Analysis of Advertising. Choose an issue of LIFE Magazine
Preliminary data and thesis due Feb. 11th 9pm
Paper due Feb. 18th 9pm
BUT... if you submit a draft before then, you can earn an extension to Feb. 20th 9pm.
Paper due Feb. 18th 9pm
BUT... if you submit a draft before then, you can earn an extension to Feb. 20th 9pm.
Scroll down for instructions (scroll down), hints and FAQ
Q. How do I get good quality images for my essay?
A. Not by taking a picture of your computer screen with your phone!
Here is how to do it in Windows. Here is how to do it on a Mac. Google for more info.
P.S. Make images as big and clear as possible!
A. Not by taking a picture of your computer screen with your phone!
Here is how to do it in Windows. Here is how to do it on a Mac. Google for more info.
P.S. Make images as big and clear as possible!
Q. How many images should I include?
A. As many as you need, like Vesenti in "It's Cool Inside", include images to support the points you make and refer to them in the text (As we see in figure 5...)
A. As many as you need, like Vesenti in "It's Cool Inside", include images to support the points you make and refer to them in the text (As we see in figure 5...)
Q. Can I use "I"?
A. You can almost always avoid it. In my opinion men are shown relaxing in ads for whiskey. (See how you don't need IMHO?)
A. You can almost always avoid it. In my opinion men are shown relaxing in ads for whiskey. (See how you don't need IMHO?)
Q. What kind of in-text citations should I use for material from my LIFE magazine?
A. Since it all comes from the same magazine, the page number in parenthesis (43) is all you need.
Q. How do I cite the articles from the course pack?
A. Scroll down to copy the complete bibliographic entries.
A. Since it all comes from the same magazine, the page number in parenthesis (43) is all you need.
Q. How do I cite the articles from the course pack?
A. Scroll down to copy the complete bibliographic entries.
Q. Should I do extra research or use outside sources like websites?
A. Nope! Stick to what you found in your issue of LIFE magazine and material from our course.
A. Nope! Stick to what you found in your issue of LIFE magazine and material from our course.
Q. Do I need to type up the grid with my data?
A. Nope! Your hand-drawn version is fine.
Q. Am I supposed to submit my data grid and overview with my essay?
A. Yes! Put it on the first page! (FYI It does not count towards the word count.) The overview is your chance to show me all the observations you made that do not fit into the essay!
A. Nope! Your hand-drawn version is fine.
Q. Am I supposed to submit my data grid and overview with my essay?
A. Yes! Put it on the first page! (FYI It does not count towards the word count.) The overview is your chance to show me all the observations you made that do not fit into the essay!
Q. The layout of my essay goes crazy when I upload my word document onto Teams! Help?!
A. Save it as a pdf and upload that to preserve your layout"=
A. Save it as a pdf and upload that to preserve your layout"=
Q. How do I know I have done all the steps?
A. Check the checklist and marking grid below. (Scroll down)
A. Check the checklist and marking grid below. (Scroll down)
Q. What is the late penalty?
A. 10% per day.
A. 10% per day.
Instructions: What to do?
1. Begin with a quantitative analysis. (aka count things!)
Identify all the advertisements in the magazine. Be careful. Sometimes the ads and the articles look quite similar.
Make a chart to record what is being advertised. (It is up to you to decide what categories to use, but food, clothing, cars would be some examples.) Then ask yourself how these things are advertised. (For example, pay attention to how men and women are represented and how ads target each gender. Also note whether ads are large or small, black and white, or in colour.) Write a brief overview to summarize your findings.
Identify all the advertisements in the magazine. Be careful. Sometimes the ads and the articles look quite similar.
Make a chart to record what is being advertised. (It is up to you to decide what categories to use, but food, clothing, cars would be some examples.) Then ask yourself how these things are advertised. (For example, pay attention to how men and women are represented and how ads target each gender. Also note whether ads are large or small, black and white, or in colour.) Write a brief overview to summarize your findings.
2. Then move on to a qualitative analysis.
After you compile your statistics, think about what patterns are seen in advertising in your issue of LIFE. Then come up with a thesis based on your observations. There is a good chance you will end up focusing on a particular kind of advertisement. This can be based on what is being sold (dresses, mouthwash, etc.) or on how it is being sold (aspirational images, fear tactics, etc.) Examine what kinds of appeals are made to consumers. Are they aspirational? (We will see this in Sut Jhally's Advertising and the End of the World.) Do they tap into insecurities as was described in Thomas Hine's "The Luckiest Generation"? Use any concepts from the course that are appropriate.
Discuss elements of individual advertisements to support your thesis. Make sure the images you use are reproduced in your paper so the reader can see the evidence.
Checklist:
__Sign up for an issue of LIFE on Teams
__Title
__Summary of statistics presented clearly (does not count towards word count)
__Good versions of the images you are using as examples
__Essay with thesis supported by examples (1250-1500 words/5-6 pages)
__Bibliography (Your issue of LIFE and any outside sources you use, including videos and readings from the course.)
Marking Grid for LIFE Analysis
Data (20)
/5 Clear chart with logical categories
/15 Summary with overview of the findings (can present observations that don’t fit in your essay)
Writing/Organization (30)
/20 Introduction with thesis and the points that will be made to prove it in body of essay and conclusion. Body of essay organized into paragraphs with good transitions.
/10 MLA citations in text and Works Cited page, properly formatted, proofread and clear
Content (50)
/20 Uses material from the course (terminology, course readings, other course material). Demonstrates ability to quote/paraphrase/discuss images in support of thesis. (Make sure you include your images!)
/30 Original analysis of findings, logically organized, attention to detail in discussion of images and patterns identified.
After you compile your statistics, think about what patterns are seen in advertising in your issue of LIFE. Then come up with a thesis based on your observations. There is a good chance you will end up focusing on a particular kind of advertisement. This can be based on what is being sold (dresses, mouthwash, etc.) or on how it is being sold (aspirational images, fear tactics, etc.) Examine what kinds of appeals are made to consumers. Are they aspirational? (We will see this in Sut Jhally's Advertising and the End of the World.) Do they tap into insecurities as was described in Thomas Hine's "The Luckiest Generation"? Use any concepts from the course that are appropriate.
Discuss elements of individual advertisements to support your thesis. Make sure the images you use are reproduced in your paper so the reader can see the evidence.
Checklist:
__Sign up for an issue of LIFE on Teams
__Title
__Summary of statistics presented clearly (does not count towards word count)
__Good versions of the images you are using as examples
__Essay with thesis supported by examples (1250-1500 words/5-6 pages)
__Bibliography (Your issue of LIFE and any outside sources you use, including videos and readings from the course.)
Marking Grid for LIFE Analysis
Data (20)
/5 Clear chart with logical categories
/15 Summary with overview of the findings (can present observations that don’t fit in your essay)
Writing/Organization (30)
/20 Introduction with thesis and the points that will be made to prove it in body of essay and conclusion. Body of essay organized into paragraphs with good transitions.
/10 MLA citations in text and Works Cited page, properly formatted, proofread and clear
Content (50)
/20 Uses material from the course (terminology, course readings, other course material). Demonstrates ability to quote/paraphrase/discuss images in support of thesis. (Make sure you include your images!)
/30 Original analysis of findings, logically organized, attention to detail in discussion of images and patterns identified.
Rock Hudson says, "Cite your sources! The cool kids do it."
Magazine Title. Date Month Year Published, Website Title, Date Month Year Accessed, URL.
Example: Life. 17 Jan 1955, Google Books, 14 Feb. 2016, https://books.google.ca/books?id=HlQEAAAAMBAJ&source=gbs_all_issues_r&cad=1.
Want to cite articles/video from the course? Of course you do!
Hine, Thomas. “The Luckiest Generation.” Populuxe. New York: Knopf, 1987: 15-36.
Maral, Karal Ann. “Betty Crocker's Picture Cook Book: The Aesthetics of Food in the 1950s.” As Seen on TV: The Visual Culture of Everyday Life in the 1950s. Cambridge, MA: Harvard UP, 1996: 203-240.
Maral, Karal Ann. “Autoeroticism: America’s Love Affair with the Car in the Television Age.” As Seen on TV: The Visual Culture of Everyday Life in the 1950s. Cambridge, MA: Harvard UP, 1996: 203-240.
Martin, Christopher R. "The Naturalized Gender Order of Rock and Roll." Journal of Communication Inquiry 19.1 (Spring 1995): 53-75.
Meyer, Richard. “Rock Hudson’s Body.” The Passionate Camera: Photography and Bodies of Desire. ed. Deborah Bright. New York: Routledge, 1998, 340-360.
Miner, Horace. “Body Ritual Among the Nacirema.” American Anthropologist 58.3 (1956): 503-507.
Oakley, J. Ronald. “Generation in a Spotlight.” God’s Country: America in the Fifties. New York: Dembner, 1986: 267-290
Oakley, J. Ronald. “Women, Love and Sex in Eisenhower’s America.” God’s Country: America in the Fifties. New York: Dembner, 1986:291-310
Oakley, J. Ronald. “Entering the Fifties.” God’s Country: America in the Fifties. New York: Dembner, 1986: 3-21.
Oakley, J. Ronald. “Good Times.” God’s Country: America in the Fifties. New York: Dembner, 1986: 228-248.
Hine, Thomas. “The Luckiest Generation.” Populuxe. New York: Knopf, 1987: 15-36.
Maral, Karal Ann. “Betty Crocker's Picture Cook Book: The Aesthetics of Food in the 1950s.” As Seen on TV: The Visual Culture of Everyday Life in the 1950s. Cambridge, MA: Harvard UP, 1996: 203-240.
Maral, Karal Ann. “Autoeroticism: America’s Love Affair with the Car in the Television Age.” As Seen on TV: The Visual Culture of Everyday Life in the 1950s. Cambridge, MA: Harvard UP, 1996: 203-240.
Martin, Christopher R. "The Naturalized Gender Order of Rock and Roll." Journal of Communication Inquiry 19.1 (Spring 1995): 53-75.
Meyer, Richard. “Rock Hudson’s Body.” The Passionate Camera: Photography and Bodies of Desire. ed. Deborah Bright. New York: Routledge, 1998, 340-360.
Miner, Horace. “Body Ritual Among the Nacirema.” American Anthropologist 58.3 (1956): 503-507.
Oakley, J. Ronald. “Generation in a Spotlight.” God’s Country: America in the Fifties. New York: Dembner, 1986: 267-290
Oakley, J. Ronald. “Women, Love and Sex in Eisenhower’s America.” God’s Country: America in the Fifties. New York: Dembner, 1986:291-310
Oakley, J. Ronald. “Entering the Fifties.” God’s Country: America in the Fifties. New York: Dembner, 1986: 3-21.
Oakley, J. Ronald. “Good Times.” God’s Country: America in the Fifties. New York: Dembner, 1986: 228-248.
Taylor, Alex J. “The Calder Problem: Mobiles, Modern Taste, and Mass Culture.” Oxford Art Journal , 2014, Vol. 37, No. 1 (2014), pp. 27-45. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/43825766.
Vesentini, Andrea. “It's Cool Inside: Advertising Air Conditioning to Postwar Suburbia.” American Studies, 55/56, (2017), 91–117. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/44982621.
Winkler, Martina. “Imagining Socialist Childhoods: Photographs of Children in 1950s Czechoslovakia.” Jahrbücher Für Geschichte Osteuropas vol. 67, no. 1 (2019) 96–123. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/45179809.
Taylor, Alex J. “The Calder Problem: Mobiles, Modern Taste, and Mass Culture.” Oxford Art Journal , 2014, Vol. 37, No. 1 (2014), pp. 27-45. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/43825766.
Vesentini, Andrea. “It's Cool Inside: Advertising Air Conditioning to Postwar Suburbia.” American Studies, 55/56, (2017), 91–117. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/44982621.
Winkler, Martina. “Imagining Socialist Childhoods: Photographs of Children in 1950s Czechoslovakia.” Jahrbücher Für Geschichte Osteuropas vol. 67, no. 1 (2019) 96–123. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/45179809.
P.S. The whole transcript of the video on advertising is here.
Jhally, Sut. "Advertising and the End of the World." Media Education Foundation, Transcript, 1997, www.mediaed.org/transcripts/Advertising-and-the-End-of-the-World-Transcript.pdf
Extra info on how to quote, paraphrase and cite:
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