Description
Rhetorical Analysis of an Advertisement
• 4-5 pages (only papers with 4 full pages will receive a passing grade)
• Must analyze one commercial of at least 30 seconds in length.
• Thesis must focus on the writer’s rhetorical appeals, not your opinion of the commercial. Make sure your thesis specifically references the words ethos, pathos, and logos.
• Do not use “I” or focus on your personal response. Talk about “the audience” or “the viewer” instead.
Assignment Description:
Choose one commercial, at least 30 seconds in length, and assess whether it persuades its audience of its central claim. Your essay should identify at the outset the audience at which the piece is aimed, its argumentative purpose, and its central argument. Once you have identified these concerns, evaluate the rhetorical effectiveness of the given text. A rhetorical analysis examines 1) the ad creator’s use of the three rhetorical appeals (ethos, pathos, and logos); 2) the arrangement and style of the piece; 3) the context of the piece (this involves looking at when and where it aired). In this piece, you may also compare the strategies the ad creator (or speaker) used with other strategies that would have been more effective or less effective.
Essay Guidelines
• Your essay should be a minimum of 4 FULL pages. Every available line should be used.
• The essay should have 1-inch margins with 12-point Times New Roman font.
• You need 2 sources: the commercial itself and one other source of your choosing. Direct quotes should be handled with the quotation sandwich. You will need proper MLA in-text citations for all paraphrases and direct quotations from the article.
• Include a thesis that evaluates the effectiveness of the commercial based on the ad’s use of rhetorical appeals (ethos, pathos, logos), style, and context.
• In this essay you will take a stand on whether the ad you have chosen persuades its audience of its central argument. This essay then, is NOT primarily about the product in the ad. It is instead about the effectiveness of the rhetorical strategies the ad uses.
• When structuring your essay, include an introduction that sets up your argument about the article, effectively organized paragraphs with strong topic sentences and transitions, and a conclusion that does not merely restate your thesis but that leaves the reader with further “food for thought.”
Your essay must incorporate quotes from the ad
Explanation & Answer
Attached.
Surname 1
Student’s Name
Professors Name
Course
Date
Rhetorical Analysis of “Air Dancer” by Navigation app Waze
Every single minute the viewer is exposed to numerous sources of information that seek
to capture their attention and call them to action. As such, to ensure that an advertisement stands
out is compelling and able to capture the attention of its intended audience, it is essential to
ascertain that various rhetorical strategies are used and well balanced. The advert entitled “Air
Dancer” by Navigation app Waze is an example of a 2020 advertisement that seeks to reach its
audience by adopting a rhetorical strategy. The central claim made in the advertisement is that
”Traditional advertising only takes you so far. For your business to thrive, you need smarter
ways to connect with people that are on the go and close to you“(Waze: Air Dancer, 2020). The
purpose of the commercial is to persuade its viewers to use the advertising services provided by
Waze Navigation app. The “Air Dancer” commercial by Navigation app Waze effectively
persuades its audience using rhetorical appeals of ethos pathos and logos as well as its style and
context.
An ethos appeals refer to a technique that seeks to communicate to the viewer the
credibility of the information. As such, it seeks to show that the brand has a superior character
and can be trusted (Detisch, 2019). In the commercial “Air Dancer” the objective of the brand in
using an ethos appeal is to communicate to their viewer that they are a credible brand and thus
they should choose to engage with them. In creating an ethos appeal, the brand makes use of a
Surname 2
former heavyweight in the world of advertisement to provide what amounts to an endorsement
and testimonial for the new platform. A large majority of the viewers have encountered an
inflatable air dancer doing advertisements for various goods and services and they have probably
been persuaded to check out the services. Through the sad narration given by the inflatable air
dancer, the brand seeks to establish their credibility by having a competitor attest to their
superior services and one which the viewers can trust. The air dancer, therefore, utilizes the
introductory phase to establish their credibility by stating their long career in the advertisement,
success, and how the tables have turned. It is quoted sayin...
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