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For this rough draft, you are to post ONLY your statement about the target audience, NOT the complete paper. Follow the National Geographic example below for writing your thesis. This assignment is excellent for learning how to conduct good research. The Magazine Analysis (rev. 12/2009) ASSIGNMENT: To write an ANALYSIS of a currently published magazine. Through careful observation, form a SPECIFIC conclusion about the audience for which the magazine is intended. In addition to identifying the intended audience, state the major purpose of the magazine.
After you have examined the magazine, form a thesis and write a 750-word essay based on your conclusions. Here is a sample thesis for National Geographic magazine: National Geographic, with a target market of 25 to 54- year- old college attendees and graduate males with a median household income of $98,900, promotes scientific and geographic knowledge and interest, with outstanding photography being its strongest selling point. (I found this information through research). Suggestions: Choose THREE CONSECUTIVE issues of a magazine published in the last year. • Look at such things as the titles of the articles, the quality of the paper, the cartoons or illustrations, advertisements, issue cost, and letters to the editor. • Are you familiar with any of the authors? • Selectively read the articles, looking for consistent patterns of thought, ideas, or general outlook. • Some of the purposes of a magazine can be to promote a political or moral purpose, to inform, to sell products, and to entertain. Based on the above suggestions, form a conclusion about the audience and purpose for the magazine. • Be sure you are not just listing the contents of the magazine, but that you are using the contents as the basis and PROOF for your claims about the targeted audience and purpose of the magazine. For example, if you tell me that 90% of the articles are about politics and contain mainly liberal views, your claim could be that the large majority of readers are left-wing liberals and the magazine’s purpose is to support/promote their views.
Then you could say, “On page 22 there is an article supporting gun control, on page 34 there is an essay about legalizing marijuana, on page 45 there is an essay about….. ” Use the information to SUPPORT YOUR CLAIMS about the intended audience and the purpose of the magazine. Goals: • To learn to use the periodical section of the library. • To practice forming an essay from researching outside material. • To draw conclusions from Primary sources. To make claims and SUPPORT your claims with valid, reliable information. • To practice using MLA when citing information in-text and creating a Works Cited page. (You must use in-text citations and include a properly formatted Works Cited page. Include at least the three magazine issues you used for your paper on the Works Cited page. See Pocket Keys for Writers, the Gregg Reference Manual, or a grammar book for MLA rules).