Audience, Purpose, and Tone

Audience, Purpose, and Tone
ADDRESSING YOUR READERS

Audience
WHO ARE YOU WRITING FOR?

Audience
When reading or writing, ask yourself to whom the

piece is directed. What is their:
Age?
Education level?
Occupation?
Income?
Cultural background?
Gender?
But be careful not to stereotype!
Considering your audience
Questions to ask yourself:
What does the reader already know about this

subject? (Expert or general knowledge?)
What is the reader’s attitude toward this subject?
(Sympathetic? Hostile?)
What does the reader need to know/be told about
this subject? (What information do they need in
order to be persuaded of your point?)
Purpose
WHY ARE YOU WRITING?

Purpose
Whether reading/analyzing a piece or writing one,

you should ask yourself: what is the purpose?
Common purposes:
- to inform
- to persuade
- to entertain
• Perhaps the best writing does all three!

Questions to ask regarding purpose
What is the purpose in writing?

What is your/the author’s attitude toward the
subject? (avoid bias but be persuasive)
What are readers’ expectations of this
communication? (to be informed? to be presented
with an argument?)
Tone
HOW YOU SAY IT IS AS IMPORTANT AS WHAT YOU SAY

AND WHY!
Tone
What is the author’s role?

- credible authority?
- peer/friend?
 Your language needs to be chosen carefully to
support the role you have chosen for yourself.
 Choose the level of language that suits
 your topic
 your audience
 and your purpose.
Tone: Levels of Language
 Informal/casual
 first person
 Contractions
 slang, expressions used
 Concrete, conversational (personal letters, ads, editorials)
 General
 Easily understood, non-specialized
 Can use first, second, or third person
 Balance of abstract and concrete (magazines,

newspapers, business writing, novels)
 Formal
(academic writing—essays, journal articles, reports, textbooks, legal
documents)
Formal Tone
Used most often for academic essays or articles

Objective, impersonal, serious, abstract, specialized
Third person
No contractions
No colloquial expressions
No slang
Complex sentences
Used to inform/instruct but usually also to persuade
Other Types of Tone
A work can be:

 Humourous
 Sarcastic
 Satirical
 Lighthearted
 Serious
 Flippant
What other words can you think of, to describe an

author’s tone?
Levels of Language
EXAMPLES
Informal, Standard, and Formal Language
Informal/Casual:
- ride
- ball and chain
Standard/General:
- car
- wife
Formal/Academic:
- vehicle
- spouse
Diction
“Diction” means word choices

Does the author use “big words” (discipline-
specific terminology and/or complex words that
demonstrate a high level of education)?
Connotation vs. denotation—what ideas do these
words suggest? Positive? Negative?
Level of language (formal, casual, standard?
Slang? Personal pronouns? )
All contribute to TONE
“Blood, Toil, Tears, and Sweat”
Occasion: In 1940,
Winston Churchill gave
his first speech as Prime
Minister.
What was the context of
his speech?
https://www.youtube.co
m/watch?v=8TlkN-dcD
Ck
Tone Activity
See text p. 43:

Analyze Churchill’s “Blood, Toil, Tears, and Sweat”
Answer:
What are his audience, purpose, and tone?
What rhetorical choices (e.g. appeals, diction, etc.)
does he make in order to persuade his audience?
Use text p. 36-38 for ideas!
Churchill Analysis
Note how his audience, purpose, and tone change

about halfway through his speech.
In the beginning, he is addressing the House and
fellow politicians and his tone is dry. His purpose is to
go through the motions of setting up a new
government as quickly as possible.
Then, he switches audiences, speaking now to both all
the people of Great Britain and people in other
countries (allies and foes).
Now, he uses more dramatic diction because his
purpose is to rally people for war.
Image Sources
Sir Winston Churchill:

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9
/9c/Sir_Winston_S_Churchill.jpg

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Audience, Purpose, and Tone

ADDRESSING YOUR READERS

WHO ARE YOU WRITING FOR?

When reading or writing, ask yourself to whom the

Questions to ask yourself:

What does the reader already know about this

WHY ARE YOU WRITING?

Whether reading/analyzing a piece or writing one,

• Perhaps the best writing does all three!

What is the purpose in writing?

HOW YOU SAY IT IS AS IMPORTANT AS WHAT YOU SAY

What is the author’s role?

 slang, expressions used

 Concrete, conversational (personal letters, ads, editorials)

 Can use first, second, or third person

 Balance of abstract and concrete (magazines,

Used most often for academic essays or articles

A work can be:

What other words can you think of, to describe an

“Diction” means word choices

See text p. 43:

Note how his audience, purpose, and tone change

Sir Winston Churchill:

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