This project has been an interesting learning experience for myself. We have focused a lot on media and advertising throughout this project. Since I was sick at home, I wasn’t able to contribute much during class discussions and group work. However, I do have some aspects of this project I would like to reflect on.

LAUNCH

In our launch process, our class worked on analyzing various types of media. An example of this was our first Milestone where we were tasked to analyze an advertisement titled “Welcome Home.” Analyzing this text required us to reflect on our understanding of the message and its target audience. As part of this analysis, we were also required to make a sketch using Notes to portray our emotions and thoughts while watching the advertisement. Below is a photo of my sketch. (Attached is my Welcome Home Text Analysis)

BUILDING KNOWLEDGE

This was our next step in our project. In the “Building Knowledge” portion of this project, we focused on “Logos, Ethos, and Pathos”, target audience, and various advertising techniques and appeals.

For our second Milestone, we focused on Historical Perspective; which means to look through the eyes of the people of the past. This includes taking into account and understanding their perspective, ideals, experiences, identity, and thoughts. For this Milestone, Historical Media Analysis, we were given the opportunity to choose a text or piece of media from the past and analyze the target audience along with the text’s message. My paragraph was based off of a Disneyland advertisement. (You can check out my analysis here.)

During this project stage, we were also completed an assignment called the “Commercial Dig”. For this assignment, we were to watch live television and record details about various advertisements we found. We were assigned television shows in-class while I was absent, but I hadn’t realized that until after I had completed the assignment. (Here is my Commercial Dig Chart.)

We also completed our third Milestone, the Historical Advertising Analysis. Our task was to take a historical perspective to reflect on and write about an advertisement from the past. I chose a Lego advertisement from the 1980’s. (Attached is my Historical Advertising Analysis)

CONCLUSION

Unfortunately, due to my absences, I was unable to participate in the “Develop and Critique” and “Present” portions of this project. 

Even though this project has yet to be completed, I do feel like I have learned a lot. Through our assignments, we reflected a lot on media and advertising techniques/appeals. Admittedly, my absences made me miss out on many parts of this project, but I am looking forward to working on this project more and completing it in the following weeks.