Saturday, February 19, 2022Expert Advice , Readers/Audience , rhetoricNo comments
We've reached myfavorite part of February: when all of the Valentine's Day candy goes on sale.
One particulartype of candy that has grown on me over the years is the conversation, candyheart. When I was little I thought they tasted like chalk, but maybe they'veimproved the recipe over the years? Regardless of flavor changes, the messageson the hearts have definitely been updated.
Digging through alittle box of colorful hearts, I can't help reading each little message as it comes up: "love", "laugh", "be mine","smile", "you & me", "cute", "rockstar", "hug me", and others are fairly obvious. But then thereare hearts with messages like: "TTYL", "DM me","lol" and "LYMY". I actually do understand the first three(talk to you later, direct-message me, and laugh out loud) but the fourth is acomplete mystery to me. (EDIT: I've looked it up and apparently it stands for"love you, miss you".)
This variety ofmini-comments makes me think of what we mean when we advise writers to consider their audience. Maybe some of you already knew what LYMY meant. Maybe otherswould be confused by hearts reading "XOXO" or "BFF".Fortunately, the candy will taste the same whether you know that x's and o'sare sometimes used to represent kisses and hugs in correspondence, or that BFFstands for "best friends forever," but scholarly writing does notbenefit from the same sugary advantage.
Anything we writehas an intended audience--even if that intended audience is ourselves or anintended audience of no one. When you write for coursework there is the obviousaudience of the faculty who will grade the work, but there is also often animplied audience. Perhaps you've been instructed to write a lesson plan toshare with another educator; a business memo to be shared with a largecorporation; an interpretation of and diagnosis for a certain case study.You'll of course want to make sure you respond to each component of theassignment prompt, but you should also consider who you're conceptually writingfor.
-What kind of information can you assume your audience will alreadyhave about the topic?
oWould you need to explain what TTYL stands for?
-What context does your audience need?
oThe fact that they are Valentine’s candy would suggest thatmessages like “smile” or “call me” have a different sentiment than they would comingfrom a photographer or a business card.
-What are you ultimately hoping to achieve with regards to youraudience?
oWhen you send a Valentine to a friend, the message will likely bedifferent than the one you send to your romantic interest.
To help youremember how to acknowledge the importance of your intended audience, here’s asomewhat forced acronym relating back to candy hearts:
How: how are youexpected to present your information? The mode of communication will providesome clues into who your intended audience might be.
Expectation: whatcan you expect your intended reader to already know?
Additional: whatextra background information will your reader need you to provide in order tofully understand what you’re trying to say?
Response: is theresomething you hope your reader will do with the information after reading? Arethere potential questions or arguments you could circumvent by addressing themin your writing?
Task: what is the ultimatetask you’ve been given with regards to the assignment? Would your reader beable to easily determine it based on what you’ve written?
To my intendedaudience: I hope you had a fun Valentine’s Day—or are at least similarlybenefiting from reduced-price treats. And I hope this acronym and post in generalare memorable enough to help you in your next writing assignment!
Kacy Walzis a writing instructor from St. Louis, MO. She is currently working on a PhD in Literature from the University of Missouri. Along with her work on the blog, Kacy also cohosts theWalden Writing Center podcast. She enjoys piña coladas and getting caught in the rain..png "Bargain-Priced Candy Hearts and the Importance of Audience (6)")
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