that explained the problem to be addressed, filled in needed background, and offered some kind of thesis statement or purpose statement to indicate the writer's intentions and to forecast the argument.
Clearly students across the disciplines were not being coached to transfer into their upper division writing the rhetorical knowledge introduced in first‐year composition. A goal of most first‐year composition programs is to show students how a writer's decisions are often functions of the writer's rhetorical situation—the writer's purpose, audience, and genre. Particularly, expert writers pose the following kinds of questions about their rhetorical context:
Who are my intended readers?
How much do my readers already know and care about my topic? What is their stance toward my topic?
What is my purpose for writing? What kind of change do I want to bring about in my readers' understanding of my topic? When my readers finish my paper, what do I want them to know, believe, or do?
What genre is most appropriate for my context? What are the features and constraints of this genre? What style, level of language, and document design does this genre require?
How is the genre shaped by the values and expectations of the community of readers and writers who make up the audience (the “discourse community”)?
Our goal in this chapter and the next is to suggest ways that disciplinary instructors can help students practice these rhetorical skills when they write papers in any field. In chapter 3, we introduce the concept of “rhetorical situation,” which includes “purpose,” “audience,” “genre,” and “discourse community.” In chapter 4 we expand on these concepts and provide ideas for designing formal assignments set within authentic rhetorical situations. Scholarship has shown that helping students situate their writing within a rhetorical context helps them transfer knowledge from one writing situation to another (Anson and Moore, 2017; Beaufort, 2007; Carroll, 2002; Carter, 2007). When students learn to wrestle with questions about purpose, audience, genre, and discourse community, they develop a conceptual view of writing that has lifelong usefulness in any communicative context.
Helping Students Think about Audience and Purpose
An important difference between novice and expert writers is that experts think about audience early in the writing process whereas novices don't (see Sommers's classic study, 1980). Closely related to audience is the concept of purpose. One way to think about purpose is through the writer's aim—such as to inform, explain, analyze, persuade, reflect, entertain, and so forth. But another useful way to understand purpose is to articulate the kind of change the writer hopes to bring about in the readers' view of the topic. Instructors can help students understand purpose in this way by having them do the following nutshell exercise while planning their papers:
Before reading what I write, my readers will think this way about my topic: ________________________________________________________
But after reading what I write, my readers will think this different way about my topic: __________________________________________________
Here are some examples:
Before reading my analysis essay, my readers will think that Beloved is a novel about the past injustices of slavery. But after reading my essay, my readers will see that Toni Morrison's novel confronts the past as a way of healing the racial climate of the present.
Before reading my science blog for kids, my readers will think that summer is hotter than winter because the earth is closer to the sun. But after reading my blog, they will see that summer is hotter than winter because the tilt of the earth's axis causes the “summer hemisphere” to receive more concentrated overhead sun rays and the “winter hemisphere” to receive more slanted, diffused sun rays.
Before reading my op‐ed piece, my readers will think that wind power is a viable alternative energy source for the Pacific Northwest. But after reading my op‐ed, my readers will see that wind power cannot provide this region with more than a small percentage of its electricity needs.
Before reading our experimental report, our readers will be agnostic about the comparative level of gender stereotyping in 1940s Mickey Mouse cartoons and recent SpongeBob SquarePants cartoons. After reading our report, readers will see that SpongeBob SquarePants cartoons have significantly less gender stereotyping.
Articulating purpose in this way is particularly valuable in settings calling for thesis‐governed prose. When the thesis pushes against an alternative view, it creates the kind of tension encouraged by Graff and Birkenstein's (2009) template “They say/I say.” Because the writer must support a contestable thesis against a background of what others say, readers can appreciate that something is at stake in the argument. Moreover, articulating purpose in terms of changing the audience's view is an effective antidote against “and then” papers, “all about” papers, and data dumps as described in chapter 2.
When helping students think about audience, therefore, instructors should encourage students to imagine their audience's initial stance toward their topic and to see their purpose as bringing about a change in that stance. It is this initial audience stance that creates for the writer an implied purpose or role. Here are some typical kinds of audiences and initial stances that instructors can use:
Naive or “learner” audience. Here the instructor specifies a naive audience who needs new information or a clear explanation of something. The student plays the role of expert relative to the assigned audience.
Explain the difference between velocity and acceleration to a student who missed last week's class discussions.
Your uncle thinks it is unfair and stupid that passengers sitting in the same section of an airplane probably paid different prices for their tickets. As an economics student, help your uncle see why all these different prices make economic sense and are not unfair.
Your boss needs information on competitors' marketing and pricing strategies for selected items that are not selling well in your stores. Do the research and write an informative report for the boss.
A nine‐year‐old diabetic child needs to understand the glycemic index of foods. As a pediatric nurse, prepare a short talk that will explain glycemic index in language the child will understand.
Undecided or puzzled audiences with skeptical tendencies. Here writer and reader of equal status confront a shared question or problem. The writer's role is to present, through critical thinking and analysis, a “best solution” to the problem while attending to counterviews. The audience will be interested in your solution but will raise skeptical questions.
What kind of bearings should our engineering team use in our design for a circumferentially mounted radiator fan? Write your proposal to the rest of your team. They are uncertain about the best approach but likely to raise objections to your solution.
Does Hamlet change in the last act? Write to classmates who are apt to be skeptical of your answer.
You are a research assistant to a state legislator who needs to decide whether to support a new sales tax on soda and candy as a means of raising state revenues and reducing consumption of sugar. Using the economic analysis tools we have learned in class, write a recommendation memo to your boss.
