1. Today’s Goals Introduce the visual analysis essay
Discuss strategies for visual analysis theses

2. Visual analysis- overview
Introduction
Hook
Thesis
Forecasting
Body
Rhetorical appeals: ethos, pathos, logos
Rhetorical context: purpose, intended audience, genre
Image and copy
Mirror and window effect
Compositional features: Lighting, framing, color, focus, characters, roles, background, props
(Note: you do not have to talk about all of these items in your essay. Select the ones that are most important for your advertisement)
Conclusion
Transition
clincher

3. Visual analysis- thesis strategies
Visual analysis purpose:
Analyze the visual rhetoric strategies in a successful ad and explain why those strategies were successful
You should mention the ad specifically by name
You should mention the dominant or most powerful visual rhetoric strategies in the thesis
Keep clarity and credibility in mind, as with the rhetorical analysis
You do NOT need to provide an evaluation of the ad

4. Class discussion- sample visual analysis theses
“The 2012 Charmin TV commercial is successful and has great pathos”
“The ad uses strategic compositional features and mirror effect”
“The 2010 Budweiser Superbowl ad used humor and imagery to build brand image”
“The 2013 Lifelock billboard ad has strong ethos with the CEO’s picture and detailed logos in the copy”

5. Class discussion- ad analysis

6. Class activity- sample visual analysis
What is an example hook you could use to grab audience attention?
What is a sample thesis you could use to explain the ad?
What is a sample forecasting you could use for the body paragraphs of this image analysis?

7. Group activity- initial ad assessment
In your unit 2 groups
Read one of the sample visual analysis essays on the class website and answer the following questions
How does the hook grab the audience’s attention?
What is the thesis? (Copy this word for word)
How much description of the advertisement is provided?
What are the topics of each body paragraph?

8. Homework Blog Entry 4 Focus: Beginning Visual Analysis
Select an advertisement or commercial for use with your visual analysis essay. Include a picture or link of the ad.
Next, begin to analyze the ad, focusing on what visual rhetoric strategies and compositional features stand out the most in it. You may wish to consider:
What is the immediate impact or dominant impression of the ad?
Who is the target audience?
Is the ad’s goal to stimulate sales or build the brand?
What compositional features stand out the most? What is their effect?