Americans encounter print advertising daily: on the sides of buses, along the freeway, in magazines or newspapers, on the sides of buses or containers. These graphic messages, making use of color, arrangement, language, and pictures, promote products, services, and ideas to a public willing to consume. However, advertisers cannot always predict the effects of their messages--lucky for us!

In order to improve their effectiveness, advertisers spend much of their efforts examining consumer behavior or characteristics. Some advertisers tailor their appeals to people in specific Iocations or of a specific age. Others argue that if they know more about the values and life-styles of buyers, they can produce more effective ads. Abraham Maslow, however, argues that receptivity is based on a hierarchy of needs. Thus, while some of the claims in advertisements are stated openly, others are implied, based on the audience's half-submerged beliefs, desires, or fears. Understanding how advertisers perceive consumers can help us think more clearly about the ads we see.        Advertisers use many of the same strategies writers do: they must define an audience, establish a purpose, and use a variety of structures and appeals to achieve their goals. Likewise, consumers can approach print advertisements employing many of the same techniques readers use in analyzing texts.

The attached materials include not only articles about advertising but also advertisements themselves. Read the articles or excerpts carefully, and examine the advertisements closely. In addition, we think the following preliminary activities will be useful in developing your thinking about the topic:

1) Look at the collection of advertisements and then freewrite for five or ten minutes about what you notice. Brainstorm with others in the class about advertising in general, but remember that the essay topic is restricted specifically to print advertising. Think about the advertisements that appeal to you. which ones do you distrust?

2) Scan the entries in Infotrac, in encyclopedias, or read the articles we have placed on reserve. The library contains a number of textbooks on advertising. One way to think about a topic is to read a variety of material about it.

3) Collect a variety of advertisements from newspapers and magazines. As you drive, look at the billboards at the side of the road or on busses. Talk to others about which ads work (or don't work) and discuss why.

4) Think about your own experience as an advertiser. Have you ever placed a classified ad? Solicited ads for a newspaper, program, or yearbook? What did you learn about audience?

In English 101 this semester, you thought and wrote about topics in at least four ways. You investigated the causes or effects leading to or following from certain actions; you grouped similar things into categories or divided a single thing into its component parts; you looked at similarities or differences between two things; and you advanced a thesis, supporting it with examples or reasons. In addition, you may have defined terms, explained a process, described an object or situation, or argued a position. All of these ways of thinking will help in preparing for the final exam.

During the final exam period, you will be given two of the following four topics and be allowed to choose one of the two. Write a well-developed, multiple paragraph essay (of at least 500 words) in response to one of the two topics. Make sure that your essay addresses the issue raised and follows the organizational pattern that is identified. Remember that all examples must be from print ads.
 

1. "Selling plain soap was peddling product performance. But add some skin cream and you are selling hope--psychologically more powerful, economically more profitable." Support this thesis--that advertisers sell hope rather than performance--with examples from print advertising. [Thesis with support]
2. Many advertisements contain both words and pictures. What causes illustrated ads to be more effective than print-only ads? You may use ads in the packet and any other print ads for examples. [Analysis of effect]
3. This packet contains three pages of small ads taken from a variety of sources. Identify a single principle of classification (using the reading materials provided or others you have found) and develop a thesis about these ads that helps us understand to whom they are directed, the products or services they promote, or how they appeal to us. [Classification]
4. Examine the two large ads for soup. Even though they promote the same product, they are different in a number of ways. Develop a thesis about the differences between the two ads and support it with specific examples and details from them. [Contrast]

You may bring these materials into the exam with you; in addition, you are strongly encouraged to bring with you a 3" x 5" file card containing outlines or notes on the four questions. In other words, we expect you to plan your responses to all four topics before you come to the final exam. Students who have planned their essays ahead of time invariably do a better job on the final. Plenty of paper will be provided, and you may use a dictionary and a thesaurus. Students in computerized sections of English 101 may write their essays using word processors.