Analyze your Audience
Having arrived at a thesis statement and decided on your purpose for writing, it is time to consider your audience or intended readership. Tammi Lipski’s intended audience would be a fairly general one-readers interested in human traits and qualities-whereas Terry Mote’s audience would be somewhat narrower-college or university students preparing to embark on a career. Lisa Denis’s audience would also be narrower than Tammi Lipski’s; those who use or could potentially use disposable diapers.
Students often mistakenly assume their instructor is their only audience. Though it is true that your teacher will read your composition, do not forget the other students in your class. They, after all, make up the writing community to which you belong.
Use the following list of questions to identify your audience so you can make appropriate decisions on content, sentence structure, and word choice.
Audience Questions
Who are my readers?
Is my audience specialized (my chemistry lab partners, other Macintosh computer users) or general (literate adults)?
What do I know about my audience (age; sex; amount of education; religious, social, economic, and political attitudes)?
What does my audience know about my subject? What is their knowledge level-expert or novice?
What does my audience need to know that I can tell them? Will my audience have misconceptions that I can clarify?
What is my relationship to my audience: Boss? Equal? Subordinate?
How will my audience respond to what I have to say (interested, openminded, resistant, hostile)?
Is there any specialized language my audience needs or that I should avoid? What do I want my audience to do? How can I help them?
How should I sound-formal or informal?
The best writers empathize with their readers. They try to see things as their readers might, recognize and understand their problems and address them, and appeal to their emotions, their rational faculties, and their humanity.
