Final answer:
Messages often have both a primary and one or more secondary audiences; the statement is false. Determining the primary audience is crucial for tailoring the content, style, and language of the message, and considering secondary audiences ensures the message is relevant to a broader group.
Step-by-step explanation:
The statement that messages have either primary audiences or secondary audiences, but not both, is false. Messages often target both a primary audience and one or more secondary audiences. When writing or conveying a message, it is vital to identify who the primary audience is, as they are the main recipients of your message. For instance, in academic writing, the primary audience might be an instructor or classmates. Yet, it's also important to consider secondary audiences, which may include other students, administrators, people in the community, or a broader public.
Determining your primary audience helps shape your writing style, language, and the content of your message to ensure it resonates with them effectively. Additionally, when a secondary audience is involved, one must ensure that the message remains accessible and relevant to this wider group without losing focus on the primary recipients. For example, if people outside of class are a secondary audience, a student should write in a way that is still understandable to those not familiar with the course material.
In the context of structuralism, focusing on the primary messages of a text highlights that considering both primary and secondary meanings is crucial to understanding how messages function within a larger cultural framework. Messages may also contain features that affect persuasion, such as subtlety, sidedness, timing, and the presentation of different viewpoints. Understanding the primary and secondary audiences can help tailor a message to be more persuasive.