Major Writing Assignment (MWA) 1: The Rhetorical Analysis

Due Date: TBD

Value: 15% of total course grade

For your first project you will be composing a Rhetorical Analysis. This genre of writing
asks you to determine the effectiveness of a given text, image, video, etc. You accomplish
this through an in depth analysis of the compositions methods of persuasion and whether
or not it was effective for a given audience. To analyze these things you must look at the
use of Ethos, Pathos, and Logos (dont worry if you dont know what these arewell be
going over them throughout this project).

Task

For this assignment you are to rhetorically analyze a Super Bowl commercial from this
year or years past. You can either:
Write an article for Ad Week
o Must be between 4-5 pages using Microsoft Word or Google Docs
o Include two graphics (stills from the ad, graphic analyzing the audience,
etc.)
o Your citations must be hyperlinked to the original material (like you would
find in an online article)
Create a presentation for a marketing firm
o Must be between 5-7 minutes long, you can use software such as
ScreenCast-O-matic to record your presentation
o Use either Microsoft PowerPoint or Prezi to create your presentation
o Include a script of your presentation for reference
Here are a few helpful steps to help you create a successful Rhetorical Analysis.

Step One: Watch some Super Bowl Ads from this year or years past and pick ONE that
is particularly appealing to you.

Step Two: Now pick your chosen advertisement apart. Every advertisement is a
persuasive argument, and nothing that an advertiser does in designing an ad is accidental:
theyve chosen each aspect of the advertisement for a reason. With this project, you will
consider what the advertisers have done in constructing your chosen ad, and why they

have done it this way. That is, you will consider the advertisement as an argument,
designed to appeal in specific ways to a specific audience and their needs, values, and
expectations.

After finishing this step you should have an idea of who you think the audience is and
what their needs, values, and expectations are. For example, if you chose to analyze the
2015 McDonalds pay with love commercial you can say the audience is middle class
families who value togetherness, need community, and expect a company to care about
its customers.

Step Three: After analyzing the audience and the choices made by the advertisers it is
time to find the rhetorical appeals. The three appeals are ethos (appeal to credibility),
pathos (appeal to emotion), and logos (appeal to logic). It may seem like your
commercial does not have each appeal, but every commercial includes all three in some
way. For example, you may not see any direct numbers or statistics in your commercial,
but the ad may be appealing to viewers logical side (i.e. their values or viewpoints that
rarely change).

Here are some questions to help get you started thinking about your chosen Super Bowl
Advertisement:
What draws your eye first? What is your first quick impression of its visual
composition?
What colors appear? Are those significant in anyway?
What kinds of people and objects appear? Do any symbols appear? What kinds of
associations do you have with these?
Where is the ad set in space and time?
What situation or moment is captured?
What mood or tone does the ad suggest?
What text appears? (Consider size, placement, color, font, and meaning.)
What associations might any of the above suggest (e.g., humor, luxury,
stylishness, edginess, calmness, etc.)?
What lifestyles, values, needs, opinions, and/or points of view are represented?
What else do you see that could be relevant?
Multimodality: Amultimodalassignmentisanassignmentthatiscomposedusingone
ormoremodesofcommunicationsuchasacombinationofmovingandstillimages,
sounds,music,color,wordsandanimations(Takayoshi&Selfe1).Forthisprojectyou
havetwooptionstochoosefrom:onebeinganinteractivearticle(thatincludeimages,
graphics,andlinkstooutsidesources)andtheotherbeinganarratedpresentation(that
includesyourvoice,images,andgraphics).

Reflection

Along with your project you must also turn in a 500-750 word reflection detailing your
writing process, how you determined your audience, the choices you made/implemented
for your audience (i.e. images/graphics, word choice, etc.), and your understanding of
two SLOs of your choice. The reflection is your chance to explain the rhetorical, visual,
and compositional choices you made for this project.

Grading

You will be graded according to the following rubric

Element

Excellent

Good

Needs
Improvement

Poor

Rhetorical
13-15 points
Situation and The author has a
Audience (15) clear understanding
of their audience
and the situation
they are
writing/creating for.
This is perfectly
seen and understood
by the reader
through both the
composition and the
reflection submitted.

10-12 points
The reader has a
fairly clear
understanding of
the given rhetorical
situation, but the
composition could
benefit from some
more clarifying
details.

5-9 points
The reader does not
have a clear
understanding of
the overall
rhetorical situation
or audience. The
composition needs
more
details/explanation
to better situate the
reader.

0-4 points
The composition
does not address a
specific audience or
rhetorical situation.

Content (25)

17-21 points

10-16 points

Assignment
somewhat
responds to all the
requirements,
could benefit from
more
detail/expansion
on certain points,
but overall was
well informed and

Assignment lacks a
clear
thesis/argument.
The author analyzes
a commercial, but is
missing key
components to help
inform readers

0-9 points
Assignment does not
read like a rhetorical
analysis. All three
appeals are not
discussed and the
composition lacks
clarity and
originality. Would
benefit from a
serious rewrite

22-25 points
Assignment clearly
responds to all
requirements of the
assignment, taking
audience and
purpose into
account. The
document analyzes
a commercial,
providing specific
evidence through

personal analysis
well argued
and use outside
sources to support
an overall argument.
(summary is kept to
a minimum).
Visual
Appeal/Desig
n (20)

18-20 points
Your choice in font,
color, size, and
photo/s, are eye
catching and
appealing to readers
eyes. You went
above and beyond to
create something
that would catch
readers attention
and draw them into
your argument.

12-17 points
Your choice in
font, color, size,
and photo/s all
work toward being
appealing and
stimulating to the
eye, but overall the
composition could
benefit from more
creativity.

8-12 points
Some elements of
your composition
are visually
appealing, but the
choices overall are
distracting or
inappropriate for
the genre and/or
medium.

0-7 points

Ethos (15)

13-15 points
The author's ethos is
strongly supported
by the composition.
The author comes
across as credible
and trustworthy to
readers (this
includes being well
researched and
properly cited).

10-12 points
The author comes
off as a credible
source, but there
are a few
inconsistencies
that prevent them
from being entirely
reliable (improper
citations, lack of
fundamental
research, etc.).

5-9 points
The overall
composition more
or less supports the
authors ethos, but
overall there are
many areas that
need further
development (no
citations, not
enough research,
etc.).

0-4 points
This submission
lacks credibility.
Sources are not
cited, the topic is not
well researched, the
composition would
need a substantial
revision meet ethos
requirements.

Organization,
Style, and
Clarity (5)

5 points
Clear, well
organized material.
The composition is
free from distracting
grammatical errors
and all word choice
is appropriate for
the situation.

4 points
Somewhat clear,
well organized
material. The
composition is
mostly free from
distracting
grammatical errors
and word choice is
somewhat
appropriate for the
situation.

3 points
Unclear at parts and
could benefit from
more organization.
There were many
grammatical errors
and the piece could
have benefitted
from better word
choice. The
composition would
have benefitted
from a thorough
proofread.

0-2 points
Unclear and
unorganized. Reader
is lost. The
composition would
greatly benefit from
a thorough revision.

Reflection

18-20 points

12-17 points

5-9 points

0-7 points

There is little to no
visual appeal with
this composition.
The submission
lacks creativity,
balance, and does
not fit within the
genre and/or
medium.

(20)

The author has

genuinely
reflected on his or
her choices
and has explained
how those
choices were
influenced by their
audience and
rhetorical situation.
The author also goes
into extreme detail
describing their
research process.

Total (100)

The author has

included a
reflection that
discusses the
choices made and
how they relate to
audience. The
reflection would
benefit from more
detail.

A reflection is
included, but lacks
sufficient detail to
help the reader
understand their
choices and
research process for
this project. The
reader is left with
many questions and
an unclear
understanding of
the choices made.

Little to no reflection
is attached with this
composition. The
reader has no idea of
who the
audience/rhetorical
situation is and what
the author's research
process was.