Wednesday, September 10 Characterizing Your Audiences Organizing Content: Figuring out which parts of your goal-based plan to emphasize in your paper IPHY 3700 Writing Process Map

Process Activity: Characterizing Your Audiences Identify your primary and secondary readers. Raise key “audience-analysis” questions: --How are my readers likely to relate to me? --What do my readers know and need to know about my topic? --Why is my audience reading my paper? --What values, preconceptions, and biases might readers hold about my research issue? --What qualities of written communication do my readers value most? --How will my audiences actually go about reading my paper? Note the implications of your audience analysis—that is, take notes to remind yourself of what you'll need to do in your paper to meet the needs, expectations, and values of your readers.

A Format for Taking Audience-Analysis Notes Primary readers: Secondary readers: Characteristics of Primary Audiences Characteristics of Secondary Audiences Audience-addressing Strategies How are my readers likely to relate to me? What do my readers know and need to know about my topic? Why is my audience reading my paper? What values, preconceptions, and biases might readers hold about my research issue? What qualities of written communication do my readers value most? How will my audiences actually go about reading my paper?

Identify your primary and secondary readers 1. Undergraduate integrative physiology majors who aren’t in IPHY 3700 this semester 2. LSG: The doggone writing instructor

How to Analyze Your Audiences 1. Rely on what you already know about your intended readers through experiences that you’ve had interacting with them 2. Talk with people who know a lot about your intended readers 3. Talk directly with your intended readers—that is, just ask them about their needs, expectations, and values

LSG values student writing that...  Demonstrates advanced scientific knowledge  Goes well beyond summarizing and paraphrasing scientific literature by synthesizing research  Makes original and strong arguments  Demonstrates "thinking out of the box"  Digs deep holes  Uses content, language, and tone that reflect consideration of readers  Develops unified, coherent, and goal-focused paragraphs  Reflects clear, precise, well-structured, and grammatically correct sentences

Let’s Do Some Audience Analysis! Characteristics of Primary Audience: IPHY 3700 students Audience-addressing Strategies What do my readers know and need to know about my topic? 1. They should know the basics of energy metabolism 2. They don't know much aout the methods and results from previous studies on low- CHO diets and weight loss 3. They don't know much about the physiology of ketosis, thermogenesis, and satiety (at least in the context of low- carbohydrate diets) 1. Don't need to give background details about ATP production through glycolysis, CA cycle, ET 2. If I'm going to compare my results and conclusions to those from previous research, better make sure to explain the methods and results of previous studies in detail 3. If I'm going to explain my results in terms of underlying physiological mechanisms, I need to explain the physiology at a fairly basis level. But I don't want to overload on the basics, because LSG is looking for advanced knowledge.

Let’s Do Some Audience Analysis! Characteristics of Primary Audience: IPHY 3700 students Audience-addressing Strategies What values, preconceptions, and biases might readers hold about my research issue? From mainstream nutrition and physiology courses and textbooks, they might have learned and come to believe that low-CHO diets are ineffective for weight loss and dangerous for weight loss. If I’m going to argue that low-CHO diets offer an advantage for weight loss and health, I’d better acknowledge readers’ concerns directly. Better do things like explain the physiological basis of the metabolic advantage and explain why previous studies supporting conventional diets are problematic.

Let’s Do Some Audience Analysis! Characteristics of Primary Audience: IPHY 3700 students Audience-addressing Strategies What qualities of written communication do my readers value most?  Demonstrates advanced scientific knowledge  Goes well beyond summarizing and paraphrasing scientific literature by synthesizing research  Makes original and strong arguments  Demonstrates "thinking out of the box"  Digs deep holes Refining Your Goal-based Plan to Account for Audience 1. Suppose that one of the goals in your plan is to reintroduce the background info, methods, and results of our study. 2. Suppose that one of your rhetorical goals is to discuss limitations to our study. How do you dig deep holes? 3. Suppose that one of your rhetorical goals is to make an argument about the physiological mechanisms underlying our results. How do you dig deep holes and make a well-rounded argument? 4. Suppose that one of your rhetorical goals is to.... ?????

Organizing Principles 1. Follow your assignment's instructions for organizing content. 2. Follow genre-specific conventions for organizing content. 3. Develop recognizable organizing themes. 4. Organize your paper's parts to serve its overall function. 5. Organize your paper's parts to address concerns of readers. 6. Reinforce global unity. 7. Solve organizational problems through good old-fashioned common sense.