Essay 1: Your Very Own “Rhetoric of the Image” Purpose Choose two advertisements

Essay 1: Your Very Own “Rhetoric of the Image”
Purpose
Choose two advertisements to analyze according to the template laid out by Barthes in his essay, “Rhetoric of the Image.” These two advertisements must
a) be taken from the same ad campaign of a product,
or
b) be taken from two different ad campaigns (perhaps from different eras) for the same brand/product, or
c) represent the same general product but be produced by different brands.
Whatever approach you choose, your two images will serve as the focus of your rhetorical analysis. Note that you must choose an ad campaign (not a public service announcement) and you must work with still images.
Barthes observes that in a visual advertisement, the signification of the image is intentional, decided upon prior to its creation and transmitted as clearly as possible by the advertisers. Like Barthes, you will break your chosen images into their component messages, both linguistic and iconic. Remember that iconic messages can further be broken down into various signs—be sure to identify at least three signs within the coded iconic message per image. Avoid praising or deriding the image in your analysis, and focus instead on how the signs within the image point to various meanings.
Once you have performed your analysis of your chosen advertisements, spend one to several paragraphs discussing the demands or rhetorical appeals the ad campaign as a whole makes of its observer. Through its individual advertisements, what does the campaign ask its observer to do or believe, and how? The answer is more complicated than simply, “The ad campaign wants the observer to buy its advertised product or service.” What bigger story or purpose or “euphoric value” is being offered to the viewer? What picture of reality is the photographic image being deployed to promote? Why is it important to read advertisements and other “highly intentional” messages closely? If we fail to do so, what might we miss, and why does it matter?
Audience
Your critique may be addressed to the average reader. Though your purpose is to make a critical analysis of an ad campaign, your audience might not be interested in the jargon that Barthes uses. Certainly, I am grading this paper in part on your comprehension of Barthes’ “Rhetoric,” but you may address your critique to those who might be interested in visual culture but without a background in semiotics or critical theory. For those of you aspiring to be journalists or public intellectuals of another stripe, consider this assignment an opportunity to practice conveying complex ideas in a simple, clear, and straightforward way.