2. +
1. Purpose
To explore thoughts and emotions
To express ourselves
To entertain
To record words and events
To communicate with others
To try to persuade others
3. +
Identify Your Purpose
What the primary purpose of the writing task is
To entertain
To persuade
To Inform
To demonstrate your knowledge or writing ability
What are your own goals
What are your audience’s expectations
Do they affect the way you define your purpose
4. +
Thinking About Purpose
What do you want your audience to think? Feel?
What does this writing task call you to do?
What are the best ways to achieve your purpose?
5. +
2. Audience
Affects your audience in various ways
What you write, how much you write, how you phrase
it, choice of genre
Audience will interpret your writing according to
expectations and experiences
Remember: You may make assumptions in your
writing, but you need to supply evidence and back-up
6. +
Identify Your Audience
Known
People who you are familiar with as well as people you don’t
know
Unknown
Most difficult because you can’t be sure what they know and
what they don’t know or how they will react
Multiple
Most common
7. +
Thinking About Audience
Whom do you want to reach?
What is your audience’s background – their education and life experiences
What are their interests?
Is there any demographic information that you should keep in mind?
What potential circumstances may affect their reading?
What does your audience already know – or believe – about your topic?
What is your relationship with your audience?
What does your audience need and expect from you?
What kind of response do you want?
How can you best appeal to your audience?
8. +
3. Genre
Kinds of writing
Each as a particular convention for presenting
information
Identify: Does your situation call for a particular genre?
9. +
Thinking about Genre
What is your genre, and how does it affect what content
you can or should include?
Does your genre call for specific strategies?
Does your genre require a certain organization
Does your genre affect your tone?
Does the genre require formal/informal language?
10. +
4. Stance
Attitude towards your topic
Identify Your Stance
What is your attitude? Objective? Critical? Curious?
Opinionated?
Affected by your purpose
Tone is created through the words you use and the way you
approach your subject and audience
11. +
Thinking About Stance
What is your stance and how can you best present it to
achieve your purpose
What tone will best convey your stance
How is your stance likely to be received by your audience
Should you openly reveal your stance
14. +
Key Features
Evidence that you’ve already considered the subject.
A clear, appropriately qualified thesis.
A response to what others have said.
Good reasons supported by evidence.
Acknowledgement of multiple sources.
Carefully documented sources.
A confident, authoritative stance.
Indication why your topic matters.
Careful attention to correctness.
15. +
Academic Rhetorical Situations
What genre does the assignment require?
What do you see as your instructor’s purpose for this
assignment?
What is your purpose – apart from fulfilling your instructor’s
expectations?
Who is your audience?
How can you convey a confident, authoritative voice?