Touchstone 3

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Sophia Pathways for College Credit – English Composition

Are you ready to write Touchstone 3?

The informative essay below provides an example of an advanced level revision for Prompt A: Image Analysis. As you read through the revised informative essay, notice how the author improved her essay relative to the first draft by strengthening her thesis statement, removing unnecessary words and sentences, revising sentences for variety, and eliminating non-objective language. This sample revision employs effective strategies to improve the composition and reflects thoughtfully on the revision process. ______________________________________________________________________ Kaitlin Thompson

English Composition I

February 3, 2018

Sophia Pathways for College Credit – English Composition I

Flipping through a magazine while sitting in a waiting room, hearing ads on the

radio, or being exposed to billboards and television commercials are daily occurrences

for most people. In fact, it’s difficult to escape advertisements in our daily lives. How

does this onslaught of persuasive rhetoric affect people? And how can consumers resist

being manipulated into believing a certain product or service can improve their lives? A

careful analysis of advertisements can reveal the techniques advertisers use, as well as

evaluate the effectiveness of those techniques. By examining the individual components

– targeted audience, purpose, and context – of an advertisement, one can more easily

understand the overall meaning and effect of the ad on consumers.

This advertisement for Clear shampoo targets a female audience. This is evident

through the central placement of a female figure and her glorious, shining mane of hair.

The model’s dark hair and dark clothing, along with the muted, shadowy background,

invite the audience to look for visible signs of white, flaky dandruff. Of course, there are

none, which reinforces the advertisement’s textual message of “Zero dandruff.” Visually,

the ad succeeds in making a clear link between the shampoo itself and the promise of

no dandruff.

Other signs pointing toward a female audience are more nuanced. The overall

look of the ad is sleek and soft. Aside from the model and her hair, the most prominent

image is the block of text which addresses the audience directly. Using a persuasive

tone, the text encourages the audience to contact the company for tips on managing

hair plagued by dandruff. There is also an offer of a free product sample, a technique

that appeals to many consumers. This context is an opportunity for the company, both

Comment [SL1]: You’ve done a great job revising the thesis. It now states the specific elements of the advertisement you will discussing, and maintains an objective tone.

Comment [SL2]: I noticed you removed some unnecessary details in this paragraph. The flow of the paragraph is much smoother now.

Comment [SL3]: You did a lot of great revision work in this paragraph. You corrected previous issues with punctuation, sentence completeness, and word choice.

Sophia Pathways for College Credit – English Composition I

in the visual components of the ad and through the promised text message, to extol the

virtues of its own shampoo. Clear shampoo, it promises, is powered by Cleartech Soft”

(although this term is not defined for the viewer) and essential oils, which will make hair

“up to 4 times softer and shinier.” The model in the ad does indeed have hair which

appears to be very soft and shiny, underscoring this point. In this way, the ad

successfully links the context and imagery to effectively target a female audience who

may be interested in – or in need of - a dandruff shampoo.

The text in the center of the advertisement – “Say no to dandruff” – suggests that

women have the power to choose beautiful, shiny hair over limp or problem hair. This is

an empowering idea that will likely appeal to a young woman concerned with her

appearance. Simply by using this product, women can take control of how they are

perceived by the world. It is the woman who makes the choice, and she makes the

choice by not accepting anything less than gorgeous, perfect hair. The model’s

enigmatic expression reinforces this idea of the woman being in control.

As a whole, the ad appears soft and subtly compelling. Its simplicity targets key

stereotypes of women as the intended audience: women are soft, emotionally and

physically. The text encourages women to stand up for themselves and just “say no,”

playing into the stereotype that women are not assertive enough and too often passively

accept things rather than try to change them. This also implies that instead of acting,

women are more concerned with appearance and feelings. The text “No dandruff. Just

fabulous hair” at the bottom of the advertisement tells the consumer that if her hair is

fabulous, she, also, will look and feel fabulous. The link between physical appearance Comment [SL4]: Nice addition of supporting details here. Now the reader has a better idea of what other stereotypes the ad perpetuates.

Sophia Pathways for College Credit – English Composition I

and emotional well-being is clearly implied, and specifically targeted at women. Appeals

to stereotype are not particularly attractive when broken down in this manner, but at a

brief glance, these techniques are extremely effective in advertising. The application

may be different in different ads, but the result is the same: playing on stereotypical

attributes of women in order to send clear signals about the intended audience of the

product.

The advertisement relies on a dark background, a prominent image of a dark-

haired model, and a smaller, but still noticeable, image of the product. The image draws

clear parallels meant to evoke a response in the audience: the model has shiny, healthy

looking hair; she uses Clear shampoo; if I use Clear shampoo, I will also have shiny,

healthy-looking, dandruff-free hair. In this way, the ad is successful in its mission to

relate the primary benefits of the product in a way which is memorable and clear.

A close analysis of the components of this advertisement reveals that the visual

image, along with the chosen context, clearly targets a female audience. The color

scheme, image placement, product information, and choice of a dark-haired, mysterious

model appeal to certain aspects of a gender stereotype. Women are presented with a

visual image along with information for how to contact the company, which implies that

women (should) think more deeply about the products they buy. Women are also

encouraged to focus on how they will look and feel as a result of using the product. The

advertisement successfully exploits these arguably stereotypical ideas in targeting

women, and a stereotypical female consumer may well react favorably to them.

Sophia Pathways for College Credit – English Composition I

Think About Your Writing:

1. How much time did you spend revising your draft? Which revision strategies

did you use, and which of them worked best for you? (2-3 sentences)

I probably took about a week to revise my draft. After I got my comments back, I read

through the essay again, and then put it away for a couple of days. Then I went through

the essay again, marking where I could incorporate the changes suggested by the

evaluator. Over three days, I spent about 6 hours of dedicated work making changes

and proofreading the final copy twice.

2. How did the revision process improve your essay? (2-3 sentences)

I really think the essay flows a lot more smoothly now, since I was able to focus on

ideas instead of the individual ads. I also think that changing the language that I used

made the essay more dynamic and fun to read. I made certain that each paragraph

contained only relevant details and that at the end of my discussion of each idea, I

explained how the discussion was relevant to my thesis statement. I think that this made

my essay sound more professional and cohesive.

Sophia Pathways for College Credit – English Composition I

3. What did you learn about your writing process or yourself as a writer? (2-3

sentences)

I learned so much about myself as a writer during this course. I learned that I really

need to think about what I want to say before I write, or I tend to write in a very simplistic

manner. Also, I learned that it is ok to write a first draft that gets all of the ideas down on

paper, and then go back and revise it in terms of structure or content so that it makes

more sense. I think it took less time for me to do this than it usually takes for me to write

a single draft because I’m always so concerned about getting everything right the first

time. Revising my drafts made me much more confident in my writing and my ideas.

COPY OF TOUCHSTONE 2.2 SUBMISSION

Flipping through a magazine while sitting in a waiting room, hearing adds on the

radio, or being exposed to billboards and television commercials are daily occurrences

for most people. In fact, it’s difficult to escape advertisements in our daily lives. How

does this onslaught of persuasive rhetoric affect people? And how can consumers resist

being manipulated into believing a certain product or service can improve their lives? A

careful analysis of advertisements can reveal the techniques advertisers use, as well as

Sophia Pathways for College Credit – English Composition I

evaluate the effectiveness of those techniques. I think we should all learn to analyze

images so that we can better understand their meanings and possible effects. By

examining the individual components of an advertisement, I can more easily understand

the overall meaning and effect of the ad on consumers.

This advertisement for Clear shampoo targets a female audience. This is evident

through the central placement of a female figure and her glorious, shining mane of hair.

Many ads use beautiful women in their advertisements. The model’s dark hair and dark

clothing, along with the muted, shadowy background, invite the audience to look for

visible signs of white, flaky dandruff. Of course, there are none, which reinforces the

advertisement’s textual message of “Zero dandruff.” Visually, the ad succeeds in

making a clear link between the shampoo itself and the promise of no dandruff.

Other signs pointing toward a female audience are more nuanced. The overall

look of the ad is sleek and soft. Aside from the model and her hair, the most prominent

image is the block of text which addresses the audience directly. Using a persuasive

tone, the text encourages the audience to contact the company for tips on managing

hair plagued by dandruff. Also an offer of a free product sample, a technique that

appeals to many consumers. This context is an opportunity for the company, both in the

visual components of the ad and through the promised text message, to extol the

virtues of its own shampoo. Clear shampoo, it promises, is powered by Cleartech Soft”

(whatever that means) and essential oils, which will make hair up to 4 times softer and

shinier. The model in the ad does indeed have hair which appears to be very soft and

shiny, underscoring this point. In this way, the ad successfully links the context and

Sophia Pathways for College Credit – English Composition I SAMPLE TOUCHSTONE 4

imagery to effectively target a female audience that may be interested in – or in need of

- a dandruff shampoo.

The text in the center of the advertisement – “Say no to dandruff” – suggests that

women have the power to choose beautiful, shiny hair over limp or problem hair. This is

an empowering idea that will likely appeal to a young woman concerned with her

appearance. I don’t think being overly concerned with your appearance is necessarily a

good thing, but I know many women are. Simply by using this product, women can take

control of how they are perceived by the world. It is the woman who makes the choice,

and she makes the choice by not accepting anything less than gorgeous, perfect hair.

The model’s enigmatic expression reinforces this idea of the woman being in control.

As a whole, the ad appears soft and subtly compelling. Its simplicity targets key

stereotypes of women as the intended audience: women are soft, emotionally and

physically. The text encourages women to stand up for themselves and just “say no,”

playing into the stereotype that women are not assertive enough and too often passively

accept things rather than try to change them. The link between physical appearance