Topic:Analytical Essay: Analyzing the Magazine Advertisement
Subject:English
Volume: 4 pages
Type: Essay
Format: MLA
Description
Analyzing the Magazine Advertisement: With this essay, please examine the advertisement for its RACIALIZED THEMES (or, you may do gender or its intersection with race [race + gender]). You will need to choose one advertisement. With this assignment, you will use your own observations for support. Step 1:Think about your advertisement. What message does it communicate about race or a racial group (there may be more than one)? Also, think about the audience. Who is this advertisement targeting (someone like you)? You’ll want to develop a working thesis at this stage as well. Step 2: Notice the imagery (haircut, clothing, etc) of the text (in the language of the academy, the advertisement is called a “text”). What is happening? Discuss the who, the what, the when, the how, and the why. What is the idea being sold and how do clothing and hair amplify the message? lt may be helpful to approach your advertisement as a film: what would be the next scene in this so-called “movie”? Also, you may want to think about what the advertisers in a meeting before the advertisement was published discussed in regard to clothing, hair style, and the other aspects of imagery. Step 3: Next, observe the color scheme of the text. Why did the advertisers choose to use a lot of blue in the background setting (for example)? lf the model is Black, is she of lighter skin complexion? You may also want to pay attention to the color of the clothing and what this represents (yellow as the color of warmth and optimism). Think about color and how it is used to create a general mood or feeling for the subject matter? Step 4: Discuss the wording of the advertisement. Why did the advertisers choose to use the phrase (or caption)? You may also want to think about the color of the wording as well as the font and the use of punctuation (for example, how would the meaning change if there was no punctuation or the use of an exclamation point in place of a period)? Step 5: Conclude your essay. You will need to summarize the main points. ***A note on the introduction (which is similar to the conclusion): Note that your essay can begin with an overarching discussion of contemporary advertisements and how they are racialized (and/or gendered). You can provide a few examples of advertisements (zoom out) before you zoom in and discuss your particular example. ****Logistics: Size 12 in any font, one-inch margins all around, double-spaced, and demonstrate the proper heading that follows the MLA format. lt should be four pages. Please cited the advertisement at the works cited page (the appendix) so l can review it… Oh and please come up with a creative title. As well, feel free to reach out to sources as these come up during the course of your paper writing (if you do so-one of these must be an academic source…not a mainstream, journalistic one).
