ENGL 111 – Fall 2020

Paper 2
Rhetorical Analysis: Food Ad Critique

Due date: Sunday, October 25 on Canvas by 11:59 p.m.

Online peer review: Thursday, October 22 (Drafts of no less than 750 words due on Canvas by
Wednesday, October 21 by 11:59 p.m.)
Length: 1000-1250 words
Percentage of final grade: 12%
Number of sources: Three images/videos (they must be advertisements)
Citation style: APA
Document design: 12 point font, 1” margins, Times New Roman or Calibri font
Acceptable file types: .doc, .docx, .rtf, .pdf (do not submit Google Docs or you will not receive credit)
Corresponding chapter of Writing Today: Chapter 10

Assignment Description
Your task for this paper is to compare and contrast three ads by conducting a rhetorical analysis of all
three of them. The goal of a rhetorical analysis is to understand how an audience responds to various
persuasion techniques. Since we’re focusing on a food theme this semester, for this paper you will need
to find three different advertisements for either a food in general (like coffee) or a brand (say, Folgers).
There must be at least ten years between each of the ads. You must include a proper citation for these
advertisements in your paper and in the works cited page. You must also include the advertisements at
the end of your paper.

Getting Started
As you probably know by now, I love coffee. If I were writing this paper, I would likely choose coffee as
my topic because it interests me. Here are three advertisements I might use for this paper:
1950s: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VprIbx4QkPc
1990s: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OJ8JuEBu8ZY
2020: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y2Ea1-5jj48
Immediately I notice these three ads are very different. The first is pointedly sexist, the second is on the
border of inappropriate, and the third is quite different. That’s how I would begin my analysis—by
noticing differences. From there, you could point out similarities, like how the first and third mention
coffee drinking in the morning, but not the second. I might even discuss that the most recent one
identifies coffee as an individual expression. For a rhetorical analysis, these are all good starting points,
but you’ll need to dig in deeper.

Research Requirements and Where to Look

To find my three ads, I Googled “coffee ads 1950s” “coffee ads 1990s” and “coffee ads 2020.” You can
use similar search terms with whatever food related topic you select.

Reading Recommendations
This assignment requires you to read images, not just look at them. This might seem like an easy skill,
but it takes practice to really dig into an image. We’ll practice this with our weekly Canvas work.

Framework
From Writing Today, pg. 142:
  An introduction that identifies the subject of your analysis, states your purpose and main point
(thesis statement), offers background information on the subject, and stresses its importance.
 An explanation of the rhetorical concepts that you will use to analyze the subject.
 A description or summary of your subject that sets it in historical context.
 An analysis of the subject through the chosen rhetorical concepts.
 A conclusion that states or restates your main point (thesis statement) and looks to the future.

For our purposes, we are composing an ad critique, a microgenre described on page 153 in our
textbook:
 Summarize the ad. If the ad appeared on television or the internet, describe it objectively in one
paragraph. Tell your readers the who, what, where, and when of the ad.
 Highlight the unique quality that makes the advertisement stand out. There must be
something remarkable about the ad that caught your attention. What was it? What made it
stand out from all the other ads that are similar to it?
 Describe the typical features of ads like this one. Identify the three to five common features
that are usually found in this type of advertisement. You can use examples of other ads to
explain how a typical ad would look or sound.
 Show how this ad is different from others. Compare the features of the ad to those of similar
advertisements. Demonstrate why this ad is better or worse than its competitors.
 Include many details. Throughout your critique, use plenty of detail to help your readers
visualize or hear the ad. You want to replicate the experience of seeing or hearing it.

We’ll review all these steps in class, so it is important you attend class, take notes, participate in
activities, and ask question to fully grasp the purpose and expectations of this assignment.

There are a few ways you can structure this paper, as you’ll see in class. It is up to you which pattern you
select. The most regularly used patterns are the following:
ABCABC…: For this pattern, you alternate between discussion points about the three advertisements.
AA…BB…CC…: For this pattern, you discuss all the points for one advertisement, then all the points for
the next, and then all the points for the other.

Peer review:
In addition to your essay, you will be responsible for completing a peer-review. To prepare for this peer
review, you must submit a complete draft the evening before the online activity is assigned. (These
dates are on the course calendar.) Each student will be randomly assigned two other papers to peer
review. On the day of peer review, you will receive these other papers on Canvas and you will complete
a worksheet to help you provide feedback. You will only receive credit for peer review if you have
submitted a paper and provided feedback for other students.

Grading:
I will be looking for a clear rhetorical analysis which follows the structure we’ll discuss from Chapter 10
of Writing Today. I will use the ENGL 111 rubric as a guide as well. You’ll need to incorporate the
feedback you’ve received from me in the previous paper into this one. Part of the learning process in
writing courses, and all courses, is to always build on what you’ve accomplished and struggled with.