Audience. Purpose. Context

1.

AUDIENCE. PURPOSE. CONTEXT

2.

Audience - Purpose - Context
AUDIENCE
PURPOSE
CONTEXT

3.

Audience - Purpose - Context
Before you start writing, you need to know:
Who is the target audience? Who are you writing this for?
What is the purpose? Why are you writing this?
What is the context? What is the situation?

4.

Audience
● What do I know about my audience?
● What do they know about my topic?
● What details might affect the way this audience thinks
about my topic?

5.

Audience
What do I know about my audience?
● What is their background?
● What are their biases?
● Do they have an opinion already?
What do they know about my topic?
● What does this audience not know about the topic?
● What do they need to know?
● What are their expectations?
What details might affect the way this audience thinks about my topic?
● How will facts, statistics, personal stories, examples, definitions, or other
types of evidence affect this audience?

6.

Purpose
What is the purpose of your text?

7.

Purpose

8.

Purpose
Purpose depends on what effect you want your writing to have on
your audience. What do you expect your audience to think, feel, or do
after reading your text?
Persuade or inspire them to act or to think about an issue from your point
of view.
Challenge them or make them question their thinking or behavior.
Argue for or against something they believe or do; change their minds or
behavior.
Inform or teach them about a topic they do not know much about.
Connect with them emotionally; help them feel understood.

9.

Audience and Purpose work together!
I need to write a letter to my landlord/landlady explaining why my
rent is late.
Audience?
Purpose?
I want to write a proposal for my work team to persuade them to
change our schedule.
Audience?
Purpose?
I have to write a research paper for my environmental science
instructor comparing solar to wind power.
Audience?
Purpose?

10.

Audience and Purpose work together!
I need to write a letter to my landlord/landlady explaining why my rent
is late.
Audience = landlord/landlady
Purpose = explaining my situation and keeping my landlord/landlady happy
I want to write a proposal for my work team to persuade them to
change our schedule.
Audience = work team;
Purpose = persuading them to get the schedule changed
I have to write a research paper for my environmental science
instructor comparing solar to wind power.
Audience = instructor
Purpose = informing by analyzing and showing that you understand these
two power sources

11.

Context
Context is the situation, setting, background, and environment;
it is the place and time that you are writing for.
To reveal the context and decide what kind of writing fits the
situation best, answer these questions:
● When and where are you and your readers located?
● What are your and your readers’ circumstances?
● What is happening around them?

12.

Think-Pair-Share
Consider 3 writings that you have completed recently - one for
university, one for work, and one for friends/family.
What was the purpose of each?
Who was your audience for each?
What was the context for each?
Discuss the impact of audience, purpose and context on your final
product.

13.

Think-Pair-Share
Consider any academic text you intend to write in the near future.
What is your purpose?
Who is your audience?
What context will you use and why?
What impact will that context have on your final product?

14.

What are the audience, purpose and context of this text?
Dear Professor Petrov,
Manuscript ID
J24-0619
Manuscript Title
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Author(s)
Ann Brown (X University), William Green (X University), Fabio Fissari (X University)
Thank you for submitting your manuscript to the Journal of the Korean Mathematical Society (J. Korean Math. Soc.). After careful evaluation of your
manuscript, I regret to inform you that we have decided not to accept your manuscript for publication in the J. Korean Math. Soc.
Recently, the J. Korean Math. Soc. editorial board has raised the standards of acceptance for publication in response to the large volume of
submissions being received.
We sincerely wish for successful publication of your manuscript elsewhere.
Final Comments
Thank you for considering the Journal of the Korean Mathematical Society for the publication of your research. Our editorial board member has
examined your manuscript entitled `XXXXXXXXXXXX`(J24-0619) and concluded that this paper does not demonstrate substantial enough grounds for
innovation. We regret to inform you that we cannot consider your submission for publication and return it to you without external review. We hope
this rapid decision will allow you to submit your work to a more suitable journal.

15.

Practice
Scan 5 texts and discuss their audience, purpose and context.
Fill in the table.
Text
Text 1
Text 2
Text 3
Text 4
Text 5
Audience
Purpose
Context

16.

Practice. Extension
Read Text 6 “Knowledge can be power” paying attention to
interesting and useful language patterns.
Write your own text giving your own opinion on the same topic.
Word limit is 150 words at least.
Mind the AUDIENCE, PURPOSE and CONTEXT of your text.

17.

Common Misconceptions
● Writing is just writing
● Visuals have no impact on our writing
● Academic writing is fossilized

18.

Conclusion
Keep a wide-angle view of your text:
● What is best read?
● What is best seen?
● How can you communicate in ways that are memorable,
intentional, and mindful of how and where your readers will
receive your message?

19.

THANK YOU
FOR YOUR TIME!