Beginnings of the Rhetorical Analysis

The main goal of any advertisement is to sell a product. In this case, we are presented the perfume Midnight Poison by Dior, and tempted to purchase it.

Purpose: To sell the perfume Midnight Poison by Dior to customers, to rake in a profit, to increase the good reception for the company Dior and or the stores selling it (Sephora, Macy’s, etc.), to allow customers the joy of good scent and satisfy their desires.

Audience: Customers in the store, mainly woman, most likely aged between the teenage years up till middle aged woman. Most likely attracts wealthier customers, as Dior is a luxury French brand name.  Can also attract men who are looking to purchase this as a gift for a significant other, relative, or friend. (Commonplace to say that men do not buy women’s perfume for themselves…!)

Context: An advertisement in a fashion and beauty magazine or in a department store’s weekly advertisements. It can also be advertised in the store itself. I found this advertisement online, but advertisements for perfumes are often found in such contexts.

Two Strengths:

• Good use of evidence to support a claim. She describes the website’s appearance well for the readers, describing the photograph of a young boy, the type of the headers and size of the font. Subtle details that add to the overall purpose of the website. The use of this detail strongly supports her claim.
• Describes how the data is supporting her claim, how the font and aesthetics of the webpage encourages an emotional commitment. The small snippets of story, she explains, causes a sense of urgency to the situation that makes humans emotionally committed to helping.

Two Weaknesses:

• The use of “imagine” provides an appropriate hook, but the ideas that the audience must imagine is exactly what the website is about, which seems a bit unoriginal, redundant, and mechanical.
• The first paragraph creates an odd scenario where the writer is talking about an organization that the reader does not know of yet, and she is presenting the hypothesis for the purpose of this website, when for the reader, this website is still hypothetical. Seems out of place to have the thesis before presenting the actual organization this whole essay is dedicated to.
• Her transitions between the paragraphs are missing. The essay does not flow well. No good concluding sentence at the end of her paragraphs that signify the end of a thought.
• Conclusion does not summarize any of her points, and states that she hopes that she has argued her thesis well. Instead of hoping, she could have showed us how she argued her thesis well.

By understanding what is strong and weak in a rhetorical analysis, we will always have the idea of what is good and bad when we are writing. Seeing an example such as the essay written gives us a better idea on how to approach the essay, including what to describe, what to explain, how to begin and end the essay, and how the data described directly shows or supports a certain claim that is being made. After reading the example essay, now I know that it is very important to really examine in detail all the subtle effects of the advertisement I’ve chosen to analyze. Being insightful is necessary. I have to go beyond the surface, just as the example essay did.