English 121: Guide: What you need for class

Audience 

DEFINITION 

The audience is the people who are likely to receive the text, for whom the text was created, and who can be persuaded by it. The more the rhetors know about the audience, the more effective their communication is because they may be able to establish what the audience knows about the topic and what their possible reaction may be to the text. However, it is not always possible to accurately establish who exactly will read the text. Experienced rhetors recognize that although they have an intended audience in mind, the actual audience may differ from that they intended to address. The goal is to match the intended audience as closely as possible to the actual audience so that the text is received mostly by the precise people for whom the text was composed. When the actual audience is not the audience intended for the text, it is likely that the text will not be received well or understood.  

To lessen the gap between the intended and the actual audience, here are some questions for the rhetor to consider:  

Intended Audience 

• What is the text communicating? What is the message here? 
• Who are the people to find this message persuasive or effective?  

Actual Audience 

• Where did the text appear? Where was it posted/published/printed? 
• Who would likely read it because of where it appeared? 

Additional questions for the rhetor to consider when envisioning the audience are some of the following: 

• What is the audience’s understanding of the topic? 
• What is the audience’s understanding of the topic? 
• What are the demographics of the audience: age, gender, education level, language, ethnicity, political affiliation?  
• What are the needs of this specific audience? 
• What genre does the audience respond to?  
• What level of formality and therefore language is expected by this audience? 

Practice asking these questions when considering the audience to increase your audience awareness, the skill that will be paramount to completing both the discussion and the culminating assignment for this module.  

Lexis/Language 

DEFINITION 

Lexis is the vocabulary, words in a language, and how we combine those words to compose texts. It is the terminology specific to particular groups of people, so to communicate effectively, it is necessary to identify these groups or discourse communities as they will influence the language choices we make to address them. Using audience-centered, as opposed to writer-centered lexis demonstrates audience awareness, and initially, it may be challenging, but it is a key to building ethos as a writer.  

Simply put, effective rhetoric depends on using the right lexis, at the right time, and in the right place.