Module 1: Define Your Topic, Consider the Audience (2 pages 1, 2) what's this?
| Consider the Rhetorical Situation | Generate and Refine Ideas | Define the Purpose | Consider the Audience | Develop a Tentative Thesis Statement |
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Whatever your
purpose, you will be writing to a specific audience.
You not only must understand your audience but also keep this
audience in mind at all times as you draft your paper.
Many times your audience will be dictated to you by your
instructor or workplace situation; other times you will get to
choose an audience. In
either case, you’ll have to understand and then adapt your writing
to that audience. |
Understanding
the audience can be fairly easy or rather difficult depending on what you
already know about them. Indeed,
you may have to do some primary or secondary research to learn more about
your audience. The best way to see what you know and what you need to know
about your audience is to ask yourself some questions about your
relationship to the audience and the audience’s relationship to your
topic.
Me & My
Audience
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Does my audience know me personally? Would they identify me as a “type” of person (i.e., college student)?
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Can I identify my audience as a “type”?
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How large is my audience?
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Can I claim any shared experiences, characteristics, attitudes, values, or prejudices with my audience? (i.e., nationality, culture, gender)
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Do my audience and I have any differences that would present barriers to communication?
My
Audience & Its Relationship to My Topic
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What does my audience know about my topic?
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What does my audience need (or not need) to know about my topic?
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How “close” is my audience to my topic? (emotionally, geographically, culturally)
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Does my audience have any expectations concerning formality of language?
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What does my audience expect as far as the format of the final document?
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How will your audience use the final document?
Essentially,
as you think about audience, ask yourself, “how will reading my paper
change or affect how my audience thinks, feels, or understands my
topic?” The answers to
these questions will condition your approach to your audience.
Now that you’re beginning to understand your audience, let’s look at some ways you can adapt your writing to your specific audience.
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Copyright 2003 by the Academic Center, the University of Houston-Victoria, and
Summer Leibensperger.
Created 2003 by Summer Leibensperger.
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Your Topic | Design Your Search Strategy
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