analysis the American elections

In order to complete this activity, you use the Internet to locate campaign videos on Youtube (Links to an external site.), the Internet Archive (Links to an external site.), or other websites. [A particularly good Youtube playlist can be found here (Links to an external site.).]

Instructions:

1. Select one election from each decade. [In other words, select one election from the 1950s, one from the 1960s, one from the 1970s, etc.]
2. For each election that you’ve selected, please watch four (4) campaign commercials – two commercials from the Democratic candidate and two commercials from the Republican candidate.
3. Write an analysis in which you describe the similarities and differences that you see in these commercials over time. Although discussing issues of style (length, etc.) is OK, please make sure your analysis goes beyond mere issues of style. Your analysis should make reference to specific things that occur in the ads, and a thematic organization is preferable to a chronological one.