4.+Creating+Commercial+Using+Ethos,+Pathos,+or+Logos

Rationale:

In completing this assignment, students should be more aware of how advertising appeals to its audience. They should be able to recognize the different techniques advertisers use to attract consumers. In doing so, students would hopefully become wiser spenders and more educated consumers. This lesson would also allow students to see how advertising is used in different types of media.

Sunshine State Standards:

//LA.8.6.1.1: The student will explain how text features (e.g., charts, maps, diagrams, sub-headings, captions, illustrations, graphs) aid the reader's understanding;//

//LA.8.6.3.1: The student will analyze ways that production elements (e.g., graphics, color, motion, sound, digital technology) affect communication across the media;//

//LA.8.6.4.1: The student will use appropriate available technologies to enhance communication and achieve a purpose (e.g., video, digital technology);// LA.8.6.4.2: The student will evaluate and apply digital tools (e.g., word, processing, multimedia authoring, web tools, graphic organizers) to publications and presentations.

Purpose:

The purpose of this instruction is for students to take their film metalangauge, which has been provided to them in previous lessons, and apply it with their understanding of ethos, pathos, and logos to create video commercials of static advertisements.

Objectives:

Students will be able to:

- Apply their understanding of ethos, pathos, and logos to different forms of media - Identify the different elements of ethos, pathos, and logos in advertisements - Use prior knowledge of film metalanguage and narrative form to construct a video advertisement - Analyze commercials to determine type of rhetoric

Procedures:

1) Because students have already been instructed on the metalanguage used for films and commercials, they will engage in an activity that reviews this terminology. In groups of four, students will be handed a sheet of paper with film terms on them. Each group will be given a different set of terms. While one group might get the terms for the different film shots (long, close-up, and medium), another group might get the vocabulary for the different types of camera movement (pan, tilt, zoom, and tracking). The two remaining groups will receive terms for the different types of sound (diegetic, nondiegetic, and internal diegetic) and angles (low, high, eye level, and dutch angle), respectively. In their groups, students will discuss the meaning of their terms, explain the terms’ importance when used in advertising, and provide evidence that support their explanations. Groups will then take turns sharing their findings with the class. (Overt instruction will be provided in the form of guiding questions when necessary in order to guide students’ presentations if they lack information).

2) After this review, the instructor will show three commercials to the class. Each commercial will illustrate ethos, pathos, or logos. The instructor will show each commercial once without interruption. She will then show each commercial a second time. Through overt instruction and class discussion, she will examine how these commercials by pausing during crucial shots that illustrate these rhetorical devices. She will also explain the film techniques being used. She will use guiding questions to help students understand why these devices and techniques are important.

3) Overt instruction will then be used to explain the following assignment. Students will be handed an advertisement from a newspaper or a magazine. (All ads will be previewed and provided by instructor.) Students will also be handed a random index card, on which will either have the term ethos, pathos, or logos. Students will be instructed to create a commercial that tells the back story of their advertisement. They will have to use ethos, pathos, or logos to appeal to their audience. They will create a narrative that extends past their paper advertisement. They will be given the choice to use one of the following structures to create their narrative: Freytag’s Triangle, Aristotle’s Theory, or Todorov’s Model of Equilibrium and Disequilibrium, all of which have been discussed in previous lessons. They will be given story board panels to help create their commercial.

4) Students will be overtly instructed on how to use the Flip video recorders that they will be provided. The instructor will demonstrate how to record, zoom, and transfer the film to a computer. Students will then spend some time attempting to create a commercial that is approximately one minute. They will be given sufficient time to practice their parts and rehearse for the camera.

5) Once complete, they will upload their commercials onto their classroom computers. The teacher will instruct them on how to upload their videos to Voice Thread. They have already been introduced to uploading still images, but the instructor will teach them how they can upload videos and comment on their classmates’ commercials. Students will then upload their commercials to Voice Thread.

6) As part of their homework assignment, students will orally comment on their peers’ commercials, explaining if the commercial appeals to ethos, pathos, or logos and how do they know that. They will also need to explain the obvious: what they think their classmates’ are attempting to sell in their advertisements. Furthermore, they will need to point out the types of shots, angles, sounds, and camera movement that were used in the commercials.

Assessment:

Students will be informally assessed through class and group discussion. They will also be assessed on their commercials and Voice Thread comments. Their commercials will be assessed as a group grade. Commercials will be assessed against a rubric that will be handed to students. Voice Thread comments will be assessed as an individual grade. Thoroughness of answers will determine students’ grades.

Accommodations:

Students who do not have computers at home will be given ample time to complete their assignments before school, during lunch, during the instructor’s planning period, and after school. The instructor will rotate around the room ensuring that all students understand the material and assignment, addressing any confusion students seem to have.