Analyzing My Audience

In this blog post I will be ansering the six bulleted questions in the "Identifying Your Audience" section in Student's Guide page 41.

Screenshot from my computer, 10/13/15

• Who am I writing for? What are the audience's beliefs and assumptions?

I'm writing for new and incoming students in the computer science major. The audience is actually lacking beliefs and assumptions about the specific rhetoric of a computer science speech/text. This makes it all the more important for me to do a good job on this analysis!

• What position will they take on this issue? How will I need to respond to this position?

The students are likely to take the side of the original speaker on this issue. Of course computer science students have an interest in computer science education and see value in it. There does not need to be a specific response to this position because the position is already perfectly in line with the point the speaker is trying to make.

• What will they want to know?

The students will want to know what the speaker does to effectively argue his point. These students will spend many of their coming years constructing similar arguments and will want to know how to do so in the best way possible

• How might they react to my argument?

The students are likely to be very receptive to the arguments I give in my analysis, especially since they don't have previous experience with this specific type of rhetoric.

• How am I trying to relate or connect with my audience?

I'm trying to relate with my audience through our common interest of computer science. Professional interests are a great medium for connection.

• Are there specific words, ideas, or modes of presentation that will help me relate to them in this way?

Ideas such as computer science education and exposure to all areas of computer science will help me relate to computer science students. Most people in the major will have an interest in exploring all elements of the field, and I will be able to relate to the audience in that way.

More Development

After reading a few of my peers posts, I realized that it's important to connect with the audience through informal words or phrases or examples. However, there is a fine line with this strategy. If I become too informal, I could lose credibility, and the overall effectiveness of my analysis is compromised.

Another thing I need to keep in mind is the dominant demographic within the major of computer science. While I should not alienate any demographics in any way, it may be wise to ensure I appeal to the dominant group in some way.

EDIT:

After reading Lawrence's and Hallye's blog post, I learned new things about the how I should approach addressing my audience. Hallye had a great point in saying it is not my job to evaluate the "correctness" of the author's main point. It is, however, my job to analyze how the speaker constructed the argument and how effective it was or was not.

Also, the way Hallye phrased the final question was great. She said it is important to do what you can to connect to the audience, without coming off as too unprofessional. I will take all of these points into account when writing my rhetorical analysis.