Brainstorming questions for doing a rhetorical analysis of print ads

1. Rhetorical Analysis
Assignment
Brainstorming

2. Begin with your first
ad, specifically the
older one.

3. Identify the main purpose of
the ad. What was it
designed to do?
Could the ad have any other
purposes? Brainstorm
possibilities.

4. Now, describe the people in the
ad. What race/ethnicity could the
people be? How old are they?
What is their hair style and
color? What are they wearing?
What is their role (mother,
doctor, child, etc.)?

5. Continue thinking about the
people in the ad. What are
they doing? What emotions
are they expressing? How do
you know? What are they
looking at/focused on?

6. Describe the setting of the
scene (office, bedroom,
beach, etc.)? What objects are
in the scene? Describe them.
How do the people interact
with the objects?

7. Consider why the creators made
the design choices they did.
First, why do you think they
chose the particular people they
did? Consider race, sex,
socioeconomic status, age, etc.

8. Consider the social roles and
values the people seem to promote.
Are gender roles traditional or
nontraditional? What kind of
relationships are depicted? What
seems to be the attitude of each
person to the other?

9. Describe the setting and the
objects in the room. Why do
you think the creators chose
this particular setting? These
particular objects?

10. What is the relationship between
the objects and the people in the
ad? Are the people using the
objects? What is the people’s
attitude toward the objects? Do
objects or people dominate the
ad?

11. What do you think MIGHT have
been happening before the scene in
the ad? What might the figures have
been doing? What might have just
occurred? Use your imagination,
but make sure it makes sense in the
context of the ad.

12. What are the dominant colors
in the ad? Why do you think
the designers chose these
colors? Are they symbolic or
do they some other
significance?

13. Consider the design of the
words. Do the words or the
images dominate the ad? What
kind of font is used for the
words--something simple or
something fancy? What color
are the letters?

14. Consider the words themselves.
How would you describe the
words--funny, direct, shocking,
logical, etc? Could the words have
an underlying meaning or a double
entendre? Why did the creators
choose these words in particular?

15. Who do you think this ad would
appeal to (audience)? Consider
age, sex, ethnicity/race, nationality,
native language, religious
affiliation, and/or values. What
about the ad would appeal to
this/these audience/audiences?

16. What is the message (messages) of
the ad? If you buy this product,
then, what will happen (according
to the ad)? It will make you
richer/stronger/happier, etc.? How
do the creators make this message
apparent?

17. Consider the ethos of the ad. What
about the ad makes the product
seem credible, trustworthy, or
legitimate? Is it the words in the ad,
the images, or just the product
name itself? How do these things
make the product seem credible?

18. Consider the pathos of the ad. What
emotions or feelings does the ad
evoke in the viewer? How does it
evoke these emotions? Why would
the creators want to evoke such
emotions in relation to their
product?

19. Consider the logos of the ad. Is
there anything logical, technical, or
mathematical in the ad? Are
statistics used? Are claims used
(This product does this and this,
etc.)? Are the product specs listed?

20. What appeal or appeals is the ad
using? How do you know it is
using this/these appeal/appeals?
(Note that just because an ad
shows skin or romance does NOT
necessarily mean it is using sex
appeal.)

21. Go through slides 2-20 for
the second ad.

22. Now, compare and contrast the different
aspects of each ad. Do they have
different/similar purposes, messages,
audiences, imagery, language, ethos,
pathos, logos, or appeals? Have the ads
changed much over time or stayed the
same? Do the ads reflect the time period
and values from when they were
created?