Writing Exercise: Finding the Thesis, Last
ADVERTISING AS CULTURE
Most advertising these days goes far beyond trying to convince you of the value
of a product’s attributes, such as, that it is bigger, faster, brighter, cleaner, etc. Instead,
most advertising tries to associate the product with cultural meanings, values, and desires
that have very little to do with what a product actually is or does.
If you combine that fact with the increasing spread of advertising throughout
society, it is clear that one of the major channels through which culture is transmitted is
through advertising. What meanings and messages do you see delivered through
advertising and what does that tell you about the state of affairs in the cultural worlds you
observe?
This is an exercise in how to begin writing a paper. It is not a complete paper
assignment. Instead, I would like you to follow a few procedures that will help you find
your main point through writing.
Step 1: Find one advertisement online that is in the traditional form of a still
magazine ad (meaning an image with a moderate amount of text, not a blogpost) or a
commercial (i.e. most short advertising videos.) For this exercise, don’t choose political
ads but ads for some kind of product or service to buy.
You only need keep in mind at this point, as you are choosing your ad, that the ad will
help you to convince your reader that:
advertising is like culture, and works as a system of perception and meaning
Find an ad that would be good for that. That’s step 1. You can provide Step 1 by
including valid link in your writing piece.
Step 2:
Write about one page double spaced and label it “step 2”:
Explain the idea of why advertising is like culture. Make sure you make some
reference to the concept of culture, and cite Geertz at some point, including a
quote.
Step 3:
Write about two pages double spaced and label it “step 3”:
Point out things about the ad that you see as cultural messages in the ad about
something other than the product. Cultural messages teach us how to see and
think about the world and ourselves and others.
Step 4:
Write about one page double spaced and label it “step 4”:
Make a convincing argument to the reader that the cultural messages in Step 3
that you “read” in the ads tell us something significant about the state of
affairs in our society, our world, or in ourselves. In other words, connect this
to something going on outside the ad. This action is part of what’s called an
“interpretation.” You don’t have to prove what you are saying is true
scientifically, it just has to seem convincing. For example, your ad might be
saying something about race, about class, about history, about anything really but
you get the point here: how is this ad trying to get across a way of seeing
something important in the world.
Step 5:
Summarize Step 4 in one sentence. Work on the sentence and when you get it
right, label it “Step 5: My thesis”
Step 6:
Reflect on what you have, on your own in your mind.
These batches of writing, above, are what you would work on if you were going
to write a whole paper, to the following prompt:
Using an example of a particular ad, what meanings and messages do you see
delivered through advertising and what does that tell you about the state of affairs in the
cultural worlds you observe?
Were you to actually complete a paper on this topic, after working out your ideas
in the manner above (I’m saying imagine yourself doing this):
1. The paper might start with, or very early on launch into, your #5 Thesis
Statement.
2. Then you might explain more about what you mean in general about
advertising and culture with an in-depth discussion of the relation of culture and
advertising (Step 2).
3. Then you might discuss particular things you notice about your particular ad
(Step 3)
4. Then you might let explain how these particular observations might possibly be
connected to certain things going on in the world, which would complete the explanation
of the thesis statement (Step 4)
While this assignment has asked you to write each part of the logical progression
above, you don’t have to fully integrate them for this assignment. You just have to write
out and explore these basic baskets of stuff you would have in a paper that addressed the
above prompt.
This has been an exercise on how to brainstorm a paper and come up with a
thesis.
Usually, some process like this is better than setting down to write the first
sentence of paper and continuing on till you get to the last sentence.
Usually, it’s better to start writing for yourself, rather than writing under the
pressure of “What I’m writing now is the exact words that the reader will read.”
It’s better to write first, and separately, A LOT, then start writing your paper.
Again, I hope it’s clear, this last part, writing the paper, is not actually a part of
the requirements for this assignment. However you may rewrite this as a part of your
final portfolio.
Format: Double spaced Times New Roman 1” Margins
Citations: Any reference to course materials can be in parenthesis with author name and
page number. Like this: (Geertz, 5). Do not use outside sources.
Purpose of the Exercise:
1. Practice the interpretation of culture
2. Practice the art of identifying your argument by writing first, then discovering
your argument
3. Allow your TA to check in on your grammar and writing style
Rubric: 15pts
Contains the required elements specified above: 0-3 points
Quality of the elements: 0-2 points
(The elements are either barely satisfied 0-1 or reveal depth and thoughtfulness 2
points)
The thesis is an argument about cultural meanings in the chosen ad and what they have to
do with matters going on in the world: 0-1 point
Grammar and readability: 0-2 points
7pts: liveliness and not boring writing but feels like live writing written by someone
alive and interested.
As with all graded writing assignments, subjective judgement is at work. Writing is art.
To have a live voice as a writer that is strong enough to be noticed by your Assistant
Teacher, be sure to choose an ad you are interested in and have feelings about, and ideas
that are personally interesting to you. Use your imagination when interpreting ads. And
finally, check your writing to see if it is dull, lifeless. At this time in history, quality
writing is all about the liveliness not dead feelingness of writing. It is a new standard. If
your Assistant Teacher feels like they are reading a robot, then you won’t get any credit
for liveliness not boring points. Important: this is subjective, like everything else in
writing. Writing is an art.
Important: this is not about deciding about cheating (nor is it about proper grammar, etc.).
You will lose 7 points for writing that subjectively feels to the reader boring and lifeless,
as though a robot wrote it. Should you be penalized for bad writing in this way, don’t
worry. In the future, you can try to figure out how to not feel dead that way to other
people. This is a completely separate issue from actually using a robot. For that, one
would be reported to OSJA. However these 7 pts are all about seeming like a robot in the
subjective experience of the reader.
PLease give me turnin report and no AI use