Your assignments for next week are to complete your 2nd paper, and to read two short texts.
The paper, as you know, is a response to Roland Barthes’ Rhetoric of the Image. The objective for this paper is to analyze the rhetorical elements of a recent advertising image.
Select a print ad that uses photographic imagery, then deconstruct the elements of the ad. Describe the image in as much detail as possible, examining the characteristics of the objects, models, and environment in the image, as well as layout, typography, interaction of picture elements, image quality and composition. Make your best attempt to articulate the meaning of the image, using Barthes’ terms. Consider the denotative and connotative aspects, the use of anchorage and relay, the 3 messages contained in the image, the semantic and lexical components, etc. Think in terms of the effectiveness of the advertisers’ rhetoric, and the ideological metalanguage employed.
Again, this response will be submitted as a 750-1000 word typewritten paper, double-spaced in 12 pt. Times New Roman. Include images of the advertisement under consideration and any other relevant illustrations. All references and quotations, including image sources should be properly cited in MLA format.
The readings are essentially unrelated to the paper. You may find it helpful to complete them after the paper. They are as follows:
Paul Rand, Good Design is Goodwill (1987): Rand_Goodwill
Denise Scott Brown, Steven Izenour & Robert Venturi, Learning from Las Vegas: The Forgotten Symbolism of Architectural Form (1972): Venturi_LasVegas
Please budget your time this week to complete the paper with enough time remaining to also complete the readings.
