Questions and Topics We Can Help You To Answer: 

Textual Analysis Paper 

Instructions: Choose one of the prompts below to develop into a paper. Once you have completed your essay, you will develop a presentation to share your textual analysis with the class. For all options, your paper and presentation must discuss at least THREE ads. In your essay, you will need to include a description of all ads you choose to discuss along with your analysis. Your presentation will need to include all the ads that you use and also some slides which guide your discussion of the ads. 

Prompt One – A Picture is Worth a Thousand Words – Identify at least three print, TV, or web ads aimed at influencing your opinion on a political or social issue. Analyze the visuals and the accompanying words in the ad by doing a “close reading” of them and then describe how the issue is represented. Does this ad contain any logical fallacies? What appeals does it employ? How effectively does the ad meet its goals? Can you identify any problems with how the issue is represented that might undermine its goals? Develop a thesis statement in which you argue whether or not these ads are successful at convincing people to be involved in this social cause. 

Prompt Two – What are they really saying? – Identify at least three print, TV, or web ads that are explicitly selling a product, good, or service. Analyze the visuals and accompanying words in the ad in order to determine the implicit message of these ads. In other words, an ad might be explicitly trying to sell a certain type of shoes, the ad may be implicitly arguing that only sexy people wear this brand or that wearing this brand will make you sexy. As part of your analysis, you may want to discuss the major appeals used in the ads along with any fallacies that you find. Finally, you should include some discussion of the success or failure of this ad in both convincing viewers of its explicit and implicit arguments. 

Prompt Four –Same thing, different catchphrase? - Choose three ads from three different companies that are selling a similar product. How does each company present their product? What does their presentation tell us about this company or its primary market? Do these advertisements reach beyond the selected market and how so? What images or slogans does each brand use to reach their selected markets? Do any of these ads contain logical fallacies? What appeals do they use? For your analysis, you will want to examine each ad within the context of the market it is aiming to reach and then evaluate which ad does the best job at reaching the market it intends. You thesis should make a determination either about the ads as a whole or evaluate which of these campaigns is the most successful. 

Prompt Five – Oh No, They Didn’t! – Choose at least three TV or print ads that are controversial. You will want to use ads that are linked in some way. For example, you may choose a particular campaign or brand or you may want to look at ads that are controversial for similar reasons. What is controversial about the images contained in these ads? What do you think these ads suggest about the product advertised? Do any of these ads contain logical fallacies? What appeals do they use? Do they provide effective advertising? Why or why not?  Your thesis should be discuss the overall success or failure of these ads and how that is impact by the use of controversial images or text.