Does the Audience Matter?

Summary: The article by Lisa Ede and Aundrea Lunsford entitled "Audience Addressed/Audience Invoked: The Role of Audience in Composition Theory and Pedagogy," emphasized on the idea of whether the focus of a student's work should worry about what the readers may think about it. According to the article, the question was "to be for or against an emphasis on audience in composition studies." There were several authors that inserted their thought about what the readers should focus on, especially when dealing with the audience. The article further stated that "Those who envision audience as addressed emphasize the concrete reality of the writer's audience; they also share the assumption that knowledge of this audience's attitudes, beliefs and expectations is not only possible, but essential." This article reflected well-detailed information about the audience and its effect on composition studies.

Response: In my opinion, the audience matters maybe 92% of the time. The author/writer should focus on how the audience will take their writing because if it was something being sold, it must catch the audience's attention in order for it to be purchased. With college papers that are written day in and day out, most professors like students who write about interesting topics, more modern and less drawn out. Whether the audience is young or old, they all matter because their the one who are going to be responding to it. On the other hand, the other 8%, those are the expressive writers, those who write how they feel regardless of who the audience may be. This can sometimes be good, because the students is able to reflect one's feelings without being judged. However, on the hand, it may cause some controversy. The audience plays a big role in composition studies, because the audience is who we are writing for.