Essay Two

1. Essay Two

2. In this essay you’ll • Practice the basic essay structure you learned in Essay One; • Learn how to write examples that are not from personal experience; • Develop examples using narration and description; • Write an essay from a detailed outline.

3. Discussion of Topic • This class is called Composition and Rhetoric—what is this “rhetoric” stuff anyway? • More importantly, why do I need to study it?

4. Composition and Rhetoric • You’re in a college essay writing class, being trained to write papers correctly so that you can get through other college classes with good grades. • As far as that goes, you’re right.

5. But people use language everyday to manipulate and control you. • It’s called rhetoric and when people are very good at it, you don’t even know you’re being manipulated and controlled. • In fact, often people aren’t aware that they’re using language to manipulate and control—they just think they’re expressing the truth as they see it.

6. Consider the following articles on the Jena Six • White Supremacy and the Jena Six: Southern Discomfort: • http://www.counterpunch.org/woodward07102007.html • Is Jena Getting a Bad Rap? (click to listen) • http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=14214976 • Lessons from Jena, LA • http://www.kansascity.com/sports/columnists/jason_whitlock/story/284511.html • The Complete Jena Six Story • http://tncwatch.com/2007/09/complete-jena-six-story.html • The Jena Six • http://www.theconservativevoice.com/article/28096.html

7. They’re all telling the same story, but it doesn’t sound the same.

8. Aristotle believed that • All writing is persuasive—we’re always trying to get a point across; • And that the techniques we use to get our points across fall into three different categories: • Ethos • Pathos • Logos

9. Aristotle’s Persuasive Appeals • Ethos: • We’re persuaded because we trust the persuader (click here for Tiger Woods ad illustrating ethos); • Pathos: • We’re persuaded because we’ve been emotionally moved (click here for a Save the Children commercial, effective by appealing to your emotions); • Logos: • We’re persuaded because we’ve been rationally moved (Click here for a Dodge Ram commercial —lots of “facts”). See “Ethos, Logos, Pathos: Three Ways to Persuade” for a fuller explanation: http://www.calstatela.edu/faculty/jgarret/3waypers.htm

10. There are more ways to persuade than just those. . . • And in Essay Two, you’ll get to explore some of them for yourself.

11. Here’s what you’ll write about: Everyone knows that advertising’s purpose is persuasion, but sometimes we don’t realize how analytically and scientifically advertisers work to figure out how to persuade. We don’t realize to what extent we’re studied like lab rats to determine how best to persuade us. In this essay, I want you to analyze some advertising, either a single ad (print or video) or a group of related ads to determine how the ads persuade us, how they manipulate us into wanting (and buying) things that we probably don’t really need.

12. Step One: Finding and Analyzing the Ads • You need to find some ads to use in the essay; • At the end of this first section, there’s a list of web sites to visit to view ads • You’ll need to “read” the ad in order to use it in the analysis of your essay, so use the “ad-reading” information on the following screens to make notes while you view the ads: • The material on the following screens comes from “’Reading’ Advertisements,” on the Newsweek Education Program (http://www.newsweekeducation.com/extras/ad.php)

13. How to Read an Ad (for the purposes of this assignment, at least) • First, figure out what the ad promises—its thesis; • Second, determine what kinds of techniques are used to support the promise; • Finally, identify the ad’s target audience.

14. In the next series of slides, I’ll talk you through the three steps of reading an ad: • Determining the promise • Identifying the persuasive techniques • Describing the target audience

15. The Promise: Definition • The promise is what is implied or suggested that the product will do for the consumer; • Successful ads promise several outcomes; • You’ll have to read between the lines often to uncover all the promises.

16. Persuasive Techniques: Definition • Persuasive techniques are the methods ads use to persuade consumers to buy a product. • Most techniques appeal to our need for a sense of belonging or acceptance. • Good ads use a number of techniques, usually more than one in each ad; • In general, you can analyze any ad by using Aristotle’s three techniques • But the next five slides offer a partial list of additional techniques along with their definitions (when needed)

17. Persuasive Techniques: Examples • Visual images—look at color and layout in print ads and character casting in video ads • Psychological manipulation—be sensitive to ways that the ad tries to get to you feel or act • Persuasive words—be sensitive to words chosen for their emotional effect • Music—determine what kind of emotion or reaction the music is attempting to evoke;

18. More Persuasive Technique Examples • Humor or cleverness—how are you being manipulated as your laughter distracts you? • The Skittles commercials • Just plain folks—appeal to the common, ordinary people • The Ocean Spray cranberry juice commercials • Visual imagery—use of people, settings or situations that appeal to consumers. • Almost any beer commercial • Rewards—toys, gimmicks, rebates • Think of kids’ breakfast cereals or computer companies.

19. More Persuasive Techniques Examples • Testimonial—use of an expert or famous person to persuade • The George Foreman grill, Michael Jordan for Hanes underwear; • Repetition—idea is repeated over and over • Think of radio ads or that bail bond jingle during the 10:00 news:“367-9391, You ring; we spring”; • Free or Bargain • Something for nothing; • Glittering Generality—the slogan is so attractive that the audience doesn’t question what it means—”ultra,” “The American Way.”

20. Still More Persuasive Technique Examples • Name calling—two products compared, usually through visuals with one suggested to be superior to the other • At Burger King® Restaurants, you can always get your flame broiled WHOPPER® Sandwich made your way. We're proud to say that we serve individuals, not billions. • Faulty cause and effect, i.e., use this product (shampoo), get this effect (hair like Catherine Zeta Jones) • Common sense—appeal to everyday sense of good or bad/right or wrong; • Reasoning—appeal through rational logic

21. And Finally, the Last Slide of Persuasive Techniques Examples • Transfer techniques: positive feelings about the people in the ad are transferred to the consumer—you’ll be like “them” • Bandwagon—everyone is doing it! • Sex appeal—this product will make you sexy • Love or popularity—this product will make you lovable or popular • Power—this product will give you power over others • Fame—this product will give you fame • Wealth—this product will make you seem wealthy

22. The Last Thing to do in Reading an Ad is to Identify the Ad’s Target Audience • The target audience can be defined by one or more of the following: • Gender • Socio-economic status • Age • Ethnicity • Geographical region • Political or ideological stance • Educational level

23. Let’s take notes on an ad • Remember the three questions to ask: • What’s the promise? • What techniques are being used? • Who’s the target audience? Click on the picture to go to the video

24. What’s the promise? • If you use Craftsman Tools (the tools of Nascar), these tools will transform any project into an exciting and high speed event, like Nascar! • Any ordinary Joe (look closely at the mechanic—he’s real ordinary) can be part of this high speed world • These tools are so special that they’ll elevate the average guy into something special (even without his help).

25. Where will you find the “promise” part of the ad? • It comes from you—your own understanding; • Try to come up with several to pick from—usually, a good ad makes multiple promises. • Once you have the “promise,” then look for how the ad attempts to “prove the promise”: Look for the persuasive techniques used

26. Humor and surprise, of course; Transfer (fame)—we admire the Nascar drivers and want to share—even a little bit—in their world; The bowling alley is a place that the viewer can probably relate to Watching sports on TV Going bowling himself Faulty cause and effect Use these tools and you will create high speed excitement in whatever you’re trying to fix This exciting world of NASCAR is open to anyone, just plain folks—like that repairman—if you have the right tools Glittering generality—”The Nascar Tools,” like that’s enough for anyone to know What Techniques Did I Find in this Ad?

27. Who’s the target audience? • Guys (or women who enjoy participating in manly activities, like watching sports, doing mechanical repairs and owning quality tools) • Specifically, guys who watch sports on TV; and • Guys who are NASCAR fans;

28. You can do the same sort of analysis with a print ad • Just ask yourself, What makes the ad appealing or persuasive? • And work through the three questions: • What’s the promise? • What are the techniques? • Who’s the target audience?

29. What’s the Promise? • Dasani water will make you a person like this guy, one who lives life fully and needs extreme refreshment.

30. What are the persuasive techniques? Transfer—this guyhas just climbed amountain and we want to be like him, rugged and outdoorsy Pay attention to the colors in the ad— mostly blue, which is a color we associate with water. The slogan has two meanings. No one can live without water, but the other meaning of just gotta have it-- “can’t live without it,” works as well. Look at where the ad is set—in the wilderness, which is pure and natural, like Dasani water. Look at the placement of images on the page. At the Center, where the eye naturally goes, is the refreshing splash of water in the guy’s face. Faulty cause & effect— Drink this water and you’ll have the energy, strength and stamina to be like this guy.

31. Who’s the target audience? • Probably young, active people with enough disposable income to buy their water in pretty plastic bottles rather than drinking it out of the tap; • These people are probably health-conscious as well, wanting to carry water with them all the time in order to stay hydrated.

32. Assignment 2.1 • Keeping in mind your essay’s purpose—to explain how advertising works—I want you to gather five to seven ads, which will ultimately serve as the examples in your essay; • It will simplify you work considerably if the ads you select have something in common—all ads for a certain type of product or all ads aimed at a certain group of people or all ads using a certain type of manipulation • You can browse on the Internet for video commercials or search on the Internet for reproductions of ads from magazines or newspapers; • You can use print ads, but you’ll have to work out a way that I can see the ads you’re working with, like scanning them or finding them on the Internet; • You’ll need to take notes on the ads, asking and answering those three questions.

33. False Advertising: A Gallery of Parody http://parody.organique.com/ All of Your Insecurities Wrapped Up in a Thirty Second Spot The article talks about the negative effects of advertising on women. http://www.efn.org/~heroux/Abby.html Women’s Bodies in Sports Ads http://www.lclark.edu/~soan370/ Very Funny Ads—some of them are a little racy http://www.veryfunnyads.com/ Emerald Nuts http://www.emeraldnuts.com/ --go to video Kontraband—these are pretty tasteless http://www.kontraband.com/main.asp?cat=tvads Ad Forum—you can only see a couple of ads without subscribing, but they’re good ones http://www.adforum.com/latest/index.asp?AD=6694259&TDA=VD1yKYGTRD Classic TV ads—these are old tv ads http://www.roadode.com/classicindex.shtml Ads of the World http://adsoftheworld.com/taxonomy/media/tv Classic TV Commercial Jingles http://www.tvparty.com/comjing.html Funny Commercials http://funnycommercials.in/ Viral Videos http://www.funnyplace.org/ Superbowl Ads http://sports.aol.com/nfl/superbowlads Ad Access—print ads from magazines and newspapers between 1911-1955. This would be a good resource if you are interested in history and want to write on how one can determine a particular culture’s values and world views by looking at the ads produced during that time http://scriptorium.lib.duke.edu/adaccess/ Media and Advertising—Web English Teacher: this is a resource of web sites for teachers who want to do a media unit. Lots of interesting ads and articles, mostly print. http://www.webenglishteacher.com/media-ads.html Yesterday’s Ads—old magazine ads http://www.yesterdaypaper.com/category/ad_famous.html The Clio Awards—the academy award of advertising http://www.clioawards.com/home/ TV Party-- there are several free pages of old TV ads including video of Most Outrageous Commercials, 60s commercials and Famous Car commercials. http://www.tvparty.com/ Library of Congress—50 years of Coke advertising http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/ccmphtml/colahome.html Here are some sites to browse—feel free to use others you find on your own

34. Essay Two Writing the Outline

35. Once you’ve taken notes on the ads, • You should have an idea of the various things advertisers do to persuade; • You’ll need to generate a thesis sentence, much like the thesis sentence you wrote for Essay One; • Hopefully, you’ve narrowed your scope (so that you don’t have ads from all over the place).

36. Now write the tentative thesis • State your subject, • Express your opinion about your subject; • Preview the points you’ll make in your essay.

37. Examples of Thesis Sentences • Cigarette manufacturers convince people to buy their deadly products by suggesting that smoking is refreshing and stress-relieving, by implying that it’s a sexy and mysterious thing to do, and by suggesting that smoking is fun and will make a person popular. • Skittles makes its commercials stand out (and its candy memorable) through the use of bizarre situations, shocking premises, and absurdly funny scenarios. • Women’s hair care products try to differentiate themselves from one another by using gimmicky attractions, associating the use of their product with sexual success, and appealing to women’s insecurities. • Car ads seem to emphasize logosand ethos, but when it comes right down to it, they persuade the buyer by appealing to emotion. • Remember that each color in the thesis is a different paragraph in the essay.

38. Once you have a thesis, I want you to write an outline • To write the outline, • Start with your thesis sentence

40. Once you have a thesis, I want you to write an outline • To write the outline, • Start with your thesis sentence • Then write your first topic sentence

42. Once you have a thesis, I want you to write an outline • To write the outline, • Start with your thesis sentence • Then write your first topic sentence • Following the topic sentence, you’ll briefly draft the sentences you plan to use to explain the topic sentence; • Ask yourself, “How or why is the topic sentence true?” and then answer that question.

43. I actually ask the question because ithelps me focus Notice thatI’m answering“how” ratherthan “why.” It’s your choice. I want youto ask itas well inyouroutline.

44. Once you have a thesis, I want you to write an outline • To write the outline, • Start with your thesis sentence • Then write your first topic sentence • Following the topic sentence, you’ll briefly draft the sentences you plan to use to explain the topic sentence; • Ask yourself, “How or why is the topic sentence true?” and then answer that question. • The next item on the outline is the example. • The examples are the ads you’ve analyzed.

45. Again, I ask thequestion to keepmyself focused. When you write the essay, you’ll describe the relevant parts of the ads as your examples

46. Once you have a thesis, I want you to write an outline • To write the outline, • Start with your thesis sentence • Then write your first topic sentence • Following the topic sentence, you’ll briefly draft the sentences you plan to use to explain the topic sentence; • Ask yourself, “How or why is the topic sentence true?” and then answer that question. • The next item on the outline is the example. • The examples are the ads you’ve analyzed. • The final item in the outline is the warrant—What’s your point?

47. Again, ask the question and thenanswer it.

48. Once you have a thesis, I want you to write an outline • To write the outline, • Start with your thesis sentence • Then write your first topic sentence • Following the topic sentence, you’ll briefly draft the sentences you plan to use to explain the topic sentence; • Ask yourself, “How or why is the topic sentence true?” and then answer that question. • The next item on the outline is the example. • The examples are the ads you’ve analyzed. • The final item in the outline is the warrant—What’s your point? • Then you repeat the same pattern for the next two paragraphs in the outline.

49. You can click on Outline Template to get an RTF version of this slide.

50. Assignment 2.2 • Submit an outline of Essay Two no later than midnight, Sunday, September 30th; • Once I’ve approved the outline, then you’ll be free to compose your essay next week.