Purpose, Audience, Tone, and Content

It is important to learn how to write according to the purpose, audience, and tone of writing.

Three elements should shape your writing:

• Purpose. The reason behind the writing.
• Tone. The attitude the writer conveys about the subject.
• Audience. The individual or group whom the writer intends to address.

Figure 5.1: Purpose, Audience, Tone, and Content Triangle illustrates this concept.

The assignment’s purpose, audience, and tone dictate what each paragraph covers and how it will support one main point. This section covers how purpose, audience, and tone affect reading and writing.

Identifying Common Academic Purposes

The purpose is simply the reason why you are writing. For example, why write a play? To entertain a packed theatre. Why write instructions to the babysitter? To inform him or her of your schedule and rules. Why write a letter to your Member of Parliament? To persuade him or her to address your community’s needs.

In academic settings, the reasons for writing fulfill four main purposes: to summarize, to analyze, to synthesize, and to evaluate.

Your instructors ask you to complete assignments specifically designed to meet one of the four purposes. As you will see, the purpose for writing will guide you through each part of the paper, helping you make decisions about content and style. For now, identifying these purposes by reading paragraphs will prepare you to write individual paragraphs and to build longer assignments.

Summary Paragraphs

A summary is a concise and condensed version.  It provides the reader with a brief overview of the main points, key ideas, and essential information contained in the original text.  A well-crafted summary paragraph serves as a valuable tool for readers, helping them decide whether to delve into the full text or gain a quick understanding of its content.  Below you will find a summary of The Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum.

Analysis Paragraphs

An analysis separates complex materials into their different parts and studies how the parts relate to one another. An analysis examines a primary source (an essay, a book, an article, etc.) point by point. It communicates the main points of the document by examining individual points and identifying how they relate to one another.

Take a look at a student’s analysis of a journal report.

Notice how the analysis does not just repeat information, but considers how the points within the report relate to one another. By doing this, the student uncovers a discrepancy between the points that are backed up by statistics and those that require additional information. Analyzing a document involves a close examination of each of the individual parts and how they work together.

Synthesis Paragraphs

The purpose of a synthesis is to combine two or more items to create an entirely new item.  An academic synthesis paragraph considers the main points from one or more pieces of writing and links the main points together to create a new point, one not replicated in either document.

Take a look at a student’s synthesis of several sources about homelessness in Ontario.

Notice how the synthesis paragraphs consider each source and use information from each to create a new thesis. A good synthesis does not repeat information; the writer uses a variety of sources to create a new idea.

Evaluation Paragraphs

An evaluation judges the value of something and determines its worth. An academic evaluation communicates your opinion about a document or a topic of discussion, and the reasons for that opinion.  Evaluations are influenced by your reading of the document, your prior knowledge, and your prior experience with the topic or issue.  Since an evaluation incorporates your point of view and the reasons for your point of view, it typically requires more critical thinking and a combination of summary, analysis, and synthesis skills.  Evaluation paragraphs often follow summary, analysis, and synthesis paragraphs.  Read a student’s evaluation and notice how the student incorporates the student’s personal judgment within the evaluation.  Evaluating a document requires prior knowledge that is often based on additional research.

Identifying the Audience

Imagine you must give a presentation to your colleagues at work. Weeks before the big day, you spend time creating and rehearsing the presentation. You must make important, careful decisions not only about the content but also about your delivery. Will the presentation require technology to project figures and charts? Should the presentation define important words, or will the executives already know the terms? The answers to these questions will help you develop an appropriate relationship with your audience, making them more receptive to your message.

Now imagine you must explain the same concepts from your presentation to a group of high school students. Those important questions you previously answered may now require different answers. The figures and charts may be too sophisticated, and the terms will certainly require definitions. You may even reconsider your outfit and sport a more casual look. Your presentation and delivery will shift to create a relationship with the new audience.

In these two situations, the audience plays a role in the development of presentation. As you prepare the presentation, you should visualize the audience to anticipate their expectations and reactions. What you imagine affects the information you choose to present and how you will present it.

Although the audience for writing assignments—your readers—may not appear in person, they are just as important. Even in everyday writing activities, you identify your readers’ characteristics, interests, and expectations before making decisions about what you write. In fact, thinking about audience has become so common that you may not even know you are doing it!

For example, you update your status on a social networking site with the awareness of who will digitally follow the post. If you want to brag about a good grade, you may write the post to please family members. If you want to describe a funny moment, you may write with your friends’ sense of humour in mind. Even at work, you send emails with an awareness of an unintended receiver who could intercept the message.

In other words, being aware of “invisible” readers is a skill you most likely already possess and one you rely on every day. Consider the following paragraphs. Which one would the author send to her parents? Which one would she send to her best friend?

Most likely, you matched each paragraph to its intended audience with little hesitation. Because each paragraph reveals the author’s relationship with her intended readers, you can identify the audience fairly quickly. When writing your own paragraphs, you must engage with your audience to build an appropriate relationship given your subject. Imagining your readers during each stage of the writing process will help you make decisions about your writing.

Focusing on audience will enhance your writing, your process, and your finished product. Use your imagination to anticipate the readers’ demographics, education, prior knowledge, and expectations.

Demographics: These measure important data about a group of people, such as their age range, ethnicity, religious beliefs, or gender. Certain topics and assignments will require you to consider these factors as they relate to your audience.

Education: Education considers the audience’s level of schooling. If audience members have earned a doctorate degree, for example, you may need to elevate your style and use more formal language. Or, if audience members are still in college, you could write in a more relaxed style. An audience member’s major or emphasis may also dictate your writing.

Prior knowledge: Prior knowledge is what the audience already knows about your topic. If your readers have studied certain topics, they may already know some terms and concepts related to the topic. You may decide whether to define terms and explain concepts based on your audience’s prior knowledge. Although you cannot peer inside the brains of your readers to discover their knowledge, you can make reasonable assumptions. For instance, a nursing major would presumably know more about health-related topics than a business major would.

Expectations: These indicate what readers will look for while reading your assignment. Readers may expect consistencies in the assignment’s appearance, such as correct grammar and traditional formatting like double-spaced lines and a legible font. Readers may also have content-based expectations given the assignment’s purpose and organization. In an essay titled “The Economics of Enlightenment: The Effects of Rising Tuition,” for example, audience members may expect to read about the economic repercussions of post-secondary tuition costs.