CRITICAL ESSAY ASSIGNMENT
Using the essay on pp. 149-155 (Media & Society 2016); 161-168 (Media & Society 2012) as a model (but certainly not a template), undertake a semiotic textual analysis of a current, modern-day advertisement showing how meaning is constructed. The ad must have people in it. Consider signs, signifiers, connotations, codes, and anchorage, as well as the possible ideological meanings of the advertisement. CHOOSE AN AD THAT IS RICH WITH MEANING. PAY GREAT CARE AS TO WHICH ADVERTISEMENT YOU CHOOSE TO ANALYZE. Like the Photo Composition Analysis exercise, the more interesting and complex the ad, the more there is to talk about.
As it states on p. 149/161, "in academic essays it is important to give evidence of reading and research. Always include references to and terminology from the course material in the unit you are studying, and define key terms and concepts with care. It is also advisable to include and discuss quotes from other academic books and articles to support, clarify, and substantiate your ideas. Academic essays should also feature a clear introduction, a thesis statement, a conclusion, and an alphabetised bibliography or reference list."
Some guidelines:
FORGET that this is an advertisement, and that it was created by creative people within an advertising agency. Pay attention purely to what the SYMBOLS (denotative and connotative) in the ad mean. If it's blond hair--what does blond hair mean in our culture? If a guy is buff or has super abs, what does that say about our hyped up steroid culture and the pressure men have to look like this? If someone has a crew cut or is wearing shades, what does each of those signs say about that person? Do you think--Military--and can you address the "military culture" that seeps into our larger U.S. culture? Do you think James Bond? State Trooper? Rock Star? In short, you're not describing the obvious; you have to DIG deep down into the core cultural symbols of YOUR culture and explain what these symbols MEAN. Just saying "she is skinny and that's a typical look in our culture" is not a semiotic analysis. Who is the ad interpellating? What ideologies are being put forth through the ad? How is the ad anchored through text? Are there any polysemic possibilities in the ad? Are there any metonymic signifiers? What does the composition of the ad tell us about what we are supposed to feel and who the ad is directed to? What is the implied narrative? Remember, culture is constructed; nothing is "normal." What can you say about skinniness in American culture, and the extent that it is valued? You're an anthropologist, and you're explaining your culture to a bunch of aliens from Mars.
Here are other areas you may want to
explore in terms of symbolic signs (Remember SEARCH described on pp. 38-39):
Representations
of bodies
Age. What is the age of the figures
in the photograph meant to
convey?
Innocence? Wisdom?
Senility?
Gender. Ads very often rely on
stereotyped images of masculinity and
femininity.
Men are “active”
and “rational”; women are passive
and are associated with
domestic
activities.
Race. Again, ads often depend on
stereotypes. To what extent does an
ad do this?
Or does it
normalize whiteness by making it
invisible? Why?
Hair. Women’s hair is often used to
signify seductive beauty or
narcissism.
Body. Which bodies are fat (and
therefore often represented as
undesirable and unattractive)
and which are
thin? Are we shown whole bodies, or
does the photo show only parts of bodies?
(Women’s bodies
are often treated in this way,
especially in cosmetic ads.)
Size. Ads often indicate what is more
important by making it big.
Looks. Again, ads often trade on
conventional notions of male and
female beauty.
Style. What does the things people
are wearing represent? What
does a toupee mean, or an
ankle bracelet, or
a baseball cap? What is
this person saying by what he/she is wearing???? (Be bold
and daring on this
one.)
Representations
of manner
Expression. Who is shown as happy,
haughty, sad and so on? What
facial and other
expressions are
used to convey this? Why?
Eye contact. Who is looking at whom
(including you) and how? Are
those looks
submissive, coy,
confrontational? Why? What is
the purpose?
Pose. Who is standing and who is
prone? Why?
Representations of Activity
Touch. Who is touching
what, with what effects?
Body movement. Who is active and who
is passive?
Positional communication. What is the
spatial arrangement of the
figures?
Who is positioned
as superior and who inferior? Who
is intimate with whom and how? How are they
standing, sitting,
squatting, and WHY?
Props and Settings
Props. Objects in ads
can be used in a way unique to a
particular ad, but many ads rely on
objects that have
particular cultural significance.
For example, spectacles often connote
intelligence,
golden light indicates tranquility,
and so on.
Settings. Settings range from the
apparently “normal” to the
supposedly “exotic”,
and can also seem
to be fantasies. What effects does
its setting have on an ad?
TO HAND IN:
2.5 pages, single space, 12 font New Times Roman. Don't forget to insert the photo into your assignment (please don't send the photo separately, but make it part of your essay document). If you have chosen a magazine, do a simple scan in Rod Library (Digital Media Hub).
Upload to Blackboard: Content/Assignments/Critical Essay
Good luck.
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