Your assignment is to compare “competing” persuasive
strategies to determine which is more effective to your partner. You will choose two print ads
that you believe display “competing” persuasive strategies discussed in that
module. This means that these topics
must be related somehow, and it should be difficult to do both strategies at
one time. For example, you might see
ethos, logos, and pathos being discussed in Module 1. This could be a good topic because they are
similar ideas and one of them could be featured over another in any given
ad. Obviously, these three things will
almost always occur together, so the idea of “competing” strategies is open for
interpretation. As long as they are
related by topic (i.e. different theories, different parts of one theory,
similar topic, etc.), then I will be happy with the topic.
You will send the two ads to your partner with enough time
to get a response from them and write your paper before the module closes. Your partner will respond with a short email
telling you which they personally found to be more persuasive and why (without
going into much detail). Your partner
will only speak about how they feel, they do not need to explain why they chose
it from an academic perspective.
I will be grading based on these things:
1.
Your knowledge of the topic
2.
Your application of the topic in what ads you
have chosen
3.
That your chosen ads are targeted toward your
partner
4.
That you include your partner’s response in the
paper (so I can see if I have the same interpretation of their response)
5.
How well you explain your partner’s response
through an academic lens
6.
Various other formatting and organizational
issues – that you use APA formatting, that you do not write over 2 pages, that
your ads fit the module where you submitted the paper, that you’ve included
your print ads (and that you’ve used print ads), etc.
Your papers will be in three parts:
PART I: You will describe the topic that you have chosen and
describe how each ad you chose illustrates that idea. You will include each ad in an appendix at
the end of the paper, after the references.
You will also describe your partner and how these ads are targeted
toward them.
PART II: You will quote, word for word, exactly what your
partner said. Your partner’s response
should be no more than a few sentences, and it should not speak in academic
terms – it should simply be a quick statement describing how they felt about
each ad and which they found more persuasive.
PART III: You will explain why you believe that your partner
felt this way, using concepts from the book and any other references that you
see fit.
The Topic I’ve chosen is Esoteric Forms of Persuasion. You can make up the perspective of the other person (partner) for the assignment.
