With the whole class, watch the first three minutes of this video, which show the Nike ad without the analysis. Ask them how the commercial makes them feel before you begin analysis of how these feelings are created.
Use this slideshow of images from the video. Ask students to write responses, dialectical-notebook style, about each slide. Ask how the advertisers are using these images to connect with their audience. How do the advertisers employ ethos and pathos? Students may use the list of rhetorical questions as a guide and/or this diagram which offers some of the terms associated with rhetorical analysis.
Divide students into teams of 5-7 people. Have students pool their thoughts and keep track of all the rhetorical strategies they noticed.
Watch the rest of the video as a class, and have students give themselves a “point” every time the narrator identifies a rhetorical “trick” they noted themselves. The team that scores the most points wins a prize.
What rhetorical strategies (if any) did they note that the narrator didn’t mention?
You may choose to connect this activity with a lesson on cognitive biases, asking which biases the the advertisers’ rhetorical strategies exploited.
Optional Activity: (This connects with the Reflexive Statement Exercise.) Ask students to respond to the following question: “If you were going to write Nike to complain about the advertisement, what reflexive statement would you use to make them value your opinion? (Example answers: “As someone who uses your products frequently . . .” “As a female athlete who admires Sydney Leroux . . .”