Reading an Audience
Introduced| English | Meaning |
|---|---|
| emotions and values/ɪˈməʊʃnz ænd ˈvæljuːz/ | The feelings and principles an audience cares about, which a writer may address when developing an argument. |
| appeals/əˈpiːlz/ | Ways of seeking an audience's agreement through credibility, emotion, reasoning or other persuasive resources. |
| modes of persuasion/məʊdz ɒv pəˈsweɪʒn/ | Approaches used to persuade an audience, commonly including ethos, pathos and logos. |
The same argument fails with a different room
- An argument that persuades one group can leave another unmoved.
- Nothing about the logic changed — the audience did.
- This unit makes the audience the engine of every choice.
A speech about quiet libraries delivered to a marching band may need a new opening.
Perceptions, not facts
- Writers' perceptions of an audience's values, beliefs, needs and background guide the choices they make.
- The word is perceptions — the writer's picture of the audience, which may be wrong.
- That is why an argument can fail: it was aimed at an audience that was not there.
Start from the audience: what they believe, what they need to hear, and which appeal supplies it
The CED says a writer's choices are guided by...
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It is the writer's picture of the audience, which may be inaccurate — and that is why arguments fail.
Reaching emotions and values 情感与价值观
- To achieve a purpose, writers make choices that relate to an audience's emotions and values.
- That is not manipulation by definition — it is what addressing a real reader requires.
- The examinable question is always which value the writer reached for.
Do not treat pathos as a synonym for "emotional manipulation". The CED says writers make choices to relate to an audience's emotions and values — appealing to what a reader cares about is what addressing a real audience requires, and a scoring answer says which value was reached for.
Which appeal is being used?
Sort each move by the appeal it makes.
Select all the modes of persuasion.
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Syntax is a stylistic feature, not a mode of persuasion.
Appealing to an audience's emotions is by definition manipulation.
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The CED frames it as relating to an audience's emotions and values — what addressing real readers requires.
Match each appeal to what it reaches for.
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Naming the appeal is a label; naming what it reaches for is the analysis.
The appeals 诉求
- Arguments persuade or motivate action through appeals — the modes of persuasion 说服方式.
- Ethos reaches for trust in the speaker, pathos for what the audience cares about, logos for their judgement of what follows.
- Naming an appeal earns nothing; naming what it reaches for is the analysis.
To find a text's audience, ask what the text ____ you already agree with.
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What a text takes for granted describes who it was written for.
Reading a text for its audience
- Ask what the text assumes you already agree with — that assumption describes the audience.
- Ask what it explains and what it takes for granted; the split reveals what the writer thought you knew.
- A text that explains nothing was written for people already inside the conversation.
A text arguing for a school rule explains nothing about how the school works and opens by naming a shared frustration. Both choices describe its audience: people already inside the institution who already share the complaint.
A writer's perceptions of an audience guide every choice. Arguments relate to an audience's emotions and values through appeals — ethos, pathos, logos. To find the audience in a text, ask what it assumes and what it bothers to explain.
Write from 12 late buses
- The same fact, 12 late buses this month, is used in a letter to parents and in a speech to students.
- Say why one version can fail in the other room.
A writer uses the same fact, 12 late buses this month, once for parents and once for students. Why can an argument that works in one room fail in the other?
The fact stays. The room changes the work it can do.
Why can the same 12 late buses fail with a different audience?
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Appeals are chosen for the people in the room.