Targeting an AUDIENCE - St Leonard's College · 2016-09-13 · Targeting an AUDIENCE. Who is the audience? The piece(s) may be targeted at a specific group of people: •Volunteers

Targeting an AUDIENCE

Who is the audience?

The piece(s) may be targeted at a specific group of people:

• Volunteers

• Music enthusiasts

• Parents

• Parents of young children

• Parents of young children who play musical instruments

• Secondary school students

• Residents and voters in Melbourne

Ok, that’s great,but what type of [parent/student/enthusiast]are they appealing to?

What values, beliefs or attitudes are being targeted?

ValuesBeliefs

Attitudes

EMPIRICAL

values/beliefs/attitudes

Evidence

Verifiable by

observation/experience

Acquired by senses

Myopic

RATIONAL


Reason/Reasoned

Sensible

Judicious

Cogent

Logic/Logical

CONSERVATIVE


Tradition/Traditional

Convention/Conventional

Stability/Stable

Unchanging/Unprogressive

Status quo

MORALISTIC


Judges behaviour

Strong sense of right and

wrong

Black and white

HUMANISTIC


Values agency of people

Worth of individuals

Dignity

Human rights

NATIONALISTIC


Patriotism/Patriotic

Pride/Proud

Sense of superiority

Protective/Defensive

LOGICAL


Straight thinking

Objectivity/Objective

Clarity/Clear

Evidence/Analytical

LIBERAL


Tolerance/Tolerant

Freedom from prejudice

Progressive

FEMINIST


Gender equality

Respect

Self-determination

PRAGMATIC


Realistic

Sensible

Best solution in given

circumstance

Useful decisions/actions

This next section will use the first article of the 2013 VATE

practise exam

(‘City Living’) for

examples.

NATIONALISTIC / PATRIOTIC

Having strong feelings of pride in one’s

country, and potentially a belief in the

superiority of one's own country over

others.

•Patriotism/Patriotic

•Pride/Proud

•Sense of superiority

•Protective/Defensive

The use of inclusive language and repeated references to national successes, such as the economy and building industry, are designed to elicit pride in an audience with nationalistic or patriotic values, who would be drawn to agree with the author due to the sense of superiority and pride in Australia that he is able to establish in his opening remarks.

LOGICAL / RATIONAL

A person who favours clear, sound

reasoning that is explicable through

the application of evidence and logic.

•Straight thinking

•Objectivity/Objective

•Clarity/Clear

•Evidence/Analytical

•Reason/Reasoned

•Sensible

The use of language that carries strong negative connotations of illogicality and senseless, such as the author’s description of the “apparent randomness” of the housing estates and the “waste” of “arable land”, is designed to grab the attention of a rational audience, who would react strongly against the lack of a clear and sensible purpose that is evident in the use of valuable land for “unnecessarily large houses”.

HUMANISTIC

A person having a strong interest in or

concern for human welfare, values, and

dignity.

•Values agency of people

•Worth of individuals

•Dignity

•Human rights

“The author’s use of emotive language in his description of “young people who regularly perish” on country roads, and juxtaposing their “mourning families” against the “selfish indulgence of…city dwellers”, would resonate strongly with a humanistic audience, who would object to the devaluation of human life implied by his appeal.”

PRAGMATIC

Dealing with things sensibly and

realistically in a way that is based on

practical rather than theoretical or

doctrinal considerations.

•Realistic

•Sensible

•Best solution in given

circumstance

•Useful decisions/actions

The author’s urging to adopt a more “sensible plan” and consequential outlining of steps to take advantage of existing infrastructure would resonate strongly with a pragmatic audience, who would see this as a realistic and useful action in the circumstances outlined by the author.

CONSERVATIVE

Favouring traditional views and values;

tending to oppose change.

•Tradition/Traditional

•Convention/ Conventional

•Stability/Stable

•Unchanging/

Unprogressive

•Status quo

The author’s solution is phrased in a manner that emphasises how it will actually allow for the preservation of rural areas and the conservation of finances, which would appeal to a conservative audience who values stability and maintaining the status quo, and who may actually support this approach due to its focus on using “existing” infrastructure instead of “building more”, “leaving” other things alone.

MORALISTIC

Wishing to make moral judgements

about others' behaviour and actions;

seeing things in stark decisions, such as

‘good’ and ‘evil’.

•Judges behaviour

•Strong sense of right

and wrong

•Black and white

Not used in this text, but could still come up:

The letter opens with a clear appeal to moralists over pragmatists by asking the audience to consider the “moral worth” of accepting refugees and strongly questioning whether the issue of “cost” deserves to be at the “forefront”.

LIBERAL

Being willing to respect or accept

behaviour or opinions different from

one's own; open to new ideas and

views progress and reform favourably.

•Tolerance/Tolerant

•Freedom from prejudice

•Progressive


However, a liberal audience would react strongly against these appeals, as they promote prejudice over tolerance.

OR…

A liberal audience would sympathise with this appeal, as they would see value in the potential for progress and wider social improvements that it implies.

FEMINIST

Advocating social, political, and all

other rights of women equal to those of

men.

•Gender equality

•Respect

•Self-determination


The author’s decision to focus on the experiences of female…in particular highlights the unique problems that gender poses in this regard, and would thus appeal to people who harbour feminist ideals and who desire to see equality in such situations.

Remember: the text will usually target a specific audience (here it was residents and voters in Melbourne), but that audience will usually embody several values/beliefs/ideas that the author will then target.

LIBERAL


Tolerance/Tolerant

Freedom from prejudice

Progressive

MORALISTIC


Judges behaviour

Strong sense of right and

wrong

Black and white

HUMANISTIC




Dignity

Human rights

CONSERVATIVE


Tradition/Traditional

Convention/Conventional

Stability/Stable

Unchanging/Unprogressive

Status quo

NATIONALISTIC


Patriotism/Patriotic

Pride/Proud

Sense of superiority

Protective/Defensive

PRAGMATIC


Realistic

Sensible


circumstance


RATIONAL


Reason/Reasoned

Sensible

Judicious

Cogent

Logic/Logical

HUMANISTIC




Dignity

Human rights

PRAGMATIC


Realistic

Sensible


circumstance


How to use this approach…

• It needs to come after you discuss arguments, language and persuasive devices: it is the final step in your analysis, and a way of showing a deeper engagement with the purpose behind the author’s language and reasoning.

• Think of it as the ‘cherry on top’ of your analysis that suggests to the assessor that you harbour a detailed and nuanced understanding of the ways in which people are persuaded.

• Make sure you know what each of the ‘audiences’ are: you need to understand them and be able to explain them.

• It is not enough to say “this targets a rational audience” or “this would resonate with a humanist audience”: you need to explain what makes it rational or why a humanist would respond to it!

• Make sure you get a lot of practise!

Documents

Targeting an AUDIENCE - St Leonard's College · 2016-09-13 · Targeting an AUDIENCE. Who is the audience? The piece(s) may be targeted at a specific group of people: •Volunteers