ANALYSIS OF AUDIENCE

AND PURPOSE

Audience, purpose, and occasion are in

combination referred to as the rhetorical situation
or context.
The rhetorical situation is important for it
determines:
 How much the writer will put into the essay
 The length and depth of an essay
 The language (diction/ register)
 The examples that will be cited
 TYPES OF AUDIENCE
1. Specialized audience
A specialized audience is knowledgeable on the subject
you are writing about, and their interest in your work is
intense.

Writing for a specialized audience calls upon the writer to

consider the following:
a) Kind of information provided
b) Method of presentation.
c) Language and tone that befits the specialized
expertise and attitude of the audience.
2. General audience
A general audience consists of readers who are not
necessarily experts on the area you are writing about,
but who would be willing to read your work.

A general audience implies a variety of interests, which

are different from your own.

In cases where you don’t know your audience, prepare

your work so that you can appeal to people from
different backgrounds and cultural values – socio-
economic, educational, gender etc.
 Multiple audience

In certain cases, writers may be required to address

themselves to different groups of people who have
varied attitudes, positions and hence expectations.

Each of your audience has totally different and even

opposite expectations. For example, a report that is to
be copied to your boss and also to an employee.

The planning and revising of your essay should try to

accommodate these different points of view.
 PURPOSE FOR WRITING
The writer’s reason or intent for writing an essay or any
other form of written communication helps the writer to
organize his/her work to fit this intent.
The main reasons why we write include the following:
Express our feelings
Report information (to readers)
Explain the significance of information
Persuade readers to agree with us
Convince/ incite readers to undertake a specific action.
Amuse or entertain readers