The Discourse of Advertising English 408B
University of Waterloo Winter Term 2018
Instructor: Dr. Gordon Slethaug
Classroom: QNC 1507
Day & Time: Tues/Thur 1:00-2:20
Office: HH 262, ext. 33398
Office hours: 11:30-12:30T/R
E-mail: slethaug@uwaterloo.ca
Course Description:
In this course, students will be introduced to the discourse and rhetoric of advertising, and in addition, will have ample opportunity to write about advertising and create a portfolio of advertising copy.
Texts:
The basic text for the course is Barry, Pete. 2017 (third edition). The Advertising Concept Book. New York: Thames and Hudson
Various online articles or PDF files on LEARN as required
Evaluation:
Test X 2 (30%)
Twice a term (Feb. 15, Mar. 29), in a full class period of an hour and twenty minutes each, students will write a test covering readings and lecture material. Each test will cover a specific section of the course. Both will hold equal weight with regard to your final grade. (15% each)
Advertising Portfolio: Reflections on Blog (WordPress.com) (20%)
Students will create and maintain an online portfolio for the duration of the course. Four reflections of about 1000 words each entered on WordPress.com and submitted in hard copy will give students the opportunity to create, edit, and analyze ads within the context of course readings and lecture material. Blog assignments will include:
- --Jan 25: Use Barry’s basic tools to unpack an advertising campaign
- --Feb 8: Reflect on males or females in advertising or relationship between the two
- --Mar 8: Subtervise either a single ad or campaign
- --Mar 15: Watch a campaign-year set of ads and unpack strategies and trends from a rhetorical perspective
Advertising Portfolio: Major Campaign (20%)
This major assignment will require students, working in groups (a sign-up sheet will be distributed), to design a multi-platform advertising campaign, consisting of 3 print ads, 2 TV spots, 1 viral component.
Analysis Essay (10%)
--April 6: For this assignment, students will apply material from our readings and lectures to a particular advertising campaign. Minimum length of this essay is 5 pages.
In-class presentation (10%)
If the class is relatively small, each student will be responsible for making a presentation on one of the course readings. This should be 20-30 minutes long, commenting on the main take-away points and relevant information. You may choose to use PowerPoint or not.
Participation (10%)
By enrolling in this course you obligate yourself to read the assigned texts in advance of class, attend classes, and enter readily into class discussion. Our class discussions will be an important part of your learning, and that is reflected in the mark distribution. Should you miss a class, it is your responsibility to find out what you missed.
Note: All written work submitted late will be subject to a penalty of 5 marks (out of 100) per day, including weekends.
Course Schedule
|
Date |
Readings and Workshops |
Presenters |
|---|---|---|
|
Week 1 Jan. 4 |
Introduction to Course |
Slethaug |
|
Week 2 Jan. 9 |
Introduction to History and Genre of Advertisement Cook, “Introduction:” 1-24, (PDF) Williams, “Advertising: the Magic System” (PDF) |
Slethaug |
|
Jan. 11 |
Genre of Advertisement Barthes, “Rhetoric of the Image” (PDF) Cook, “Conclusion” 219-237 (PDF) |
Slethaug |
|
Week 3 Jan. 16 |
Thinking and Desiring Kahneman, “Introduction” and “The Lazy Controller” from Thinking, Fast and Slow (PDF) Solomon, “Masters of Desire” (online); |
Deman and Slethaug |
|
Jan. 18 |
Basic Methods Barry, “Introduction” and Chapter 1 (“Basic Tools”) |
Slethaug |
|
Week 4 Jan. 23 |
Strategies Barry, Chapter 2 (“Strategy”) and Chapter 6 (“Generating Strategies and Ideas”) |
Slethaug |
|
Jan. 25 |
The Campaign Barry, Chapter 4 (“The Campaign”) |
Slethaug |
|
Himpe, “Building Campaigns” (PDF) |
||
|
Week 5 Jan. 30 |
Semiotic Foundations Desmond, “Semiotics: Consuming Meaning” 181-224 (PDF) |
Slethaug |
|
Feb. 1 |
Semiotic Foundations Kress and van Leeuwen, “Colour as Semiotic Mode” (online) |
Slethaug |
|
Week 6 Feb. 6 |
Women, Gender, and Advertising Jean Killbourne, (online) Jhally, “What’s Wrong with a Little Objectification?” (online) Pozner, “Dove” (online) |
Slethaug |
|
Feb. 8 |
Men, Gender, and Advertising Furnham, “Are Men and Women Portrayed Differently in TV Ads ” (online) Schroeder and Zwick, “Mirrors of Masculinity” (online) Wikipedia “Gender Advertisement,” (online) |
Slethaug |
|
Week 7 Feb. 13 |
Sex and Advertising: Reichert, “Sex in Advertising Research” (PDF) “Does Sex in Advertising Work?” (online) Wikipedia, “Sex in Advertising” (online) |
Slethaug |
|
Feb. 15 |
Test 1 |
Slethaug |
|
Feb. 20 |
Winter Break |
|
|
Week 8 Feb. 27 |
Branding Klein, “No Logo” part 1 (online) Desmond, “Consuming Brands” (PDF) Blakeslee, “If Your Brain Has a ‘Buy Button,’ What Pushes It” (online) |
|
|
Mar. 1 |
Visual Rhetoric and Beyond Phillips and McQuarrie, “Beyond Visual Metaphor” (PDF) and “Development, Change, and Transformation of Rhetorical Style…” (PDF) |
Slethaug |
|
Week 9 Mar. 6 |
The Tagline Barry, Chapter 5 (“The Tagline”) |
Slethaug |
|
Mar. 8 |
Advertising and the Media De Mooij, “Advertising and the Media” (PDF) Barry, “Print” Chapter 3 |
Slethaug |
|
Week 10 Mar. 13 |
Advertising and the Media Barry, “TV” (Chapter 7) |
|
|
Mar. 15 |
Ideology, Values, and Targeting Children “Interpellation,” Chicago School of Media Theory (online) De Mooij, “Value Paradoxes” (PDF) “Report . . . on Advertising and Children” (online) |
Slethaug |
|
Week 11 Mar. 20 |
Political Ads Franz and Ridout, “Does Political Advertising Persuade?” (online) McNair, Political Advertising (PDF) |
Slethaug |
|
Mar. 22 |
The Internet and Social Media Barry, Chapter 9 (“Interactive”) and Chapter 10 (“Social”) Pennenberg, “Who Controls the Internet” (online) |
Slethaug |
|
Week 12 Mar. 27 |
The Internet Wikipedia “Viral Marketing” (online) |
|
|
Mar. 29 |
Test 2 |
|
|
Apr. 6 |
Final Essay Due 5pm |
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