Problem:
The Essay Rationale (20%) is a project designed to get you thinking systematically about how you will structure your Media Analysis Essay, which will analyze a print-based ad from a magazine of your choosing. It is a formal document that presents a plan for the work you will eventually produce, giving you the opportunity to workshop (and refine) your ideas before they're written up in the paper itself
Ask yourself the following questions: who is the intended audience for the ad? What is it trying to sell? How is it making an appeal to the potential consumer? With these answers in mind, your aim is to answer the following broader questions, each of which frame the ad as an 'issue' worth discussing: what is this advertisement about? (i.e. if you were to tell someone else about it, how would you do it?) Why is it important? Why are you writing this essay?