Emma Crawford

ENC 2135
9/23/17
Project 1: Audience
Many authors and professionals argue the definition of audience in the context of

composition because different writers have different perceptions of the term. I define audience as

the intended group of people receptive to the message an author wishes to convey. In every piece

of writing or composition, the author usually chooses a specific audience and keeps this group in

mind when writing. The audience is also essential to the rhetorical situation and the genre of a

work. An authors audience contributes to the rhetorical situation of a composition as well as

determines the genre an author chooses to pursue. The concept of audience in several different

genres and contexts may be examined.

In a commencement address given at Choate Rosemary Hall in 2003, Billy Collins

addresses a class of graduating students. In this case, Billy Collins intended his audience to be

the class of students, but the family members and faculty in the crowd may also be considered

part of the audience. When composing his speech, Collins included references and thoughts that

were specifically geared towards the appropriate style for the given audience in order to

effectively communicate his advice and reality. One of these examples is Collins reference to an

old Persian proverb, in which he discusses the value of gratitude for two pennies, one for basic

necessities and one for lifes pleasures. This proverb analysis fares well for the students in that it

offers valuable advice pertinent to their future. The analogy may also be pleasing to the rest of

the audience, specifically parents, that agree with the wisdom of this proverb. Collins speaks

directly to the audience to establish a connection, such as in his analogy of the beautiful

campus library to that of students who retain a kind of walking library [in which] the shelves of

his or her memory are gradually stacked with learning. In this case, Collins incorporates the
students learning, which is the topic of the speech, to satisfy the student audience as well as the

teachers and proud parents also in the crowd.

Another source that offers a strong example of the importance of audience is a web comic

by Matthew Inman titled Youre Not Going to Believe What Im About to Tell You. In his

comic, Inman discusses some random facts and assesses the reaction of the reader. The intended

audience for the web comic is unclear but we may consider it to be any web viewer that happens

to stumble across the article on the popular website TheOatmeal.com. It may also be helpful to

note that the typical group of people browsing the web and this particular website are of fairly

young age, between teenage years and middle-aged. This may be a reason Inman chose to

communicate his purpose through this genre. A web comic with pictures of birds and humorous

pictures appeals more to a younger audience. Inman no doubt had a specific audience in mind

when composing his web comic. However, the intended audience differs from the actual

audience that stumbled upon Inmans work and read it. One predominant aspect of Inmans web

comic is that he makes numerous assumptions about the audience and their views, whether it be

political preferences or ethical standpoints. For example, Inman makes the assumption that our

reaction to learning that the Pledge of Allegiance was written by a socialist will furiously trigger

the reader. However, as every reader is different and responds differently to information, this

prediction may not have the effect that Inman intended for it to for some readers, such as myself.

That leads one to consider whether the assumptions that Inman makes about his audience is

helpful or hurtful to the effectiveness of the work as a whole. For readers, it may be offsetting or

even offensive when someone makes incorrect assumptions about them. One of the stronger

aspects of the authors appeal to audience is how Inman writes directly to the audience as if

engaged in a conversation with the reader.

 In the excerpt titled How to Tame a Wild Tongue, Gloria Anzaldua discusses her

personal experience with language and her feelings of suppression from such. Though the

intended audience is not clear, we assume that Anzaldua expects the reader to be interested in her

personal struggles and barriers. The majority of the work is written in English but Anzaldua also

includes a considerable amount of Spanish words to convey her points and provide some cultural

connections for the reader. For a Spanish-speaking reader, this may feel natural and familiar, but

for others it may seem confusing and distracting. Some connections may be formed with

Hispanic readers. This brings up the question of whether the audience of a work must be able to

be influenced by the discourse. In this case, the audience may not connect to the personal

experiences that Anzaldua writes about and in turn may not be receptive to the main point she

addresses. In Lloyd F. Bitzers The Rhetorical Situation, he mentions that the reader must be

capable of understanding and receiving the knowledge an author conveys. He uses scientists as

an example, pointing out that an audience will receive scientific information better if

knowledgeable about the subject. Anzaldua combines some informative structure of the Spanish

structure as well as offer personal instances of linguistic obstacles she has faced. The fact that

there is no clear defined audience for this piece is important to note because Anzaldua does not

gear her writing towards any particular groups or beliefs, but uses pathos to elicit empathy in the

audience. The audience that Anzaldua had in mind when writing How to Tame a Wild Tongue

formed her rhetorical situation and her writing process for this work.

In the excerpt from From Snoop: What Your Stuff Says About You, author Sam

Gosling writes about how our belongings can communicate messages about ourselves to others.

The excerpt comes from his book all about perception of people based on their possessions, thus

there are many possible audiences. We may assume, however, that the audience is interested in
the psychology behind the things we own or perhaps interested in investigating and learning

about someone through snooping through their stuff. Gosling takes a rather informal approach to

his writing, using humor and relatable stories to intrigue his readers. Because of a lack of a

specific target audience, Gosling writes broadly and inclusively. He employs different examples

of cases, from dorm rooms to office spaces to appeal to several different age groups as his

audience. One of Goslings main points discusses the difference between when people display

items for themselves versus when items are displayed to convey a message to others about

oneself. An example provided is of a colleague posting a poster in her office space of Dr. Martin

Luther King, Jr. The poster was placed so that it may only be seen by the worker at the desk and

not easily visible for any visitors. This implies that the poster was hung merely for intrinsic

purposes and did not aim to portray any messages about the worker, Gosling explains. Gosling

even states that she used this icon to inspire and reinforce the way she viewed herself. This

example may be particularly useful for readers in that it distinguishes between displaying stuff

for others to see and displaying stuff only for personal satisfaction. This may be applicable to

composition as a whole and the ways in which authors communicate their purpose to their

audience. In some cases, the message of the author is clear and easily identified by the reader in

hopes of impacting the reader. In other scenarios, the author writes for his or herself in which not

all readers may understand, connect with or even identify the purpose behind a work.

The way audience is addressed in a composition is an important aspect of the rhetorical

situation. The rhetorical situation often starts with a purpose or motivation behind a work and

proceeds to address it through the work. Once the author defines the audience they are

addressing, rhetorical appeals are shaped to tailor to the group. From there, the author also

chooses what genre to utilize for conveying the work most effectively. Humor and slang may
appeal more to a teenage audience while playful pictures and colors appease younger children.

The audience of a work is a major driving factor in the way an author composes his/her work.

The topic of audience also brings up questions that are open to discussion, such as whether a true

audience must be able to be influenced by the discourse of a work. It may also be argued whether

an authors audience refers to the group an author intentionally writes for or the readers that

happen to view or read their work. I believe that the audience refers to the group an author

planned to convey their message to and which they molded their rhetorical situation and genre to

fit. Nonetheless, the audience of a work functions as an essential component of composition,

driving the motives behind writing and its execution.