Assignment Instructions, Essay 1
Comparative Analysis of Two Print Ads
“The more we know about how to analyze situations and draw informed conclusions, the better we can become
about making savvy judgments about the people, situations, and media we encounter.”
-Laura Carroll, “Backpacks vs. Briefcases: Steps toward Rhetorical Analysis”
The ability to analyze can help us to make better judgments about the messages that continually
bombard us. But analysis is difficult because it requires us to reexamine things that have become
habitual (and therefore invisible) through familiarity. To be a good analyst, you need to develop
the art of looking, and that’s what we’re going to be doing in Essay 1.
Basic Requirements and Getting Started
You work for a magazine editor, and your boss wants you to review some recently published ads
from current magazines. For this assignment, you will choose to “work for” one of the eight
magazines from which we have taken ads. You will write an essay of about 1200 words (3.5-4
pages) which recommends the use of one ad over another in the magazine you select to work for.
You will analyze and compare two different advertisements that advertise similar products.
You’ll develop a specific recommendation for your boss—also called a thesis, and you will
provide support your recommendation by using and describing details from each advertisement.
This requires that you do the following:
1. Select one of the eight magazines as your place of employment. You will write
this essay for your boss who is editor of that magazine. In the Bb Learn site,
there is a folder entitled “Ad Pairs,” and in that folder there are eight different
magazines.
2. Your instructor will provide you with a number of advertisements in a number of
different categories (e.g., Body Wash Ads, Car Ads, etc.). Select two
advertisements from ONE category that you find the most striking or interesting –
you should pick two ads from the same grouping.
3. Analyze each advertisement: you should analyze the target audience for each ad,
the context (i.e., the publication in which each ad originally appeared), the ad’s
goal, and the compositional features of each ad. (Note: you will be doing this
over the course of several class periods.)
4. Based on this work, decide what main claim or thesis (or recommendation) you
are going to make to your boss about which ad is better for your magazine and
the reasons why. Like all thesis statements, yours will serve as a “map” that will
guide readers through your essay. Your thesis statement should show your
readers something about how the two ads persuade their respective audiences that
isn’t obvious to the casual observer.
5. Draft the paper, supporting this thesis with relevant details from the ad (the key
word here is relevant – don’t include every single detail you’ve considered in
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your invention process. The details you include should support your thesis. See
below for a more complete breakdown of the parts of your paper).
6. Revise the paper, using feedback from your instructor and your peers;
7. Format your final draft according to the Guidelines for Formatting Final Drafts.
Parts of the Paper (from pg 253 in the Allyn & Bacon Guide)
We will be working on developing and putting together different parts of your paper. Your final
draft should end up with the following parts:
Introduction
• Hooks readers’ interest by talking about the needs of the magazine as it relates to the ads and
the products.
• Introduces the two ads (the name of the product, and where each ad appeared);
• Sets up the similarities or differences between the two ads;
• Ends with initial mapping and forecasting by providing the claim or thesis statement. The
thesis might look something like this: "While both ads are similar in X respect... [concisely
state what the ads have in common], because of the differences in their target audiences, they
are very different in the way they present their products... [concisely state the most striking or
interesting differences of the ads]. Considering these differences show us that... [what do the
differences between the ads make one more appropriate for our publication than another]."
Body of Paper
• Describes each ad in turn (assume that the readers of your essay don’t have the ad in front of
them, so you’ll need to orient them by describing the ad).
• Analyzes and compares/contrasts the ads, using ideas that you generated from close
examination of the ads, and your homework assignments on context, target audience, and
the compositional features of the ads.
Conclusion
• Returns to big picture for sense of closure: might talk about the significance of your analysis
– i.e., briefly, which ad is more appropriate and why?
See next page for grading rubric. (This will be used to evaluate your final papers.)
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Grading Chart, Essay 1 Final
Quality of revision. The writer has revised in the true sense: by reseeing the essay, using feedback from the instructor and other reviewers
to make substantive, thoughtful changes.
10 points
Analytical acumen. The essay has an identifiable and clear thesis that
makes a significant claim about the differences or similarities between
the persuasive strategies of the two ads. The essay demonstrates a
more-than-superficial understanding of how the ads work to persuade
their target audiences in the light of their compositional features.
25 points
Support. The essay provides adequate description of both ads, and the
description is used in service of the writer’s analytical points.
25 points
Organization. The essay is coherently organized, with a strong
introduction and conclusion, well-developed paragraphs, and clear
transitions between ideas and paragraphs.
20 points
Proper editing and format, including correct use of MLA citation style
(the ad should be cited on a separate Works Cited page at the end of the
essay). The essay is free of spelling, punctuation, and other mechanical
errors, and is formatted properly.
20 points
TOTAL POINTS FOR FINAL DRAFT, ESSAY 1
100 points
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