Instructor: Deborah Blakely Averill

Course: English 115

Analyzing Images Essay

(Audience Analysis)
First Draft Due: October 7th (minimum 3 pages):
20 Points Possible
Second Draft Due: October 23rd (minimum 3-4 pages):
20 points possible
Third Draft Due: October 30th (minimum 4 1/2 pages, 6 max.):
70 points possible
LRC visit w/reciept:
10 points possible
Times New Roman 12 pt. font is required on all drafts.

Writing Task:
Write an essay that analyzes and critiques two print advertisements that
sell the same kind of product but appeal to different audiences (for
example, a car advertisement aimed at men and one aimed at women; a
cigarette ad aimed at upper-middle class consumers and one aimed at
working-class consumers; a clothing ad from the New Yorker and one
from Maxim).
You cant assume that the reader can see the ads, so its imperative that
the essay has an effective lead-in to introduce the ads to the reader. You
will need to concisely describe them, and the essay has to assert a thesis
that is an argumentative conclusion about them. The essay has to have

Instructor: Deborah Blakely Averill

Course: English 115

an identifiable position on how effectively the ads connect to their

target audiences and what they say about our culture, and the essay has
to support that position with detailed analysis.
Here are questions you have to consider:
How do the ads appeal to their target audiences? To what values does
the ad appeal? And how are the ads constructed to appeal to those
values? (use of color, copy, document design, layout, graphics and
images). What strategies does the advertiser use? What do these ads
say about our culture and how we view those target audiences? (issues
of gender, race/ethnicity, body image, beauty, health, self-esteem,
sexuality, et al.) Are the explicit and implicit messages positive,
negative, wholesome, troubling, realistic, infuriating, noble, pathetic?

Audience:
Address your paper to peer-scholars who might be curious about your
subject and interested in your analysis and/or findings? But also
imagine your audience as somewhat informed but undecided people
who might take an opposing viewpoint to your own.

Evaluation:
Your essay needs to have a clear purpose with ample detail to support
this purpose, and it should have a recognizable thesis or organizing
idea. It should have a beginning that generates interest, and ending that
provides a sense of closure, and the parts in between should be
arranged in a logical and rhetorically effective sequence. Essays should
demonstrate stylistic maturity and mastery of editorial conventions
(grammatical correctness). Essays must be in MLA format and include
a Works Cited page with at least 3 sources in addition to the two ads.