For this assignment, you will compose an ACTS-style introduction. Please read and follow the instructions below carefully.
1. Watch the Chrysler 2011 Super Bowl commercial
(Links to an external site.)
linked here.
2. Compose an ACTS-style introduction for the hypothetical essay described below. (Note: you are NOT writing an essay; just an introduction)
2a. First, use a standard tactic for gaining a reader’s Attention. (1-2 sentences)
2b. Second, decide on some relevant and necessary information the reader will need to know in order to understand this essay better. This section will be the longest part of the introduction – the Context. (5-7 sentences)
For the Context, you might consider the historical context for the City of Detroit in the years leading up to 2011. Or, you might wish to talk about Chrysler as a company, and where it stood in 2011. Or, you might wish to talk about advertising, and particularly advertising during the Super Bowl. And so on. There are a lot of angles you could take to set up this essay.
But, you should NOT describe the commercial itself. For this exercise, assume the reader has seen the commercial.
Whatever topic you choose to discuss in the Context, it should lead up to revealing the message of the commercial. For this assignment, we will say that the commercial’s message is, “Luxury comes from hard work.”
The message should be expressed at or near the end of your Context.
Note: as discussed in the analysis chapter, in a rhetorical analysis we are interested in how the commercial creates its message; the answer to the “how” question would provide a good thesis for an essay: “The commercial creates this message through its use of X, Y, and Z.”
2c and 2d. Finally, present the essay’s Thesis, which includes a preview of the essay’s Structure:
The commercial creates this message through its use of narration, imagery, and celebrity endorsement.
Note: This sentence should be the final sentence of your introduction.
Notice that you are provided with the T and the S; you really just need to compose the A and the C.
As discussed in the ACTS video for this week, your introduction should be approximately 8-10 sentences long
