Sobieralski 1

Dominic Sobieralski
ENED 683
Shana Hartman
November 9.2016
Reflective Memo
I decided to work through the rhetorical analysis and I had went through the lesson plan
as I worked with the student. I gave the student the assignment handout that I included in the
WAD so that the student would know what was expected of them for this assignment. We had
group work where we watched a YouTube video that talked about the three rhetorical appeals
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gf81d0YS58E). After that we went on Google and looked
up some random pictures to identify which of the three appeals were present in the pictures.
Then the student took the handout home and emailed me their draft. I gave them feedback in the
form of MS WORD comments and a rubric so that they knew what revisions needed to be
completed in order to fulfil the requirements of the assignment. I think that I still need to get a
firm grasp on what exactly I am focusing on when I am doing the WAD. For some reason I am
still looking at them as individual assignments instead of a cumulative project. I think that is due
to my time constraints this semester (which I have since rectified). I am going to try to focus on
polishing my WAD to make sure that it meets as much of the requirements as possible.

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Rationale: The rationale behind this assignment is that students should be
aware of how to deconstruct and analyze advertisements and literary works.
This allows the student to look beyond the pictures that are on the page, or
the text on a page, and allows them to start to discover hidden meanings
and concepts that they may have been previously aware of.
Objectives: For students to be able to start thinking about how to
implement the three rhetorical appeals to deconstruct and analyze an
advertisement in print. The goal of this assignment will expose students to
these appeals and help to give them the skills to complete assignments in
other courses (Political Science debate or Interpersonal Communications
classes, for example) so that they can use these critical thinking skills to find
deeper meaning in advertisements.
Context of the assignment: The students will choose an advertisement
and then will work to complete a rhetorical analysis of that advertisement.
This will be in paragraph form (with subheadings) and the assignment
handout will walk the students through the process. The students will
already be somewhat familiar with the three rhetorical appeals from a
previous lesson.

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Assignment Handout Rhetorical Analysis

Choose an advertisement that interests you out of a magazine or a
newspaper. Once you have the advertisement, start working through the
assignment sheet so that you can use it as an outline for completing a
rhetorical analysis. As you write your draft make sure that you are including
the section sub-headings as well.
Due date: 11/21/2016
Length 2-4 pages double spaced
Formatting MLA 7th edition (no work cited or formal parenthetical
citations)
Introduction: Briefly describe your advertisement. What is it trying to sell?
Goods? Services? Describe why you chose the advertisement. What
magazine/newspaper did it come out of?
Thesis: Do you think that the advertisement was successful? Why or why
not? Be specific.

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Thesis Example: Due to its creative use of pathos and logos the
advertisement for Coca Cola is successful at persuading customers to
buy the product.
Rhetorical Situation: Give information about the company that makes the
product or provides the service. How long have they been in business?
What are their annual sales? Use the internet to find out this information.
Also, give information about the magazine/newspaper that it was found in.
Number of subscribers? Demographics of readers? This will be helpful to
see if the advertisements subject matter and method of persuasion fits the
magazine/newspaper that it is in.
Visual Aesthetics: This is where you will describe the advertisement in
detail. The colors, the placement of graphics, the font size, color, and
placement. Basically, you want to describe the advertisement in a way that
a reader can picture the advertisement without having it in front of them.
Rhetorical Appeals: Define each rhetorical appeal and let your reader
know if it is found in the advertisement. Also, let them know how it is
displayed in the advertisement. This may take a little bit of time to
deconstruct. Some points to look at would be colors used, spokespeople or
models used, and features listed.
Conclusion/Evaluation: In your opinion, was the advertisement successful?
Why or why not? What were the strengths of the advertisement? The

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weaknesses? How could the advertisement have been strengthened? Why is
it important to be able to analyze advertisements?
Although formal MLA work cited page is not necessary for this paper, it is
important for you to start to be able to understand how to give credit to the
places that you got your information from. Using introductory phrases such as
According to Forbes.com, for example will be sufficient to avoid plagiary.

Lesson Plan - Rhetorical Appeals

Overview
Aristotle, the Greek philosopher, is often known as the father of the persuasive appeals. These
Appeals are known as Ethos, Logos and Pathos. Ethos is the appeal to credibility. Logos is the
appeal to logic. Pathos is the appeal to emotion. By being able to implement one or more of
these appeals a person can make a very persuasive argument.
Students will gain knowledge and understanding of the three rhetorical appeals and how they can
be used to persuade others in different mediums.
Objective
Students will:

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1.

Develop skills to be able to identify the rhetorical appeals in various forms.

2.

Utilize rhetorical appeals in writing

3.

Develop familiarity with each appeal.

4.

Identify the importance of the rhetorical appeals and how they are used in real life
situations.
Materials

Rhetorical Appeal Handout/overhead

Rhetorical Appeals (YouTube)

Directions
Students will read through the handout to familiarize themselves with the rhetorical
appeals and how they are used to persuade an audience. We will then watch the YouTube
video as a group and have an activity identifying rhetorical appeals by using various
pictures that were procured off of the web.
Evaluation
Teacher's observations of student understanding of the concept, student handout/worksheet
completion, and student discussion participation,
Students Sample
Chevy Camaro Advertisement
Introduction: Nothing says power quite like the 2016 Chevy Camaro.
Its powerful engine, luxurious interior, and long standing reputation makes
this car an icon. This advertisement was found in the May 2016 issue of Car
and Driver magazine. I chose this advertisement because I have owned
Chevy vehicles for most of my life and the advertisement appealed to me.

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Thesis: The Chevy Camaro advertisement is successful because it has
a balance of all three of the rhetorical appeals.
Rhetorical Situation: Chevrolet has had a long and rich history.
According to Nwitimes.com, Since it was founded on Nov. 3, 1911, Chevrolet has produced
more than 200 million cars and trucks. This goes to show that Chevrolet has been around for a
long time. They are one of the highest selling brands of vehicles on the market today. According
to GM.com, General Motors Co. (NYSE: GM) global sales totaled 9.8 million vehicles in
2015. Similarly, According to wikipedia.com, Car and Driver magazine has had a long history
and has been around since July of 1955. Car and Drivers website states that The demographics
of the people who read the magazine are 87.8% men and 12.2% women. The median age for
readers is 41.4 years old. This goes to show that the majority of the readers are middle aged
men.
Visual Aesthetics: The advertisement shows a blue Chevy Camaro parked sideways on
what looks to be a desert road in the center of the page pointing right. The sun is slowly setting
over the mountains behind the vehicle and there is a lot of sand and cactus. On the bottom of the
page there is the Chevrolet logo as well as the website information. On the top of the page in
white font it reads Recapture your youth one mile at a time.
Rhetorical Appeals: Ethos is the appeal to credibility. This advertisement shows it
through using the brand Chevrolet. This car company has been around for a long time and many
generations of families have relied on their Chevy to get them where they need to go. Logos is
the appeal to logic. The advertisement has this appeal as well by giving the website to find out
more information about the vehicle or the company. Lastly, ethos is the emotional appeal. This

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advertisement is showing this by the color of the car. The car is blue and many people say that
blue is a calming color. The caption Recapture your youth one mile at a time also appeals to
the emotions. Many middle aged people may be going through mid-life crises and may long to
be a kid again.
Conclusion/Evaluation: I think that this advertisement is successful at persuading their
audience due to the use of all three rhetorical appeals. The strengths of the advertisement were
the blending of the three appeals along with the cool photography. I dont really see any
weaknesses in the advertisement. I think it is important to be able to analyze ads so that you can
find out how to find more information about the item advertised.

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