When starting to write a paper my first thought is about who my audience is; who I am writing for and who will be reading my paper. Then, depending on who my audience is helps my decision making when deciding what information to include and how to word my sentences. For example, in the first paper I was writing an essay about my personal values and experiences with regards to technology. As it was mainly classmates who were going to read it I could include a lot of information and facts about myself. If I was writing it for an outside audience, however, I probably would have included fewer personal examples and more factual evidence. It was also a pretty relaxed topic that allowed us to express our own opinions, which in turn, caused me to use a more casual tone of voice. My audience also depicts whether I should include an image or not. I agree with what Toby Fulwiler suggested in “Role of Audiences” that there is a lot of pressure when writing for a teacher which makes it a lot harder to do. I also agree that when writing for a peer it is easy to be conversational, although it can also lead to great feedback.
Advertisers constantly think about their audience when producing advertisements. Depending on what age group the product is made for determines a suitable advertisement for it as well as a suitable time to play it. The same goes for media. Films are rated according to their level of appropriateness for different age groups. While kids movies are rated “G” for general audiences, movies with strong language and sexual references are rated “MA” or even “R”. Advertising can not only be seen on television anymore but also in magazines and on the internet.
2 comments:
Hannah!
I agree with your stand on advertisements. They can be very misleading but can also provide the audience with detail before they advance in lets say the movies. However, there are some movies that I believe are not rated according to its content. For example, the last movie that I saw before coming to college was the last Harry Potter movie. Before I fell asleep (haha yes who knew that it was possible to fall asleep in a theater!?), the movies was very graphic and was even scary. Maybe I am just a wuss but if I was getting scared at the age of 17 then I am pretty sure that young kids would be too so there should be warnings for those type of movies. If there were warnings for scaryness and violence, then perhaps I would not have seen it.
Hannah, I completely agree with you. The first thing that I think about when I begin to write a paper is who I am trying to get to reach as an audience. It definitely helps write a more accurate and well written paper when I know who I am writing to. I also agree with you when you say that it is a lot harder to write for a teacher opposed to writing to a fellow student or friend. It takes a lot of pressure off the writer when you are writing for someone other than a teacher. I also agree when you say the age group definitely matters when it comes to advertising to certain age groups.
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