smg10e

Determine the writer’s purpose and audience.

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Although arguing a position helps writers clarify their own reasons for taking that particular position, writers typically aim to influence others. When reading the position arguments that follow, ask yourself these questions about the writer’s purpose and audience:

What seems to be the writer’s main purpose in arguing for a position—for example, to change readers’ minds by convincing them to look at the issue in a new way, to confirm readers’ opinions by providing them with authoritative arguments, to move readers to take action by stressing the urgency or seriousness of the issue, or to remind readers what is at stake and establish common ground on which people might be able to agree?
What does the writer assume about the audience—for example, that audience members are already knowledgeable about the issue, that they will be only mildly interested and need to be inspired to care about the issue, or that they have strong convictions and are likely to have serious objections to the writer’s position?