MDSB12H3 UTSC - ACM Prof. Sarah Jensen
Media Image Analysis
Worth: 15 marks; 10% of final grade
Due: September 24, 2024
Length: 750–1000 words
Prompt
In “Advertising and the Rise of Amateur Photography: From Kodak and Polaroid
to the Digital Image,” Marita Sturken (2017) uses multiple advertisements to trace
“the changing role of advertising in shaping cultural practices” (n.p.). How could
you extend Sturken’s analysis to the attached image? To respond to this prompt,
analyze the attached media image by considering its content, formal aspects,
any significant references, the contexts in which it was produced and displayed,
and the contexts in which you, the viewer, encountered it.
Instructions
• Your analysis must incorporate terms, analyses, and/or methods from both
assigned readings from week 2. You can also use course materials from weeks
1–3 and the supplementary notes and recommended sources provided below to
help you complete this assignment. No other sources should be consulted. All
sources must be cited using either APA or MLA guidelines.
• Do not use AI tools (ChatGPT, etc.) for this assignment.
• Do be as specific as possible in your analysis, especially when referring to the
different elements in the image.
• You can include figures in your analysis (i.e., a specific part of the image).
• Some specific terms to use include: visual; visuality; practices of looking;
advertising; photography; social media; reproduction; memes. Use course
readings to define these terms.
• Effective writing is precise, concise, and organized.
Supplementary Notes and Recommended Sources
Use these notes and sources as you build your own analysis.
• The media image you are analyzing is an advertisement in a print magazine.
• The advertisement was published in the New Yorker in August 2024 and it
appeared on the back cover of the magazine.
• The New Yorker is a popular magazine with content published in both print and
digital formats that focuses on American culture. The print copy is published
weekly.
• Many of the New Yorker’s readers have live outside of the USA and have
university degrees (indeed, you likely have multiple professors at UTSC that
subscribe to the New Yorker).
• Its journalism is well-regarded; some of its long-form pieces have won prestigious
prizes. Many notable journalists, authors, and artists have contributed to the New
Yorker throughout its nearly 100-year history.
• You can read more here about the magazine here:
https://www.newyorker.com/about/us
• Information on Snapchat can be found here: https://snap.com/en-US
MDSB12H3 UTSC - ACM Prof. Sarah Jensen
• You can also use information from this link: https://newsroom.snap.com/13-years-
at-snap
• You can draw on your own experiences as a Snapchat user (or non-user!), but
this should only form a small part of your analysis.
• You should discuss your experience as the viewer or audience of the
advertisement, considering your own positionality.
• In terms of formal aspects, consider the following: choice of subject, framing,
colour, lighting, spatial organization, and focus.
Grading Rubric
Content 8 marks
Organization 4 marks
Writing Mechanics 3 marks
Total 15 marks
MDSB12H3 UTSC - ACM Prof. Sarah Jensen