3 Chapter Three: Finding Your Audience and Purpose

If a college instructor told you just to write a paper, what would you do?  No other directions—just “Write a paper.”  How would you proceed?  Would you just sit down and begin writing whatever came to mind, such as the latest prospects for the local football team or how much you dislike the classic rock band Steely Dan? Even if you did start writing, how would you know you were going to get a good grade on the paper?

You wouldn’t.

Why?

Because you have no idea what the expectations of the assignment are or who the writing is for—you do not know the audience or purpose of the writing assignment.

What is an audience?

You are an audience, right now, reading these words! We are in the role of “audience” multiple times a day. Anytime we are taking in outside information, we are an audience. All audiences, whether viewing a movie, reading a book, watching an advertisement, or listening in a classroom, expect the same things:

In writing, this means that we all agree that we want something that’s “clean” (in terms of formatting, like the font size doesn’t suddenly change sizes), easy to read (in terms of grammar, punctuation, and spelling), organized well, and making a clear and an interesting/funny/useful point.

Different audiences will warm to a different style. Some audiences expect to see evidence of detailed and careful research, such as a supervisor. Your grandmother, however, will not need to hear cited scholarly research when you’re telling her about last night’s hockey game.

Not all audiences like the same things, however. Those aspects of us that make us different are demographics, things like:

This is why there are so many different magazines in the world. Sure, anyone can pick up any magazine and read it, but publishers of magazines always have a target audience in mind. You can think of a variety of magazines and imagine what their target audiences might be. The audience for Field and Stream is different than the audience for Cosmopolitan and much different than Dollhouse Miniatures Magazine. This isn’t an accident.

What does audience mean for your writing?

You should always have a target audience in mind when you’re writing. This audience is a specific demographic group (such as “West High School seniors” or “Incoming freshmen at Central College”), and you should think about what they know about your topic and what might also be most interesting to them. Also, think about what type of writing (like telling a story or trying to persuade) and style would most appeal to them (like a light, humorous tone with shorter sentences or longer sentences with strong, academic word choices). The examples you bring up, the way you write, the word choices you make: all of these should be considered with your specific audience choice in mind.

The more you know about your audience, the better decisions you make in your writing. For example, let’s say you want to use a television show about aliens to explain how humans view the unknown. If your audience grew up in the 1950s through the 1970s, you might use The Twilight Zone as an example. If your audience came of age in the 1980s or 1990s, The X Files is probably more appropriate, and for an even younger audience, Stranger Things might work best. Examples, word choice, tone, style: these all should tailor to your audience.

One thing you don’t want to do is call out your audience in the writing itself. Don’t write an essay that starts with something like, “Single mothers, this essay is for you!!” In fact, don’t mention the audience at all in the essay itself. Simply consider what they know already and what they need to know, and don’t spend a bunch of time on stuff they already know; spend more time on what they need to know.

What is Purpose?

Why are you writing? What do you seek to accomplish? You need to know your purpose, why you are writing, as well as to whom!

If your car broke down on your way to class and you missed a quiz, you might need to write an email to your college instructor. You have an audience. Now, what is your purpose? Is it to try to get a retake on the quiz? Is it to take responsibility for missing the quiz and apologize? Is it to complain about how awful your week has been? Knowing your purpose will help you prepare your writing and draft the best possible email to achieve your desired result. It might even involve research (looking at the syllabus for the class to review the instructor’s policies on late or missed work).

Let’s look at this example of missing a quiz more closely. When composing the email to your professor, think about the tone you want to take, the kind of language you want to use…

If you did not take the time to think about audience and purpose and go through the writing process, you might write something like this:

Which email is more likely to achieve your purpose (to succeed in the class)? Which is more likely to give your professor a favorable opinion of you even though you missed class?

Tips for Considering Audience and Purpose

Make sure you understand the writing assignment, whether it is for a class or out in the working world. Each writing project will have specific expectations, either in writing (a rubric or directions) or in verbal instructions. Make sure you take note of these instructions and consider them as you’re writing: they are part of your audience and purpose.

For example, a paper in an ethics class might give an audience of first year nursing students and your purpose is to highlight an ethical issue in clinical nursing settings. You might be required to use credible sources.

• With these instructions, you can plan out:
• Your audience: First year nursing students
• Your purpose: Educate on ethical issue in clinical sites
• Important guidelines: Use credible sources.

All of these factors will guide your writing process, from finding a topic to considering your writing style to working on organization.

In the professional world, an example might be writing a proposal to a client in an engineering firm. You would need to know the parameters of proposal writing. You would need to use a template or professional format, know as much about your client as possible, and use appropriate professional language in the writing of the piece.

Overall, audience and your purpose for writing to the audience are critical to the success of any piece of writing. Knowing audience and purpose helps you focus your details and the style of your writing and ultimately, help your writing be more interesting and useful. So, who are you writing for, and why are you writing what you’re writing about?

Resources for audience

“Audience Awareness.” Excelsior OWL https://owl.excelsior.edu/writing-process/audience-awareness/ (Flip through these slides—there are other parts and examples)

“Ethos.” Excelsior OWL https://owl.excelsior.edu/argument-and-critical-thinking/modes-of-persuasion/modes-of-persuasion-ethos/

“Pathos.” Excelsior OWL https://owl.excelsior.edu/argument-and-critical-thinking/modes-of-persuasion/modes-of-persuasion-pathos/

“Logos.” Excelsior OWL https://owl.excelsior.edu/argument-and-critical-thinking/modes-of-persuasion/modes-of-persuasion-logos/

“See it in Practice.” Excelsior OWL https://owl.excelsior.edu/argument-and-critical-thinking/modes-of-persuasion/modes-of-persuasion-see-it-in-practice/

Docimo, Katherine and Kristy Littlehale. “The Rhetorical Triangle: Ethos, Pathos, Logos.” StoryboardTHAT. http://www.storyboardthat.com/articles/e/ethos-pathos-logos