Audience
Audience
Along with defining a purpose, selecting a specific audience and
developing an awareness of them will more significantly enhance
writing and its probability of succeeding at the purpose than any other
consideration. Before writing, always answer the following question:
As you write, keep these people in mind and ask yourself questions
about them like these:
» What do they already know about the topic?
» What don’t they know?
» What aspects of this topic interests them and why should they care
about it?
» Which values influence my audience’s views on this topic?
» What does my audience need to understand for me to accomplish
my purpose?
» Which writing style will most appeal to (or otherwise affect) them?
If your audience already knows something in detail, then writing out
that detail could bore them and waste their time.
On the other hand, people tend to find things they know about and
understand interesting. Why? Because such things relate to their #1
favorite subject of all time - themselves! Giving an example of such a thing
might hold their attention and get them more emotionally involved in the
paper.
Sometimes you will address your audience directly: “As a citizen of
Spanish Fork, you should be concerned with the quantity of wind that
blows down the canyon and what can be done to stop shingles from being
swept from your rooftop.” Such an approach (second person) gives the
writing a more personalized feeling and often proves more effective with
persuasive papers.
Sometimes you will specify an audience indirectly: “Citizens of Spanish
Fork often feel concerned with the effects of the canyon wind and wonder
what can be done about it.” Such an approach (third person) creates a
sense of objectivity, fairness, and factuality.
Other times, you may opt to not specify an audience at all: “Shingles
Who are you talking to???
Purpose & Audience 49
can be held in place longer, despite strong winds, by lots of really long
nails and by pouring epoxy all over the roof.” Even if you choose not to
directly specify an audience in your paper, you should know who they are
in your own mind. Develop the feeling that you’re writing to someone,
someone with feelings, interests, attention spans, ideas and opinions of
their own. If you fail to anticipate your audience’s needs, your paper’s
chances for success dramatically diminish.
In college writing situations, your true primary audience is your
instructor who will grade your work, but your instructor will usually grade
the paper based on how well she judges that you have written for your
secondary audience. In other words, forget about the instructor and write
to your alleged audience, but double check whether or not she expects all
assignments to be written formally and academically.
Here’s a list of possible purposes and audiences. Mix and match and
consider how your approach to each purpose would change per each
audience.
Audiences
» College freshmen
» College seniors
» Singles
» Preschoolers
» Senior citizens
» Police officers
» Stay-at-home mothers
» Truckers
» Doctors and nurses
» Brazilians
» Professional athletes
» Millionaires
» Homeless
» Snowboarders
» Artists
» Siblings
» Friends
» Terrorists
» Teachers
» Actors
If you have not already chosen a specific audience for your paper, do
so now. Consider age, occupation, interests, economic status, geographical
location and other factors. The more specific your audience, the more you
can tailor the paper to them, which increases your chances of success and
generally makes the paper more interesting to read.
The main ways to adjust your presentation to match your audience
include:
Content: provide sufficient background information without boring
Purposes
» Inform readers about the
dangers of botulism.
» Teach readers about traffic
rules regarding round-a-bouts
and encourage them to follow
these rules.
» Inform citizens about the pros
and cons of building a public
skate park in my hometown.
» Persuade readers to try out for
a local theater play.
» Create a retirement account.
» Tell most embarassing moment.
» Take a ballroom dance class.
» Treat people with respect.
» Have more fun at work!
» Freudian criticism of “Where
the Wild Things Grow.”
» Obey the speed limit.
» Scratch my back.
50 The Art & Craft of Writing 1. Everyone, please raise your hands high above
your heads, now wiggle seven fingers. Today we are
going to learn a word that has seven letters in it. We
are going to learn all about charity.
Charity means to give money to people so they
may buy the things they need to live. Charity also
means giving your time, help or something that
belongs to you that someone else may need more
than you. Giving money is hard to do when you are
a young person, so I am going to teach you another
way to give charity. You may be thinking you are
too young or too small to give charity, but it does not
matter how young you are, or how small you are, you
can give charity.
All of you look at the person sitting next to you.
Think of a way that you could give charity to that
person right now. Smiling at someone can be an act
of charity. Maybe that person is having a bad day,
and your smile might make them feel good. Perhaps
the person sitting next to you cannot see up here very
well because of a very tall person sitting in-front of
them. You could trade seats with them so they may see
better….
2. If you want happiness for an hour - take a nap.
If you want happiness for a day - go fishing. If you
want happiness for a month - get married. If you want
happiness for a year - inherit a fortune. If you want
happiness for a lifetime - help someone else. Chinese
proverb.
First, a little back ground about charity work.
Today, more than six hundred thousand charity
foundations are in the United States. They can be found
through ads, web sites and high profile fund-raisers.
According to the American Association of Fund-raising
Counsel, charitable giving in 2002 totaled nearly $241
billion. Individuals raised 76 percent of that money.
Everyone here today has given their money
generously to many charities. The question is, can
something be given besides money? Yes. First, the
decision must be made to whom or what the help will
be given. Will it be internationally, the nation, your
region, or your neighborhood?
If you have a love of traveling, combine that
with charity work. Global Volunteers send people to
more than eighteen different countries including the
U.S. to help at-risk children, build schools, and teach
English. Doctors can give their time and schooling to
the Physicians Against Landmines. They assist land
mine survivors by increasing the availability of high
quality rehabilitation services. Teach For America
sends teachers across the country to teach in our nations
most under-resourced inner-city and rural public
schools. Ronald McDonald houses need people with all
aspects of running the houses, overseeing fund-raising,
program development, event planing and services to
families…. - Cherie Crawford 1
1. Have you ever dreamed of being the lead
guitarist in your favorite band? Or playing a concert in
front of thousands of people all screaming your name?
Or maybe you’d rather go down in history as the this
century’s Bach or Beethoven. Whichever it be, one
thing is an absolute “gotta-have”. You’ve got to first
learn to play! Because let’s face it. You’re not gonna
make it just on your looks….
2. It seems as though more and more these days,
those “darn kids” seem to be getting into more and
more trouble. We hear from all sides that kids are
without responsibility, without discipline, and that they
are only interested in immediate happiness. We see it
on the news; kids in gangs, doing drugs, kids having
kids, you fill in the blank.
Whether or not kids are behaving worse now than
ever before, I don’t know. Something like that can be
difficult to assess. What can be easily assessed though,
is the fact that parents everywhere are concerned about
their children growing up with values. Values that will
help them become the successful, and happy people
their parents always dreamed they would be. Parents
want nothing but the best for their children, and most
would agree that it is important to teach a child good
values early on in life in order to ensure such success.
I don’t have the answer for all of the world’s
troubles, but I can offer a simple suggestion that just
might turn out to be one of the best investments a
parent can make in the life of their child. One that will
change a child’s life. Encourage your child to learn a
musical instrument!… - Wyatt Frisby 2
Note the differences in the following introductions of papers with similar purposes based on different
audiences. Read the complete papers and others on page xxxx.
Purpose & Audience 51
readers with data they already know. A paper aimed at persuading drivers
to signal before changing lanes should assume that readers already know
what a steering wheel is, though they might not be as clear regarding that
little lever thingy sticking out on the left side.
Style: how formally should you write? Should you describe people and
events in detail or just get straight to the point?
Diction: choose appropriate wording and avoid or explain jargon. Few
children would understand the word “indigenous,” for example. The city
council would not appreciate expletives or slang, and non-rock climbers
would be confused by an untranslated explanation of the time you tried to
flash a steep .12a and nearly cratered after failing to deadpoint a dyno to a
slopey crimper from a smedged time bomb foot. Get the idea?