York University
Faculty of Liberal and Professional Studies
AK/PHIL/ADMS4295 6.0
Philosophical and Ethical Issues in the Mass Media
Professors Claudio Duran and Louise Ripley
Assigned March 2, 2006

In this final essay you will use all that you have learned in the course and particularly skills that you developed in the first essay to take your analysis one step further.

Preliminary Work Decide on your thesis statement for your essay in one of two ways:
1) Choose an ethical issue about advertising that you personally care about or that interests you and that you would like to explore; then find ads to support that thesis. OR
2) Collect a variety of ads that cause a reaction in you; stick them up on your refrigerator on lay them out on a table and study them to find what ethical issue seems to be underlying your choice of ads. You will need 6 to 8 ads from any magazine, newspaper, or the Internet (you must be able to print them out and attach them to your final paper). You should have your thesis statement and your ads chosen by not later than mid March.

Directions Using at least 6 and not more than 8 advertisements, write a coherent and well structured essay of approximately 20 pages (at least 15, not more than 25) that presents your argument for the thesis statement you have made about ethics in advertising. You will use the elements of the course that you have studied to create and support your argument, but you are not required, as you were in the first essay, to include reference to every part of the course.

Preparing Your Essay The essay must be typed double-space (NOT 1½) in not less than 11 point type, standard font, black print, with 1” inch margins all around, portrait orientation, single column; don't use heavy bond or watermark or coloured paper  - in other words just a plain paper on plain white paper. Bind your paper using any lightweight binder, with paper or clear covers, no hard binders (they are simply too heavy to carry with 60 of them). Cerlox binding is good because it allows the paper to lie flat. If you use an opaque binder, put your name and paper title on the front. For reminders of what belongs in a formal essay, for a number of hints on writing good essays, and for a reminder of the dual requirements of epistemological showdown and the “i” statement, visit this site on Louise’s Website on Essay Writing. Also review points made in class on March 15 when we returned the first essay On Writing Essays.

Also refer back to Some Hints on the First Essay for some additional help in writing this essay. As we discussed in class, you will most likely use Gilbert's Multi-Modal model to analyze the ads as it is the main model we have used in the course, but this time you do not have to use every mode of argumentation; you may choose just one (or you may choose more than one).

Submitting Your Essay Hand in your essay at Claudio’s office (TEL 2068) between 6 pm and 8 pm on Wednesday April 5. Claudio’s office is in the same building where our class meets. To get to Claudio’s office: go to the second floor of the TEL building and walk to the east end of the building where you will find a very very long hallway. Walk towards the south end of the building (or make a right turn) and find room 2069; it will be open and both of us will be there.

The last day of classes is March 29, but we have given you this extra week so you can do a good job.

Returning Essays Essays will be returned by mail, approximately in early July after the deadline for requesting reappraisals, if you provide a self-addressed envelope WITH SUFFICIENT POSTAGE. Otherwise, you can pick the essay up in the fall from the SASIT Office.