The Concept of Audience in Writing - Essay Example

While I was writing this essay on how I got into the Navy, I did not take into consideration the profile of my audience. I was writing it more as a personal narrative. That being the case, I was more concerned with trying to be able to narrate the chronology of events that led me to join the Navy.

Writing the essay helped me look through what I felt at various points in my career, starting from working at Popeye’s to working at a shoe store and eventually applying for the Navy. I was not thinking of how my audience would feel as they read through my essay. Maybe, at some point in my essay, I was subconsciously trying to persuade my readers to believe that I made the right decision to join the Navy. However, that was not intentional on my part. I was simply stating facts in my life and I was not sure as to how this would impact my audience.

To my knowledge, my writing style was not in any manner influenced by my audience. I wrote the essay as if I was just writing in my diary. I did not have any style of writing in mind. All I wanted to do was to be able to share my experience. It did not matter if my audience would judge me for the decisions that I made during the span of my career. I did not care even if I would be judged rightly or wrongly for the career path that I took. I wrote about my experience as honestly as I could. All I wanted was to stick to the facts, unmask my true feelings and be credible, even if my audience was not interested.

My audience was my primary consideration while I was writing this essay on the need to abolish capital punishment. I wanted to get their 100% attention because I wanted to drive a point to them. At any one point in my essay, I wanted to be convincing enough so that my audience would believe the idea I was trying to espouse.

In the first part of my essay, I presented to my audience that capital punishment is against the United States Constitution. I also explained how the punishment is executed. I explained how lethal injection affects the person being executed. It is my purpose to present facts first to my audience so that they may have some basis for whatever decision they will come up with regards to the legality, as well as the morality of the death penalty.

While writing my essay, I kept in mind that my audience could be divided into three categories. First are the advocates of the death penalty. Second, are the people who like me, are against capital punishment. The third category is undecided. These are the people who are still trying to weigh things and look at the advantages and disadvantages of the death penalty. I think that my essay is more directed to those belonging to the third category, the undecided. They are the people who need a lot of convincing. They are the reason why I chose the writing style that I resorted to which is the appeal to the emotions. Most of the words that I used are very emphatic and aim to touch their hearts.  At the same time, I also appealed to their intellectual capacities by citing various facts and findings regarding the disadvantages of the death penalty. I had to present some information on the flaws of the United States justice system and the abolition of capital punishment in most developed countries. I wanted to convince my audience that the death penalty is inhuman, if not barbaric.

About my writing style, I tried to be very persuasive to put my audience into action against the death penalty. I often used thought-provoking questions and presented them to my audience to get them to think seriously about the negative effects of the death penalty and why it should be abolished. I tried my best to be very purposeful in the sentences that I used.

In conclusion, I think that if I chose a scholarly writing style, I would not be as effective in persuading my audience to abhor and act against the death penalty.  Since my goal is not only to inform but to persuade my audience, the appeal to their emotions will prove to be very effective. I am confident that the writing style that I used drove the point of my essay.  My use of questions in my essay somehow makes my audience think deeper about the issues I presented.

My audience was my primary consideration in the writing style that I employed in the essay on capital punishment. On the other hand, my essay on how I got to join the Navy is the exact opposite. I hardly thought of my audience because it was a personal narrative on my part. Both essays clearly show that the writing style will differ depending on the purpose of the writer and depending on the audience he wants to address.