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Christopher Story

Writing 39B

Taylor McCabe

March 19th, 2017

ePortfolio Introduction Draft 1

Writing 39B has not only been transformative to my writing but has served as an intellectual journey for me. I have learned so much about rhetoric in practice and it has provided me with a completely new perspective in regards to writing, and communication in general. My most valuable discovery as a writer this quarter, has been the importance of a rhetor’s audience. Before this class, I never took my audience into consideration when writing something. Now that I have learned how to identify every aspect of a rhetor’s text and relate it to their target audience, both my writing and reading have revolutionized. I have never been as interested in writing as I am now, neither was I aware of the importance of these rhetorical strategies. Now I will take you on a journey to explain how knowledge of audience, not only changed me as a writer but changed me as a student as well.

    The reason why I didn’t think about audience when writing or reading is because I did not have the reading comprehension skills to identify rhetorical strategies specific to a demographic. Part of the problem was the fact that I would often read too quickly, or I would daze off and think about other things while I was reading. Thus I would not retain the main argument of a text. However, the more significant issue resided in my reading comprehension. I would only pay attention to the surface meaning of the text and I would fail to make connections. Subsequently, the relationship between text and audience was one of these important connections

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that I often missed. My understanding of audience begins when I improved my reading comprehension through the Bettelheim analysis assignment. This assignment asked me to paraphrase the argument of each paragraph, this allowed me to break down a text in order to comprehend the writer’s message. It also allowed me to see the importance of each supporting argument and its contribution to the main argument. I know apply this strategy to effectively comprehend rather complex text. Additionally, your lecture about close reading really blew my mind. This was an entirely new concept to me, and it was hard for me to practice it at first. I eventually learned how to close read and this revolutionized my reading comprehension, which subsequently benefited my writing skills. I was now able to look for deeper meanings behind text, look for an alternative argument, look for symbolism that suggests an invisible theme. I observed rhetorical strategies in order to identify hidden elements within a text. Close reading changed how I perceived forms of writing and entertainment as well. Now I look for hidden themes and symbolism even when watching movies, and I’m so proud of myself when I can make these connections. Breaking down arguments and close reading have played a huge role in my journey to understanding the importance of audience by allowing me to fully understand the rhetoric behind text.

    Placing myself in the shoes of a rhetor who has a different purpose truly made a difference in my understanding of a targeted audience. A rhetor who has a specific purpose, also has a specific demographic they are trying to appeal to. For example, the Bluebeard murder assignment placed me in the perspective of completely different rhetors who have different purposes. The journalist’s purpose is to inform, and the information must be presented as

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accurate as possible. With the audience in mind, the journalist must also present the information interestingly because he/she must capture the audience's attention. Thus a convention of a journalism entry involves a direct, loud, and engaging title. This is important because the audience is composed of people skimming over a newspaper and a strong title is what draws eyes towards an article. This can be applied to the rhetoric of a lawyer as well. The lawyer must use formal language, and at the same time must use pathos. Pathos is an essential convention of lawyer rhetoric because the audience is a jury made of regular people, people who are often vulnerable to arguments that target their emotions. Therefore I concluded that audience determines the type of rhetoric used in a form of communication. I realized that audience is one of the most important elements of writing, and cannot be ignored if I want to be an exceptional writer. Coupled with my improved reading comprehension skills, I am able to easily identify the conventions of different kinds of rhetoric and its relationship to audience.

    I began studying the relationships between audience and rhetoric even further during the RIP project. Because I had to analyze my rhetorical strategies, I had to know everything about my audience. This is because audience determines rhetoric. I had to determine my audience, then study the conventions of a specific genre that follows it. In my case, I was writing an Original Series Television Pitch, and I had two different audiences. My primary audience were the producers and businessmen of a production departments within streaming services such as Netflix or Hulu. My secondary audience was composed of the people who would be watching my original series. I had to do in depth research on both my primary audience and secondary audience. This was the first time I had ever thoroughly considered my intended audience, and the

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first time I had ever researched my intended audience. This was an enriching experience because it gave me insight to the characteristics of a certain audience and how rhetors appeal to these characteristics. I studied the specific demographics of my audience such as gender, age, income, and even political views. As I learned more and more about my audience, I would formulate new rhetoric to appeal to these demographics. For example, a lot of young women watch netflix, and a lot of young women are at least, interested in feminism, especially during today’s political atmosphere. I chose to make a political statement empowering women and supporting feminism through my rhetoric in order to appeal to that demographic. This was revolutionary for me because I actually experienced first hand how an audience can determine the rhetoric. Knowledge of an audience is essential to appeal to its demographics. This made me realize that audience is one of the single most important elements in writing, ultimately making me a better writer.

    Audience is not only one of the most important elements of writing, but it is one of the most important elements of communication in general. Communication comes in a multitude of forms such as a political speech or a stand up comedy performance. Both of these are forms of communication and both of these nearly worship their audience. A political speech is almost completely derived from the intended audience. A leader must appeal to his/her follower’s interests in order maintain support. A leader must also appeal to other demographics in order to gain a new following and further support. Additionally a stand up comedy performance is based completely upon their audience. A comedian has to know their audience in order to talk about familiar subjects and make relatable jokes that the audience will laugh at. It is more likely for a

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comedian to not get laughs, if he/she has not done his job as a rhetor and studied his/her audience. In my eyes, the importance of audience has only become more potent because I am now identifying it within different mediums of communication.

My mind was opened even further after I had a conversation with my uncle. My uncle and I were discussing the importance of audience when it comes to communication. He shared his knowledge on the subject, and he provided a similar concept but applied it to a completely different medium. He provided me with a new perspective and that is when I realized the magnitude of the importance of audience in regards to communication. My uncle told me that the same techniques used by writers, politicians, or comedians, are the same techniques that artists use when creating art and music. This was so fascinating to me because it made me realize that whether it be a painting or song, art at its core is a form of communication. An abstract form of communication of course, however there is still a message or feeling trying to be conveyed to a specific audience. Thus every single brush stroke, or every single musical note is absolutely designed to engage a specific demographic. Audience conditions the conventions of art and music because they are also forms of communication. I applied this new knowledge in my Chinese art class, and I was very pleased with my results. I could write a better visual analysis when I thought of the artwork as a piece of rhetoric communicating to a specific audience. Specific colors and motifs represented in a Chinese painting could reveal the demographics of the intended audience.

My progression in reading comprehension through the breaking down of arguments coupled with close reading skills, has paved the way for me to identify the message, conventions,

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and elements hidden underneath the surface of  the text. This new understanding of rhetoric has allowed me to formulate connections between text and rhetor. The understanding of the purpose of a rhetor has gave me insight on the intended audience of a rhetor. Subsequently this knowledge has led me to conclude that audience determines the rhetorical strategies used by a rhetor. This applies to all forms of communication including abstract mediums such as art and music. This understanding of how ideas are effectively communicated with the consideration of audience, has nourished my growth as a writer. I will always be knowledgeable of my intended audience, because that will govern how I present my ideas and how I transfer them onto paper. Everything I write, will appeal to the characteristics of demographics within my audience, because this has proved to be the most effective use of rhetoric, and ultimately the most effective use of communication. My interest in writing has peaked, never before have I been this interested in writing. I had so much fun with the RIP project, because I had the freedom to play with these various concepts related to audience.

Now at the end of my journey, I understand that audience is fundamental to all mediums of communication. I have concluded that audience conditions the rhetoric used in these various forms of communication. If I understand my audience, I understand how to present my ideas effectively. Both my knowledge and interest in writing have increased because of Writing 39B. This has definitely been one of the best classes I have ever taken because I feel like my writing skills have been revolutionized throughout the quarter. However I am not satisfied yet, I want to continue to strive to become a better writer because effective communication on paper is one of the most useful skills in life.