ENGLISH 10: EXERCISE TWO

Exercise Two: Determining your Audience

Who is your audience and why are they important?

It is important to keep your audience in mind when you write. Your audience is the person or persons who will read your essay. As a writer you need to keep them in mind because how you say what you want to say will depend on who your audience is.

Knowing your audience will help you determine how much knowledge they have for the subject you will be discussing, the terminology you use, and how simple or complex your writing needs to be.

Considering your audience also affects the tone you will use when you write. Tone, in writing, refers to how something is said. Will you be writing seriously, sarcastically, humorously, or conversationally? Chances are you wouldn’t write a letter to your best friend and your great aunt using the same tone.

**Tip** When writing for school assignments it is very useful NOT think of your audience as your teacher. If you do this, you are much more likely to leave out important information you assume the teacher knows - the very information part of your grade may depend on!