Identify audience and purpose
Key notes :
📚 Audience and purpose are important factors that work together to guide writers’ decisions about word choice, sentence style, tone and use of evidence.
📚 Audience refers to the intended readers of a text. Writers use their understanding of audience to make choices about what information readers need, what evidence readers will find convincing and what language is most appropriate for those readers. For example:
📚 A car ad targeted towards an audience of new parents might describe a vehicle as ‘spacious’ and boast about its crash test ratings. Meanwhile, an ad for the same car targeted towards outdoor enthusiasts might use words like ‘rugged’ and emphasise the vehicle’s four-wheel drive capability.
📚 Purpose refers to a writer’s reason for writing, or what he or she hopes to accomplish. Two primary purposes of nonfiction writing are to inform readers, as with a textbook or lab report, and to persuade readers to change the way they think or act, as with an advertisement or a newspaper opinion piece. Individual pieces of writing will typically have more specific and complex purposes. For example:
📚 A news report might inform voters of politicians’ voting records by providing that information without commentary. A political website might try to persuade voters to support a particular candidate by highlighting the specific portions of his or her record that the website’s visitors are likely to approve of.
Learn with an example
✈️Read the letter to the editor and then answer the question.
As a parent, I’m concerned that students are buying fizzy drinks in the school cafeteria every day, which affects their ability to learn. Too much sugar and caffeine makes it challenging for our students to concentrate. In addition, fizzy drink consumption can contribute to long-term health problems such as obesity and diabetes. I am not suggesting that Beerwah’s schools should dictate what students eat and drink, but I do believe our schools should promote and foster healthy lifestyles, including proper nutrition. Students should be allowed to bring their own fizzy drinks from home, but offering fizzy drinks in our cafeterias is unacceptable.
✈️ Who is the primary audience?
- a national news audience
- nutrition experts
- students at schools in Beerwah
- readers in the Beerwah area
- The primary audience of the text is readers in the Beerwah area. The letter to the editor is written with them in mind.
✈️ Read the social studies textbook excerpt and then answer the question.
Although Paul Revere gained lasting fame in the United States for his midnight ride warning colonists about an impending British attack, many people aren’t aware of a similar ride taken by a sixteen-year-old girl. Sybil Ludington, born in Connecticut in 1761, completed her own perilous night ride in advance of British forces.
In 1777, British loyalists and troops attacked Danbury, Connecticut. In desperation, a messenger asked Ludington to ride through the night and alert the local regiment. All told, Ludington rode forty miles—significantly farther than Paul Revere had—and managed to gather nearly the entire regiment to fight the British. Following the Danbury battle, George Washington himself traveled to the Ludington home to thank Sybil for her bravery.
Ludington’s ride never became as famous as Paul Revere’s. However, if you visit New York, you can find historical markers tracing her route through Putnam County.
✈️ Who is the primary audience?
- readers with a basic knowledge of the Revolutionary War
- scholars interested in the life of Paul Revere
- scholars specializing in the life of Sybil Ludington
- readers with no prior knowledge about the Revolutionary War
- The primary audience of the text is readers with a basic knowledge of the Revolutionary War. The social studies textbook excerpt is written with them in mind.
✈️ Read the women’s clothing shop advertisement and then answer the question.
Let the snow fall! Chase away the winter chill with our luxurious coats and fashionable faux-fur accessories. Our new arrivals are the hottest looks of the season. And don’t miss out on our 40% off sale! Friday is the last day to save!
✈️ Who is the primary audience?
- shoppers who live in areas with lots of snow
- shoppers who don’t wear fur
- shoppers looking for practical winter clothing
- shoppers looking for trendy winter clothing
- The primary audience of the text is shoppers looking for trendy winter clothing. The women’s clothing shop advertisement is written with them in mind.
Let’s practice!
Read the blog post and then answer the question.
Coasters and trivets are easy to create, and they make great gifts. All you need for this simple DIY project are pieces of cork, a template, a mat cutter, a pen, scissors and a flat work surface. Start by choosing a template shape, such as a star. Trace the template onto the cork. Cut out the shape with the mat cutter. Voilà! You have a cork star that can be used as a coaster or a trivet.