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| Cornok, Matt. "Presentations" 10/7/15 via flickr. Attribution-Noncommercial. |
Who am I writing for?
I am writing for new theatre major students who are having trouble understanding how arguments are made in the field.
What position might they take on the issue? How will I respond to that position?
They might very well take the position opposite to the author of the text because we are a generation that has grown up with big budget CGI films. I will respond to that position, however, by continuing to emphasize the rhetorical situation and strategy, which is the focus of the essay.
What will they want to know?
The students will want to know how an argument in the field is structured and supported. This includes describing the audience, author, and purpose/context of the piece as well as rhetorical strategies and defining cultural/ideological aspects.
How might they react to the argument?
Hopefully, they will react positively to the argument for rhetorical analysis I make in my essay because my focus is teaching them a new skill. If they do not find it useful, then I haven't done my job!
How am I trying to relate or connect to my audience?
I am a fellow student in the major, so that lends me some connection. Also, I plan to use language and conventions appropriate for my audience so that I can relate well to my peers.
Are there specific words, ideas, or modes of presentation that will help me relate to them in this way?
While the piece needs to be generally structured like a college essay, I have the freedom within the work to play with conventions a bit so that I can address my readers appropriately. I need to clearly define what rhetorical aspects I am analyzing and include specific, relevant examples from the text so that my peers understand what I am trying to convey.
Reflection
Tom's blog post really hit the nail on the head for analyzing the specific audience that we are charged with writing to. He accurately and definitively described the assumptions and values of his peers so as to gear his argument towards them. Charles agreed in his post that our main point of connection with the audience and source of credibility as well is the fact that we are a peer of the audience. This also lends us some flexibility to decide how our paper will be structured and the kind of tone we develop.
Solid post that covers all bases. It is important to cater to the expected, but also keep in mind the unexpected when it comes to an audience. Good post, concise yet effective.
ReplyDeleteI agree with your ideas that the primary focus of the audience is learning from you, so the issue is less convincing them to defer to you than it is to justify the trust they've placed in you as a writer.
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