Midterm Exam: Analyzing the Use of the Word and Concept of “Technology” in a Mitsubishi Energy Ad

Rodgers.Technology.Mitsubishi.Screen.Shot.March.2015

Above, is a screen shot of a recent advertisement from Mitsubishi Heavy Industries.  You can access another ad related to this one here:  http://www.mhi-global.com/index.html

If you click on this ad, you are taken to this site:

http://www.mhi-global.com/discover/advertisement/newspaper/changer/index.html?sscd=gamechanger2

I was interested in both the ad and in the advertising site itself.  However, you are only required to write a one-page rhetorical analysis of the ad itself.  Visit the site offering additional information about the project being advertised only if you find it helpful.  In terms of analyzing the ad, please consider the following questions:

What does this ad imply about technology?  How?  Why?  Rhetorically, how is the advertisement functioning, both visually and with respect to the text included in it?  What assumptions are being made about technology, the readers of the ad, and the readers’ understanding of technology?  How does the use of the word “technology” and the visual depiction of the “technology” being advertised relate to one or more points made by Thomas Hughes and Eric Schatzberg in their essays?

Here is some additional guidance for your one page rhetorical analysis of this ad:

Review the ad. Write out what you think is the ad’s purpose and what it implies about its intended audience. The following questions should help you generate this information.

    • Purpose: What does the ad appear to persuade viewers to think, feel, or decide after seeing it? What visual cues does the ad provide viewers to allow them to undertsand the overall “message” of the ad?
    • Audience: Who are the intended readers? What does the text imply about readers’ knowledge or feelings about the subject of technology?

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