Instruction
FIRST:
Look at this brilliant breakdown from the Writing Commons about the 3 main categories to consider when you analyze an audience: Three Types of Audience Analysis
Here are some prompt questions to consider based on the same 3 audience analysis categories: Audience Analysis Worksheet
SECOND:
Now that you have the tools to identify and analyze an audience, read some tips about how you can use that information (or how you adapt to an audience and enact rhetorical audience awareness): Audience Analysis: Just Who Are These Guys?
Here’s another version of why it matters and how to enact audience analysis: Why Conduct and Audience Analysis?
THIRD:
Similar to what we did back in our week 4 journals, I want you to find an example text. Find any kind of text (it can be related to your topic or not, it’s up to you) and use your new knowledge from the resources above to break down who the audience is and the ways those texts were rhetorically adapted for that audience (consider all three categories and all the rhetorical choices you find).
FOURTH:
Now do the same exercise with your own texts. If you haven’t already, decide on a SPECIFIC audience (many of you may not have narrowed your audience at this point–you’re going to have to complete this step in order to move forward with this journal and your projects). Analyze your audience thoroughly using the 3 main categories from the readings above. Then brainstorm what rhetorical choices you will make (how you will adapt) based on that audience.
FIFTH:
Share with us here:
Explain your chosen example (you can link to it if it is available online), its audience (in those 3 main categories), and how it adapted (or perhaps failed to adapt) to its audience members, their demographics, their knowledge base, their attitudes, beliefs, and values, and their situational context.
Analyze the audience for your own project’s texts and explore how your texts and the ways they are composed will adapt to audience members’ demographics, knowledge base, attitudes, beliefs, values, and situational context.