English 101 Assignment Help-How to Survive the Rhetorical Ad Analysis Revision
Survival Guide, pt. II:
How to Survive the Rhetorical Ad Analysis Revi
ADDING BACKGROUND INFO FROM A SOURCE.
What kind of information is “background”? This should be factual information – you must always cite factual information! This includes: year(s) the ad ran, quotes from the brand itself, the brand’s claimed intentions according to the brand, information about the models or actors, and information about the product itself or the history of the ad (where it can be found, in what form, for how long).
This does NOT include analysis or description of the details of the ad (this is YOUR work!), controversy of the ad (this is a “secondary source,” which we will not be using in this essay!), or other people’s ideas about or analysis of the ad. I will be grading mainly on your ability to OBJECTIVELY and SPECIFICALLY ANALYZE, as well as your essay structure. We need these skills for the next essay (and strong, effective writing in general).
INSERTING IMAGES AND CAPTIONS.
For this essay, you must insert AT LEAST ONE image into the body of the text. Follow the guidlines for FIGURES here: https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/747/14/
Think critically about where your image would be most helpful to the reader in illustrating your point.
The process for this is as follows (if it is not working, make sure you are using the OFFLINE version of Microsoft Word, and that you are using the “INSERT” method and not dragging the image into the document):
- INSERTING IMAGE: Save your image somewhere on your PC (drag and drop will not allow captions!)
- In your saved word document, press “INSERT” from the top menu, then “PICTURES.”
- Select the picture. Resize it (I recommend using no more than 1/3rd of the width of the page for readability – this should HELP your reader, not annoy them J)
- PLACEMENT: Click the image, and a small box to the top right with a “macaroni” will pop up – if you hover your cursor over it, it should read “layout options.” If it does not come up, click “FORMAT” and select “wrap text.”
- I recommend using “square” (to have text side-by-side) or “top and bottom” (to have text above and below).
- CAPTIONS: Right click the image (Command click on a mac), and select “Insert Caption…”
- Type your description, as well as your citation, into the box next to “Figure 1.”
- That’s it! If you need clarification, try youtube tutorials or email me – do your best!
EXAMPLE – your end result should look like so (model is my cat, Miso):
Levi’s is reversing the myth that women are unsuited for the outdoors (because they are weak and hate getting dirty) by portraying a woman wearing heavy hiking boots and a fresh layer of mud (see fig. 1). The boots are absolutely covered with a brown, wet mud. They are not very fashionable, and are actually very bulky. Women’s fashion is often portrayed in ads as slimming, streamlined and, usually, clean. The shoes also appear to be hiking boots, which are associated with very strenuous hobbies. You have to be strong to hike, and you have to wear hiking boots. By portraying the opposite of what we normally see women wearing in media – dirt instead of cleanness, bulky shoes instead of slim heels or running shoes – this ad is reversing the myth of women hating or not being strong enough for the outdoors.
COUNTERARGUMENTS.
Your counterargument should be against your THESIS. That is, you are arguing that a myth is presented, that the ad is not JUST selling a product but some cultural story or idea that is not true (fiction). This is actually the perfect place to discuss any analysis you may have discarded or thought differently about after writing. For example, the myth and claim from above:
THESIS: “In the 2049 “Get Dirty” ad campaign, Levi’s is reversing the myth that women are unsuited for the outdoors (because they are weak and hate getting dirty) by portraying a model wearing dirty and stereotypically masculine attire and who is smiling while doing strenuous activity.”
COUNTERARGUMENT: “It could be claimed that the “Get Dirty” campaign is not actually breaking the myth of women as afraid of or apathetic to the outdoors, but actually using the image of the image of a muddy, struggling woman to provide a subject of the male gaze (to look “hot”) and sell pants with sex appeal. This would mean that the ad’s true motive is to present the image of a physically appealing woman struggling in the outdoors. This could be true, as the model in the ad is a stereotypically beautiful woman (tall, thin, light-skinned). These elements could possibly lead us to see the ad as promoting the myths that women are sexual objects for men, and create the subliminal idea that only white skinny women a enjoy the outdoors. However, the ad still challenges the myth that women are unsuitable for outdoor activities because it portrays a woman, and only a woman (independent of any male models) alone and succeeding without help, and was used in a magazine targeted specifically for women (Woman’s Day magazine).”
You don’t have to go into such detail in your counterargument, but do make sure the paragraph’s main idea is to propose an alternate myth or to contradict your myth with specific elements/claims (“why would someone claim that?” explain!). You should ALWAYS argue back against the counter-argument, even if you concede or agree a bit (but not entirely!), because it will greatly weaken your essay otherwise!
WORKS CITED.
For general questions about the works cited page, and instructions on how to set it up, visit OWL Purdue’s “Works Cited” page: https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/747/01/
A few of you have this problem:
Graff, Gerald, and Cathy Birkenstein. “They Say / I Say”: The Moves That Matter in Academic Writing. 3rd ed., W.W. Norton & Company, 2017.
See that second line? (“3rd ed., W.W. Norton…”) That should have a “hanging indentation.” Like so:
Graff, Gerald, and Cathy Birkenstein. “They Say / I Say”: The Moves That Matter in Academic Writing. 3rd ed., W.W. Norton & Company, 2017.
There! This hanging indent is standard practice in works cited/bibliographies across all disciplines and majors/subjects. To do this:
- Click anywhere inside your citation’s text, or highlight them all.
- In Word, click the “HOME” button on the top menu. You should see a section that says “paragraph” at the bottom of the ribbon. If you hover over the little arrow at the bottom of that “paragraph” box, it should say “paragraph settings.” Click that little arrow, and a dialogue window should pop up.
- Under “indents and spacing,” see the dropdown box titled, “indentation.” Select “hanging” from the dropdown menu, and press OK.
A WARNING: If you just press “enter” and then “tab” (the “lazy” way to do this), it will actually mess up your formatting. Seriously, just use the “hanging indent” method. Learn how to do these academic things now to avoid suffering in the future J
GOOD LUCK WRITING! As always, I’m here to help you (to the best of my ability)!
