Audience and Genre pt.2

Whom do you want to reach?

The intended audience consists of multiple audiences. First, professor Marciniak will be the primary audience. The secondary audience would be other students in the class as well as anyone else whom could possibly come across my essay since it is posted on a blog.

What is the audiences’ background?

The primary audience’s background consists of having at least some college education.  Professor Marciniak is from Texas so she might not be too familiar with the historical context of the Falls of the Ohio or the community service that happens there.  The same could be said about students that are attending U of L that are not originally from the area as well as the secondary audience.  I am assuming that there might be some students from the area that are familiar with the topic, but since I am unsure I am writing as if the audience is oblivious about the topic.  The audience that might stumble upon my essay might have some knowledge of the topic since they would more than likely be searching about either the Falls or community service opportunities.

What are their interests?

Little is known about my audiences’ interests.  Research could be conducted to find out possible interests.

Demographic information to keep in mind?

The topic that is discussed in my essay is not specific to any demographic.

What political circumstances may affect their reading?

The topic addressed is not controversial in any setting.  Whatever their political circumstances might be should not affect how they interpret the reading.

What does the audience already know about the topic?  What needs to be told to them?   What is the best way to do so?

The audiences’ should have a minimal familiarity with the place; however they might not know the details of the community service aspects associated with the location.  A brief history of the Falls would better introduce the audiences to the place.  An explanation of the significance of the Falls to the region and community service efforts would help explain my thesis, followed by examples and recommendations of how to volunteer if they deem necessary.

What’s the relationship between the writer and audience, and how does it affect tone and language?

The relationship to my audiences is mainly on a formal level.  I don’t know anyone on a personal level so the tone and language will be formal.

What do the audiences need and expect?

Since this essay is turning into a persuasive piece, they are going to need to know the benefits of volunteering and community service at the Falls of the Ohio.

What kind of response do I want?

I want to inform the audience about the opportunities to get involved within the community.  Regardless if they choose the Falls of the Ohio or another location, the purpose that I intend to have is to get the audience aware of local history and to get out and do what they can to help preserve our area.

How can you best appeal to your audience?

The requirement is to post the essay as a blog but also to include visuals to help the audience identify with the Falls of the Ohio.

Audience and Genre

Audience and genre are connected in that you must know your audience in determining the genre to write. The article talks about three specific audiences, all of which would use a different genre in presenting information. Known audiences are those that the writer know personally and would understand what the writer was trying to present without having to go into great detail. Multiple audiences are those where the message could be presented to intended audiences as well as unknown audiences. Business memos and proposals were example given in the text. Unknown audiences are those which the writer might not know their specific knowledge of information relating to the topic discussed. In all instances, the genre of the message should match the intended audience's knowledge of subject matter.

Biodiversity

Church's topic proposal does adequately state why her audience should care about her topic because it is an argument about biodiversity loss and the ensuing effects it has on medicine. She identified one particular medicine at risk of extinction, drugs to treat breast and ovarian cancer, as a way to let her audience know biological species and their habitats contribute to helping our species.

Ch. 7 Exercise #2

After rereading my narrative from Unit II, it definitely looks like I need to find a better direction to grow it into a persuasive piece. While I was visiting the Falls of the Ohio looking for "negative" aspects, the only negative that could relate to the Falls would be the trash issue. I know that there are other environmental issues that concerns preserving the limestone but I find that issue irrelevant to my narrative. According to my narrative, it seems that I'm more interested in preserving the historical significance of the Falls to the metro area as opposed to the litter in the area. I have done preliminary and secondary research on the trash issue at the Falls and have found that there is a lot of effort going towards keeping the area clean. That's not to say that it is free of trash because that is certainly not the case. Anyone that is interested in preserving areas that are significant to our region and community service are more likely to be the audience for my narrative. Although, I could also see anyone that is interested in historic areas, and there are many in the Louisville area, as being the audience as well. 

Vote for Pedro!

Holson's angle was to show the cultural impact that the movie Napoleon Dynamite had on the townspeople of Preston, Idaho. She briefly described the movie's plot but mostly focused on the townspeople's reaction to the sudden celebrity status of their town. Instead of going into great detail about the movie, she collects first-hand accounts of the townspeople's reaction while visiting the location during a Napoleon Dynamite festival held in Preston. All of her research was done in person during her visit to the small town during the festival, evidenced by the profiles of the outsiders that visited; the tetherball girl, the Napoleon dancer, look-a-likes, and the tater tot eating contest. While she did talk to the outsiders about their thoughts about the significance of the movie, she mostly wanted to get information from locals such as the man the shot the cow in the movie and hear about how their lives have been affected by the movie.

Interviewee & Questions

What do you want to find out?

I want to find out about how involved the community is with regards to preservation the Falls of the Ohio. I want to know if the staff considers the efforts to bring forth community involvement as a success or if it needs improvement.

What is the primary goal of this oral history?

The goal is to get an in-depth look at the Center’s efforts in bringing in community involvement.

Dani Cummins, Executive Director at the Falls of the Ohio

How did you get involved with the Falls of the Ohio?

Why did you choose to the Falls of the Ohio?

What brought forth the Crossroads Campaign?

What is the overall goal for the Crossroads Campaign?

Why has the Commission wanted to keep it under tight wraps up until recently when the design was made public?

Does the success of the Crossroads Campaign determine possible other areas of the park to be looked at next?

How often does the park hold “River Sweeps”?

What has the commission looked into as far as preventing trash in the Falls?

(If commission looked into previous question?) Are there any projects in the future to assist in that?

Maus

The selection from Maus is considered an oral history because it is a living "person's" living testimony of past experiences. Vladek is retelling his experience, from memory, as a P.O.W. to Artie. The top of page 47 is a picture of interview where it appears that Artie is recording his father's story.