, professional group, leisure preferences, sexual
orientation, social/family roles, religion or ethics, educational level,
stereotypes and self-images evoked, other life style choices or circumstances,
etc.
h.
Are you a member of this targeted audience?
Keep in mind that how well the ad works with you to achieve its purpose,
and how challenging it will be for you to analyze the ad critically, may depend
on whether you are within the target
group range, and whether the ad’s appeals are designed for someone like you
(or like the advertisers imagine the target audience to be).
Look, again, closely at the ad
(especially if you have decided you are not
within the targeted audience) and describe/imagine/research
the impression that the ad(s) is likely to create with its targeted audience.
You might wish to show the ad to others who are in the targeted audience:
ask them to describe the initial impression and impact the ad makes.
That is, test your reactions to the ad against those of others who are in
the targeted consumer group: how do the reactions compare or contrast? Re-examine the ad closely, and use the questions and
considerations below to try to figure out how the ad created audience
impressions and impact. Consider
also whether you perceive a gap between the imagined target audience (what
the advertiser imagines or projects the targeted consumers to be, or want to
be)--and the actual people this
target group probably contains. What
assumptions does the ad suggest that advertisers are making about the target
audience, and what will appeal to this target audience?
Are the advertisers wrong or right in their assumptions?
2.
Describing
& Analyzing Ad Content & Message(s):
Key goals here are to (and not necessarily in this
order):
(1) Describe
the overall visual look, emphasis and impact
of the ad;
(2) Interpret
the visual and verbal message(s)
or meanings communicated by the ad.
(3) Analyze
how the overall visual look/impact and message(s) have been created
through descriptive analysis of the ad’s
visual & verbal content (its compositional elements, including images,
“copy” or words, and “negative space”)
with attention to layout/design (visual relationships created among the
compositional elements).
A.
Visual and Verbal Content:
Describe what is visually depicted (images) and verbally stated (words)
in the advertisement.
1. Images:
·
What kind of visual images are used
(photographs, hand-created drawings and/or paintings, etc.)?
·
How many images are used?
Is a collage, photomontage, or composite “paste-up” of several images
from various sources used? Are
images “superimposed” over each other?
·
Do any of
the images seem to stand for or symbolize something else?
If so, what? Are corporate logos included in the design?
Were you already familiar with this logo?
·
Read" the image(s).
Describe what is visually depicted in the advertisement.
Who or what is depicted in the ad, in what kind of setting, wearing what
kind of clothes and other adornments, with what kind of props, in what kind of
situation? What seems to be going on? If
people are depicted, who are the models? Describe
the body language of the models in the ad.
What does the body language say?
·
Do the images suggest a story or social
situation? What kind of world is
depicted? Does the ad create a
certain feeling, mood, or attitude?
·
Comment on ways you think the image(s)
in the advertisement might have been "composed" or
"manipulated" or “touched up” to achieve desired visual effects on
the viewer. Note:
photographs do not simply represent "reality"--their images are
carefully selected and "composed," "reality" is altered,
re-invented, or created to achieve particular effects, and thus photographed and
filmed images can be, and are, readily manipulated, in increasingly
sophisticated technological ways.
2.
Words (Ad “copy” or “text”):
Approach
the letters and words of the ad (the “copy”), as well as its images, as
imparting not only a verbal message,
but also a visual message as part of
the visual look and design of the
ad(s).
·
Verbal
Messages: Summarize the message, what is said. Do the words try to appeal to the senses (taste, touch,
sight, sound, smell)? Do the verbal
messages carry particular persuasive appeals (see below)?
·
Visual
Messages: Describe the visual design of the copy (e.g., typeface style,
font, size, layout and placement, color, line, shape, etc.).
·
Verbal
and Visual Messages: Consider placement, groupings, isolation of copy and
image. What is your eye invited to
connect or isolate by placement and layout of ad elements?
Is the copy placed near particular images so they work together to convey
meaning? How do the verbal messages and visual design of the type relate to the
ad's images? Do the words and
images complement and support each other, or do they contrast to each other?
In what way(s)? and why?
3.
Other Compositional Elements include:
·
Color
( e.g., hue/color, value/intensity, tone/gradations,
“cool” tones like bluish black tones for black and white ads, or
green/blue/violent for color ads; “warm” tones like sepia/brownish-black for
black and white ads, or red, orange, yellow for color ads)
·
Line
(continuous
or interrupted, dotted lines, straight edges created by copy and edges of
images)
·
Shape
(circles,
squares, cones, triangles, etc.)
·
Size
and Proportion
·
Volume
(e.g.,
heavy, airy, depth)
·
Texture
·
Lighting
(may be
natural or “available” light, or unnatural, special effects lighting;
“high key” = light, bright, white; “low key” =dark, shadowy;
backlighting = lighting from behind an object to silhouette, define, keep
object from merging with the background)
·
Lights
and shadows
·
Contrast
(visual
differences among compositional elements)’
·
Direction
and movement
B.
Overall Visual "Look" or Visual Style
of the advertisement. What visual
impression or impact seems to dominate?
·
Does the
use of lights and darks, color or black/white, people and situation, or other
elements create a dominant mood or feeling?
·
Do
compositional elements seem balanced or imbalanced to your eye?
Does the design seem top-heavy? bottom-heavy? vertically, horizontally,
or diagonally aligned? Are elements
and groupings symmetrical, evenly distributed, or asymmetrical?
What is the visual impact—interesting or boring?
·
Is the ad
visually simple and clean, or visually complex and busy? Are there large
sections of “negative space” or is every available space filled with image
and/or copy?
·
Would you
describe the ad(s) as naturalistic and realistic, or abstract, distorted,
fantastic (e..g, clearly beyond normative perceptions of what is “natural”
and “realistic”)?
·
Does the
ad seem polished, smooth, and sophisticated (perhaps because of high-tech,
enhanced or digitally manipulated imagery); or grainy, gritty, and raw?
·
Do you
get an impression of visual clarity or visual confusion?
For example, are the images
sharply defined and focused, or blurry and out of focus?
Is the lighting harsh or delicate? Do
colors complement each other, or do they seem to clash and vibrate against each
other? Is an effect of visual
confusion is created, does it serve the purpose of the ad?
·
Does the
ad suggest illusions of movement or depth, or is the ad visually static and
flat? (…because of image size and
relationships, color, line, rhythm, continued or interrupted lines, superimposed
images, etc.?)
C. Layout
and Design:
·
What is
the ad’s focal point or center
of visual interest? (Consider
too how the ad first caught your eye and attracted your attention.)
This is the part of the ad that demands and holds the greatest attraction
to the eye. Where is the viewer’s
eye drawn first? Why? What
compositional elements seem to predominate?—Image or copy/words, color,
line, size, dots, proportion, shapes, volume (heavy? airy?) etc.?
·
Rule
of 1/3’s:. If you divided the frame into three equal parts horizontally
and then again vertically, imagine where these lines would intersect:
the center of visual interest is
often placed off center at one of these intersections.
·
Where
are visual elements placed in relation to each other? How are
elements grouped, merged, blended, and do some overlap each other? And what does
their visual/thematic relationship seem to be? Which elements are separated or isolated (and thus
emphasized?) and why? What seems to
be the “visual logic” of this layout and design?
·
What
is in the Foreground? What is in
the Background? Do some elements jump forward (seem
nearest), while others recede (seem farther away)?
What do forward/near elements seem to be emphasizing, and
receding/distanced elements seem to be de-emphasizing or more subtly suggesting?
·
Perspective:
Does the layout create an illusion of depth (3-D)? Or
does the ad seem flat (2-D)? Perspective
or depth illusion can be created by the relative size of objects?
“Normal” perception expects larger objects to be closer, smaller
objects to be more distant. The
convergence of lines and relative variations of color tone can also create the
illusion of depth and volume.
·
Contrast
and Continuity: Are there any visual contrasts or abrupt changes, mergings or
isolations among the visual elements? What visual effects do these
contrasts/changes or mergings/isolations yield? Do they emphasize certain compositional elements, and
de-emphasize others?
·
Directional
(Eye) Movement: Ad layout may be designed to control the viewer’s eye
movement in certain directions. After
analyzing what attracts your eye first, notice where your eye is invited to go
second, third, fourth, etc. Does
this directional movement seem to move your eye vertically, horizontally,
diagonally, or does it circle? Is
your eye led off the page, or invited to stay within the ad?
What visual features (line, color, size, proportions, volume, overlapping
or separated images, etc.) seem to be guiding or directing your eye
movement—and to what?
·
Patterns
and Repetitions: Do
visual patterns and repetitions (of color, shape, size, etc.) invite the eye to
connect visually certain parts of ad and create “visual unity?
Or do discordant elements of visual diversity and discontinuity, seem to
fragment the ad’s visual imagery? If
so, why?
·
Visual
Vantage Point: What is the dominant visual vantage point from which the
images are viewed? Are the images shot from an usual angle?—e.g. from a high
angle (from above looking down on the scene ), or low
angle (shot from below looking up at the scene)?
What emotional impact or visual message does this point of view produce?
·
Framing
and Bleeding: Is the ad or image framed by clear, self-contained
borders?--or are your eyes invited to move off the page?
Do images seem complete and self-contained, or does part of the
“complete” image seem to be left out or to “bleed” across other images
or off the page? What effect does
such visual framing or bleeding seem to have?
·
Negative
Space: Assume that “negative space” (or so-called
“empty” space of the background and/or field on which copy and image appear)
is also carefully designed. How is such negative space organized and used?
·
Visual/Verbal
Relationships of Image and Copy (see “Copy or Words”
above).
3.
Analyzing Types of Persuasive Appeals Used and Messages Communicated.
Apply what you have learned above from
(1) analyzing
the rhetorical context and targeted audience, and (2) descriptively analyzing the visual content, style,
and layout/design of the ad, to this task of (3) identifying, analyzing (and
evaluating, if
applicable) the types of persuasive appeals and messages
communicated in the ad.
·
Assume that that advertisers have carefully planned all these
elements, intended to work together to achieve the advertisers’
persuasive purposes. (Advertisers
spend millions, billions, on market research to determine what will work!) Ads
must be designed and placed to quickly, immediately attract the attention of
the “right” (intended or targeted) audience.
Once they attract this attention, the ad must then quickly convey
messages and appeals most likely to influence that targeted audience to
buy the product/service advertised.
·
Appeals to emotions (such as desire, fantasy, envy, fear,
anxiety) and values predominate in today’s advertising.
Based on extensive market research, ads often sell desirable
“images” that they want consumers to associate with the product,
service, or corporation; rather than trying to sell the product based on
its own merits. Advertisers
rarely use logical appeals of sound reasoning and convincing supporting
evidence to sell—these, after all, require more time, closer attention, and
critical thinking from consumers. And critical thinking is just what advertisers DO NOT
want consumers to apply to advertisements!
The
following are common appeals used by advertisers,
adapted from Consuming Passions, by Ellen Mohr Catalano and Nina
Sonenberg (from “Affluenza”):
If
you use this product or service, you will...
