In this lesson,
you will learn how to change your written product, or form of writing,
to address the needs of different audiences, even though your subject
remains the same.
Audience's
Role in the Writing Product
How do different
audiences for your ideas change the type of writing that you produce?
Very simply, different people who read about your subject will do
so from different interest levels and different abilities to respond
to the subject. Your end-product, therefore, will change to address
these different interests and abilities.
In college,
your professor most often will read your papers; so, most often you'll
be addressing your subjects to an academic audience. The kinds of
writing that professors tend to expect are formal essays and arguments
and research papers. The lesson called "Writing
to the Academic Audience" offers you some clues to writing for
this group.
However, you
also will have opportunities to take a particular subject and approach
a different audience. Let's use the examples of writing about professional
athletes' salaries:
Suppose
that your father was a professional baseball player in the U.S.
major league. American professional athletes make very large salaries,
and many people are outraged that "pro" athletes make so much
more money than firefighters, teachers, or other kinds of workers.
However, from your personal experience, you think that because
professional athletes give up a lot of freedom and time with their
families to play sports, their high salaries are justified. You
decide that your goal in writing about this issue is to convince
other people that your point of view is valid.
Let's say that
you have been asked to write about this topic, but that your professor
does not want a formal report addressed to him/her. Instead, you are
asked to address a wider audience such as the student body, fellow
sports fans, or public policy makers. The different audiences naturally
dictate a different forum for your ideas, leading to vastly different
final essays.
How do you make
these adjustments for different audiences? First, you must analyze
the audience, as explained in the lesson called "Analyzing
the Audience." Once you understand your audience by demographics
and general tendencies in their beliefs, values, and interests, you
can adapt to write a final product that meets the audience's needs.
Use the following exercise to help you determine which final product
your essay should be.
Exercise
In the
following text box, next to each type of audience, list different
types of writing that you can use to communicate with them.
For example, if you were writing to your professor, you would
probably write in the form of a research paper or essay; if
you were writing to a government official, you would probably
write a letter. When you are finished, click the Compare button
and see other possible forms of communication suited to each
audience.
Student
Body
Sports
Fans
Community
Leaders
Once you understand
who your audience is and what its needs are, you can choose an appropriate
form of writing, and approach the topic differently for each form.
Each approach has its own writing process. Writing a research paper
has one process, writing a persuasive essay has another, a letter
to an editor has a third, and an informative or expository essay may
have a fourth.
Summary
The products,
or forms, of your writing change in response to your audience. Knowing
your audience can lead you to choose a more appropriate and effective
final form for your writing.
