English 384a
Analytical Paper: What Does “Real Beauty” Mean?
Central Argument
Your analytical paper will focus on the Dove “Real Beauty” advertising campaign. The central
question to consider is this: “What should „real beauty‟ mean?” Your answer to this question
must be a rhetorical argument, taking into consideration factors including audience, purpose,
delivery, medium (or media), ethos/pathos/logos/mythos, and semiotics. You must use wellchosen quotations and paraphrases from at least three of the authors we read before spring break.
To form your argument, you will first need to take into account what “real” means to others who
have commented on this campaign. Include specific and well-chosen quotations and paraphrases
from at least three of the articles we‟ve read for class. You will also need to propose and defend
your own definition of “real beauty” and explain the ways in which the Dove campaign does, or
does not, achieve this (or perhaps both does and doesn‟t achieve it).
Caveat
Please be aware that I am not looking for simplistic bromides such as “Real beauty comes from
within.” As the scoring guide on our syllabus notes, your argument should be clear, precise and
arguable; moreover, your treatment of the rhetorical situation of this campaign must demonstrate
awareness of context and recognition of alternative points of view. Part of the context to
consider is that advertising is a commercial business; as Daryl Fielding points out in the “Dove
Campaign Roundtable,” “In advertising, you‟re not exactly „doing good‟ for a living—it‟s not as
though we‟re running an orphanage.” Other aspects of context you might consider include
Unilever as a parent company; the nonprofit and educational efforts that attended the campaign;
and the various ways that Unilever products, including Dove, have been marketed globally.
A Few More Details
You are writing for an audience of scholars interested in advertising rhetoric. Assume that
readers are generally aware of the Dove campaign, but are not closely familiar with it, and have
not read any of the articles you‟re citing.
Minimum 1,250 words. Feel free to go beyond the minimum—I consider 1,250 words the
shortest possible space in which you could make this argument adequately.
Your essay must use correct and current MLA-style citation. As noted above, a minimum of six
sources must be included. Sources not read together in class are welcome, but not required.
(Note that your final project, a digitally constructed full-color advertisement, will put your
beliefs into practice. In other words, having argued in your paper for what “real beauty” should
look like in an advertisement for Dove products, you will then be asked to render that argument
in an advertisement of your own design.)