How many times have you left an article half read? If you are like me, probably many times. When there is no context, it is like listening to someone talk in a foreign language. As a reader, we feel out of place, perhaps even unwelcome. So why are we bored with some writers while compelled to read some others? In her article “Writing for an Audience” Linda Flower, professor of English at Carnegie-Mellon University, focuses on the importance of knowing your audience for effective writing. She states that persuasive writers analyze their audience and pinpoint fundamental differences in knowledge, attitudes, and needs between themselves and the targeted audience. Flower asserts that in order to teach the main point; writers must create “a common ground,” one that reduces differences between the writer and the reader. She concludes that the goal of writers is to share their knowledge and make the reader see the world from their perspective, even if it is just for a second, despite the differences with the targeted readers. This is exactly what Bill Bryson achieves in his article “ Good English Bad English.” He meets Flower’s criteria of an effective writer. Bryson is a successful writer because he creates a “common ground” to “close the gap” in critical differences by tailoring his paragraph structure, complexity of his writing, and his tone to his targeted audience—general reader with some college level education. Bryson forms well-structured paragraphs, which are clean, concise, accessible, and forceful for the general reader. He does not forget that his audience is the general reader with some college education. There are some conventions a writer follows when dealing with a larger audience such as maintaining a c... ... middle of paper ... ... they were giving service to the targeted reader. Writers analyze their audience, whose previous knowledge on the topic, attitudes towards the topic and what they need to know on the topic, because audience is matters for them. Next step is tailoring their writing according to the targeted reader, what tone they will write, how they will structure their paragraphs, and what information they will give. As a result, the reader will read it and understand what the writer is saying. At this point mission accomplished. Wasn’t this the main point of writing anyway? Works Cited Bryson, Bill. “Good English and Bad English.” Exploring Language. Ed. Gary Goshgarian. San Francisco: Pearson, 2010. 159-167. Print. Flower, Linda. “Writing for an Audience.” Exploring Language. Ed. Gary Goshgarian. San Francisco: Pearson, 2010. 98-101. Print.
One of the biggest determinants for the success of a writer is engaging and maintaining the interest of a variety of readers. While there are endless approaches to telling a story, as well as many writing styles, the most effective writings are the ones that successfully impress a diverse audience. The essays Eating Chili Peppers and Conforming to Stand Out: A Look at American Beauty are two different styles of essays that unveil a similar search for self-gratification. While the essays cover different topics and the authors use different writing styles and approaches to engage the reader, they both unveil a similar underlying message of a search for self-gratification.
Having the author’s purpose is vital to knowing how informative, opinionated, or factual the arti...
Their main purpose was to write to educate and edify and not so much as
Even to this semester, I only read this book following teacher’s advice and didn’t do some extra reading. The output is up to the input. Only when we read more and gain more, can we express ourselves more casually and write more good articles.
The way the authors present their information is clear and organized. They present it in a way that entices the reader to keep reading. One of the ways they keep...
readers and how they come to prove their points to their audience. Good writers are good
I had to read my selected article twice before I discovered the author’s purpose. He contradicts himself multiple times; therefore, his main point is somewhat hidden. Each time an individual reads a piece
Perhaps the foremost ethical question that presents itself to technical writers revolves around the question “What makes a piece of writing acceptable to one’s audience?” On the surface, this is a seemingly uncomplicated thought. Unfortunately, however, it is one that few professional writers attempt to answer. This question can be approached by remembering that the ultimate goal of any form of writing is to spark an interest in the reader that will cause she or he to want to follow the writer’s thoughts to the end of the work. One way to ensure that the audience will remain attentive is to refrain from offending those who have expressed a desire to read your words. This issue is largely a matter of ethics and one that can harm or assist one’s career in technical writing. Alienation of one’s audience defeats the purpose of the work that accompanied the research and writing of the text in the first place. If technical writers simply exercise empathy and remember a few ethical and commonsensical ideas, they will find themselves far more successful in their chosen field.
As every well-read person knows, the background in which you grow up plays a huge role in how you write and your opinions. Fuller grew up with a very strict education, learning multiple classic languages before she was eight years old. Fern grew up with writers all throughout her family and had a traditional education and saw first hand the iniquities of what hard-working had to contend with. Through close analysis of their work, a reader can quickly find the connections between their tone, style, content, and purpose and their history of their lives and their educational upbringing.
For example, in John F. Kennedy’s “Ich bin ein Berliner,” he uses words purposefully, claiming, “When all are free, then we look -- can look forward to that day when this city will be joined as one and this country and this great Continent of Europe in a peaceful and hopeful globe” (Kennedy). By stating that not everyone has freedom under communism, he intends to convince the world that communism negatively affects the population in order to motivate his audience to escape from their comfort zones and feel obligated to help make a change. Without people who created speeches like Kennedy’s, citizens would not feel very determined and succeed in overcoming global issues. Kennedy made this speech during the same time period as Faulkner’s—the Cold War era. Although Faulkner’s speech was not actually focused on worldwide issues, his hints toward encouraging the anti-Communist side of the world to stand up for themselves reveal his underlying intentions. While simultaneously describing “the writer’s duty,” he fulfills what he believes to be his own duty by implementing references to the state of the world into his speech. Writers and speakers spread information to a vast number of people without even meeting their audience face-to-face, therefore it is their responsibility to take on a bigger role than simply writing about small, less meaningful topics. Instead, they should write in order to promote motivation in their audience as much in addition to expressing their own ideas. In a world where not many humans earn the opportunity to express their thoughts and beliefs on such an immense scale, writers must use their abilities to spread information that benefits the
Schakel, Peter J., and Jack Ridl. "Everyday Use." Approaching Literature: Writing Reading Thinking. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin's, 2008. 109-15. Print.
Roland Barthes’ essay titled ‘Death of the Author’ is a foundational text of contemporary reader-centred theory in which he argued that “it is language which speaks, not the author,” and that the multiplicity of a text’s “centres of culture” is focused on the reader (Barthes, 1977, pg. 143). Essentially, Barthes argued that attempts to recover or discover an author’s intended interpretation of a text are irrelevant and more so impossible to derive from the text alone; instead, the reader’s interpretation and the processes that lead to it are what matters from a critical, reader-centred perspective. He also suggested that texts have multiple references to culture, and that these are left to interpretation by the reader. This theoretical orientation is essential to the reader-centred approach that I have adopted to analyse the film Frozen.
The book I'm a Stranger Here Myself, written by Bill Bryson, is based on a collection of written articles. Bryson writes about everyday events and shows their negative qualities through whining or creative criticism. He attracts the readers' attention by writing ideas that relate to a normal persons life. His methods are very powerful because it attracts his main audience of common people through his simple vocabulary use and everyday middleclass situations. Also between his "complaining" he throws in little jokes that make his stories entertaining. This makes the reader continue reading because it constantly grabs their attention. Another reason of why Bryson's style of writing is very effective is because all of his stories have a main theme that gives a strong and important message to the reader. Some of these messages may be a little controversial to some readers but are very thought out and well explained.
Authors often write their works for many purposes. For example, some write to entertain while others write to inform. The authors who write to entertain use different approaches based on the ages and backgrounds of their audiences. For example a crude joke would be inappropriate for young children. Similarly, informative writers also need to be aware of their intended audiences. If their writing is too sophisticated then it will not be understood by a younger group of readers. In Psychology Today, Aysha Hussain writes an article titled Don’t Lose Your Cool. After reading Hussain’s article it is clear that she is writing for a specific audience. Her audience consists of working class Americans who need help in dealing with their stress. This is evident by the tone, content, and writing style of the article.
The style of writing has changed drastically over the years; each person has their own technique of getting their point across or describing their story. There are many different styles of inscription and many different ways that someone can perceive the reading based off the authors style of writing. To a point of view there are numerous ways that authors try to catch the reader’s attention and authors are becoming more focused on what the reader wants. While writing this essay I am going to discuss the comparison and contrasts of “Writing to Change the World” by Mary Pipher and “Writing for an Audience” by Linda Flowers. While comparing the two writing techniques, I am going to oversee what the similarities and differences are.