Final answer:
To assess your audience, you should determine who your primary and any secondary audiences are, what they know, what they need to know, and their viewpoints and cultural sensitivities. This will shape your writing to be more effective and appropriately targeted.
Step-by-step explanation:
To properly assess your audience, you should ask yourself a set of questions that help to identify the audience's existing knowledge, needs, cultural sensitivities, and viewpoints on the subject matter. This understanding will inform the vocabulary, level of detail, and approach you use in your writing to effectively connect with your primary audience, as well as considering any secondary audiences that may encounter your work.
Assessing Your Primary Audience
Start by asking, "Who is my primary audience?" This could be your instructor, classmates, or a broader community. Next, consider what they already know by asking, "What does my audience know about this subject?" Understanding their level of knowledge will help you determine the necessary background information to include.
"What does my audience need to know to understand the point of my paper?" Answering this will help you focus on relevant information and explain concepts clearly. Also consider any cultural issues by thinking, "Toward what cultural issues might I need to show sensitivity?" This includes recognizing the audience's culture, beliefs, lived experiences, and ensuring your vocabulary and level of detail are appropriate.
Connecting with Your Audience
Analyze the audience's viewpoint on the topic by asking, "What is the audience's viewpoint on the subject?" Are they skeptical or largely in agreement with your arguments? This affects how you relate to your audience and the strategies you use to persuade or inform them.
Secondary Audiences
You also need to consider whether there is a secondary audience, such as people outside of your class, and "Who are those readers?" Your writing might need to be accessible to a broader audience beyond the primary one.
The answers to these questions will help guide the development and structure of your writing, ensuring that it is appropriately targeted to fulfill its purpose.