English 101: Essay #1
For your first essay, you have four (4) options:
1.) Visit the "Women in Fashion" portfolio, and write an essay in which you chart and analyze the
depiction of women in fashion advertising from the 1940s through today. Be sure to compare and contrast
the advertisements, noting both their similarities and differences, and be sure to offer an analysis of how
the depiction of women in these advertisements has and/or has not changed over the years.
2.) In "The Beauty Myth," Naomi Wolf argues that the "modern arsenal of the [beauty] myth is a
dissemination of millions of images of the current ideal" (492). Test her theory, as well as the specifics of
her argument, by analyzing the advertisements in a few women's fashion magazines. Be sure to spend a
significant amount of time discussing the current ideal of female beauty, and be certain to make an
argument about the social significance and consequences of disseminating such an ideal.
3.) In her article "Sex, Lies, and Advertising," Gloria Steinem insists that virtually all of the content in
women's magazines is a disguised form of advertising. In other words, she insists that there is a direct
relationship between the editorial and the advertisements in magazines like Elle, Cosmo, W, Glamour,
etc. Test her theory by writing an essay in which you analyze the relationship between the content and
the advertisements in a single issue of a current women's magazine.
4.) Re-read Thomas Frank's "Countercultural Consumerism." Then, with pen (or pencil) in hand, visit a
youth-oriented store, such as Urban Outfitters or Abercrombie and Fitch, and analyze its advertising,
product displays, and both exterior and interior decor. Based on the evidence you accumulate, write an
essay in which you guage the extent to which the store uses anti-shopping motifs as a marketing
strategy.
The requirements for the essay are as follows:
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Essay must be 2-3 pages in length
Essay must be argumentative in nature
Essay must adhere to MLA standards and guidelines
Rough draft of essay must be exchanged with another class member (see below)
Regardless of which option you choose, here are a few things you should keep in mind as you are writing
your essay:
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You should follow the steps for conducting a semiotic analysis outlined in the semiotics handout
Your objective is to analyze the social significance of the signs
Your essay should contain a well-argued thesis statement
The "body" of your essay should work to support your thesis statement
Your essay should be free of grammatical and punctuation errors
EXCHANGING DRAFTS
For the first essay, you will be required to read and make comments on the rough drafts of your
classmates' essays. To do so, you will need to access the discussion forum and post your comments in
the conference folder entitled "Essay One Drafts."