Audience Addressed/Audience Invoked by Lisa Ede and Andrea Lunsford

Should a writer concern him/herself with an audience, either real or imagined, while writing? That is a question that can be answered by looking at the purpose for writing. What is the goal of the writer? To entertain, persuade, inform, of course the audience must be kept in mind, that's a no brainer. To blow off steam, jot a list, take notes, not so much.

I think the real question is how do we make our students aware of their audience while they write. Obviously, the majority of the time, the teacher IS that audience. Because of the things I focus on while teacher, my students pick up on the things I want to see in their writing, and they write to please me/improve their grade. When that becomes their purpose, regardless of the topic or "type" of writing, students don't usually see past the teacher when considering audience. Ede and Lunsford highlight Walter Ong's theories when considering the audience invoked. Ong points out "The student must turn his real audience, the teacher into someone else."

I think one of the most important points made is that the writer is the first reader of the work. I work very hard trying to get my students to understand this point. They are their own most important audience because they are the first audience they must impress, persuade, entertain, etc. Students know when they've done good work, and if they are not impressed with their own writing, persuasions, etc., they can't expect another audience to be so either. Understanding this allows them to take pride in their writing and makes them excited to show others, allowing another audience to give feedback and suggestions.

But this isn't always an easy thing to understand for students. At the beginning of the year, it never fails that the first pride students take is the length. If they can write 3-4-5-12 pages, regardless of quality, they are impressed with themselves. That is a great first step in taking pride, and from there, teachers can guide them to consider quality as well. This is much more difficult for them to grasp, but by encouraging, modeling, conferencing, and countless other -ings, students can take that step. But I don't thinks it's feasible to consider other audiences, let alone invoking or adressing them, until they do take that step.