Author: Daniel Libertz

Just as MAYA applied to several objects in the article, it is also relevant in public and professional writing. Specifically, writing takes on the “familiar and new” approach more often than the repetitiveness of the Marvel franchise. My first thought of “familiar and new” meets writing was Twitter’s recent extension of their character limit. The familiarity of Twitter keeps users involved. While the new, exciting option to double your characters to 240 tests tweeters creativity and keeps them writing and reading tweets more than ever. If we had originally started with 240 characters, would Twitter have even caught on? Could our shrinking attention spans handle 240 characters? The article says, “humans seek familiarity, because it makes them feel safe. On the other hand, people are charged by the thrill of a challenge, powered by a pioneer lust.” I think that Twitter’s idea to extend their character limit follows this idea exactly, for we are now challenged to be funnier, cleverer, or more opinionated on our familiar app.

In addition to Twitter, the Fifty Shades of Grey series took advantage of the “familiar and new” idea when it dropped the vampires from Twilight and added sex to a very similar storyline. In fact, Fifty Shades of Grey IS Twilight fanfiction. And what better way to get an entire country of women to openly read and discuss unconventional sex? Use a storyline they all loved years prior and enhance it. Just like the FX series Sons of Anarchy, where at face value it’s a motorcycle show, but low-key it’s just Hamlet for the 21^st century, Fifty Shades of Grey is mostly thought of as socially-acceptable pornography, but accepted because it’s basically Twilight. Fifty Shades of Grey worked because it was NEW – before this series you didn’t see women casually carrying around sex novels. It also worked because it wasn’t new at all: we fell in love with Twilight in 2010, and we fell again in 2012 (unknowingly).

While I think MAYA applies clearly to public writing, the line is blurred for professional writing. For example, a college application essay is seemingly standard. Students are given a prompt to which they type up a few paragraphs and maybe throw in some literary devices or anecdotes in hopes of standing out. It’s the familiar way and it works (see, even USA Today recommends opening with an anecdote http://college.usatoday.com/2014/10/23/9-essay-writing-tips-to-wow-college-admissions-officers/) . However, I’ve heard of students writing their essays in the form of a poem, and it WORKED. If I had to guess why, I’d say because of MAYA. The article mentions that, “a surprise seems to work best when it contains some element of familiarity.” To those reading the essays, a poetic application would be a pleasant surprise, something different from the thousands of other essays; however, it only works if it still answers the question simply as they all do.  On the other hand, professional writing, such as a science journal, there isn’t room for MAYA. The format is nearly the same for each possibly because any attempt to change it may take a shot at the author’s ethos.

Overall, Loewy was onto something with his MAYA idea. If it applies to most aspects of our lives such as apps, names, and TV shows, it certainly applies to writing, too. Where the line is drawn between the type of writing MAYA applies to, I am not completely sure. But, if I had to guess I’d say it falls somewhere amidst professional writing.

Writing, of all styles, is chalk full of rules which we can either choose or not choose to abide by.  Some of these rules exist in the context of grammar, but most of them, it seems, exist because of a preconceived notion that the we as readers of the writing have about the ways we read and comprehend a text from its entirety, all the way down to the word level.  Derek Thompson says that this “preconceived notion” comes down to neophilia and neophobia.  He defines neophilia as “a curiosity about new things” and neophobia as “a fear of anything too new.”  He further argues that both of these are ingrained in every person, and this is what defines the effectiveness of advertising.  I would argue that this is true and that they both apply to writing as well.

 

In fiction writing, for instance, many writers—especially amateurs—are desperate to make their marks on the literary world.  They want to create something original, something by which the readers will remember them (barring, of course, that given the whole of human history, the chances of a writer creating something that has never been done before are slim, if not impossible).  The best way for authors to reach their audiences, then, is to take something that readers will be familiar with—a common trope or “the hero’s journey”—and to add something singular to the mix, something by which readers will, indeed, remember them, but for the right reasons—say, a sentient eyeball inside a glass jar.  As Thompson points out, “People get tired of even their favorite songs and movies.”  I can’t speak for everyone, but if I open a book and read a sentence within the first ten pages that I’ve read a million other times, I will close the book and never open it again.  The trick for writers, then, is to create something that is familiar without being too familiar.  Public and professional writing should take on these rules as well.

 

In a public sphere, readers are going to be accustomed to the texts they read behaving in a particular way.  Lawyers have a specific style and format by which they are required to make their documents.  Even the average person with a Twitter account is expected to keep their daily musings short and sweet.  Thompson’s article touches upon the evolution of baby names, and I found the section pertaining to black baby girls quite intriguing.  Rather than the evolution of the name being centered on the popularity of the name in previous years, the evolution was shown to be based on the change or removal of a single letter.  This small action, which was able to make baby names both familiar and new, can also be applied to public and professional writing (although it may not be as simple as changing a single letter).

 

Lawyers, for instance, do have to abide by specific stylistic and formatting rules set out for them, but that doesn’t mean that there are never opportunities for them to push their documents further.  The language of legal documents is surely not the same as it was two hundred years ago.  With time and linguistic changes, there is a chance for lawyers to move beyond what is fundamentally familiar and into new territory.  Will the word “yeet” ever be included in a legal document?  I highly doubt it, but I can’t definitively say.  There is always a chance for stylistic changes.  Even on Twitter, there is room for change.  Since the institution of a 280-character limit, as opposed to the 140-character limit that was previously imposed, there actually hasn’t been much move for people to use all 280 characters; it’s actually considered pretty taboo.  Some people do use all 280 characters, but if they do, it’s usually humorous.  When the feature first came out, people were using all of their characters to quote lines from “Friends” and “The Office.”  The feature was new, and many people didn’t like it, but through the use of familiar TV shows, it was able to grow on people to some extent.  In both cases, there is both newness and familiarity—and that is exactly what Thompson suggests is the most effective strategy in his article.

The initial question asked by Derek Thompson in the article “The Four-Letter Code to Selling Just About Anything” is What makes things cool? Thompson dives into how industrial design mogul Raymond Loewy made a career and legacy out of taking mundane objects and concepts cool. The theory behind Loewy’s success was MAYA: Most Advanced Yet Acceptable. The logic behind this acronym is to make something as progressive as possible while still being tolerated received by the target audience. Furthermore, he said “to sell something surprising, make it familiar. To sell something familiar, make it surprising.” I find this notion to be true as I thought about commercial items like smartphones and cars. Consumers are constantly craving something new and exciting but if the newest model is too off the wall different, potential customers can feel uneasy about making a jump to such a different product than what they have become accustomed to. This is where the MAYA concept comes in. The emphasis of keeping a product in check, in terms of change, is important to not isolate a crowd with too forward of thinking.

Another example given in the article was the creation of Spotify’s Discover Weekly playlist. An initial bug allowed songs the user has heard before onto the playlist even though the goal was to have only entirely new music on it. Once the issue was corrected, Spotify realized that usage if this individually made playlists decreased. This again shows the importance of just a splash of familiarity. As an avid Spotify user, I wholeheartedly agree with keeping a few old songs weaved in with the new ones to help bridge the gap between familiar and new. Seeing a list of 30 songs that I have never heard of made by artists I probably haven’t heard of is not exactly inviting. But seeing a few favorites thrown in there does help bridge the gap.

Whenever I am tasked with writing something unlike anything that I have ever done, I find myself taking one style that has worked for me in the past and brainstorming ideas of how to morph it into something new. For me, it is vital to have some sense of familiarity to keep the piece in perspective and a small sense of safeness that what I am writing is not too unusual to accomplish the task. Given the type of person I am, it is not common for me to take a big risk or in the case of writing, a big style change.

I strongly believe the situations like ones described above these also apply to writing. While unique styles can certainly get a reader engaged, if a piece’s style is too different, I find that I become tired with the piece. Personally, I have found myself not caring about a piece of literature because it has been too different. The piece might have caught my attention initially but the author maintained this approach and I lost interest as a result. Furthermore, I think that MAYA certainly applies to public and professional writing. As Robert Loewy once said, “One should design for the advantage of the largest mass of people.” This quote is very relevant when thinking about writing a piece for public consumption because as a writer, you must be aware of all the personalities and beliefs of your potential audience.

Hook

Background Info

Topic Sentence

Support

Support

Support

Conclusion

 

That’s one version of the “writing sandwich” we have all grown to know and love (or not so much).  Personally, I always saw the writing sandwich as a template that just needs to be filled in.  There was always a quota to meet: 1 sentence hook, 3 sentences background, 1 topic sentence, 3 paragraphs of body, and a 1 paragraph conclusion.  There was certainly a lot of familiarity with this style of writing, but it can produce some of the most uninteresting writing in the world.  I am sure no one would volunteer to read twenty papers written by middle school students who had just learned how to write in this format.

The trick to making people enjoy what the are reading is to feed them a writing sandwich without letting them know they are eating a writing sandwich.  Great writers know how to shake things up.  They know how to keep peoples’ attention with fresh ideas, original style, and a fully developed voice.  They may switch up their formatting sometimes, but when it comes down to it, they almost always start out with a killer hook, plant their topic sentence somewhere towards the beginning of their article, support their claim throughout the article, and end with a convincing conclusion.

This type of writing, I believe, is the most interesting to read.  It can be made fresh and new, but not so much that people can’t follow what the author is trying to say.  It is familiar, but not so familiar that it will bore the reader.  It is “Most Advanced Yet Acceptable- MAYA”, as Raymond Loewy would say.

Thompson’s article on “What makes things cool” brings up a great number of points about what consumers like and dislike.  For me, the article boils down to the quote from Paul Hekkert.  He states that “humans seek familiarity, because it makes them feel safe. On the other hand, people are charged by the thrill of a challenge, powered by a pioneer lust“.  This quote applies to many aspects of human life, such as what people want in a movie or TV show.  Thompson’s article claims that some of the most popular shows on television today are just “narrative Trojan horses, in which new characters are vessels containing classic themes“.  The recurring themes in these shows make people comfortable, and the new, fresh characters keep them interested.

When producing a piece of writing for the public, all of these rules still apply.  People want to read something that hasn’t been done before, but in a format that they are still comfortable with.  If a writer is trying to make a groundbreaking claim, it might be smart to keep the organization simple and straightforward to keep the reader on track.  If the subject is less interesting, it may be helpful to make the organization and style more complex.  This perfect balance between unfamiliar and comfortable is not easy to find, but writers interested in reaching a large public audience would do well to take time in trying to get close to it.

 

Thompson’s article, “The Four-Letter Code to Selling Just About Anything”, discussed the challenge of a marketer to reach an audience. He primarily focused on the introduction of new products and when they were or were not successful. He uses the ideas of neophilia and neophobia, to convey the point that consumers see interest in new ideas that are not too different from old ideas that they like. An example of this would be the iPhone. Everyone wants and likes the iPhone model, but everyone gets bored with it. As a result, Apple makes trillions every year selling practically identical new models of the phone, with a slight variability in the design or functioning. Every few years, an actual significant change is introduced, but for the most part, they are the same, just slightly improved.

Writing follows the same trend. This can easily be exemplified by the most popular and classical pieces in the literary world. For example, when Nathaniel Hawthorne first published, The Scarlet Letter, it was shunned by his society and banned from bookstores. The ideas it presented were much too modern to be accepted in such a traditional and patriarchal society. However, today, now that the ideas he expressed about femininity and independence are accepted and similar to the current values that are preached, his work is seen as a staple for most students even at a high school level.

To get more specific, the theory MAYA applies to public and professional writing as well as any other kind of writing or marketing that takes place. In fact, it especially applies to public and professional writing because that is the most marketable kind of writing there is. Thompson illustrates the idea of MAYA perfectly when describing it as, “a window to a new world [that] can also show you home”. It is human nature to stick with whatever one is used to and familiar with. However, it is also human nature to get bored when they are being offered the same thing continuously. When someone writes for the public, they are trying to get others on board with an idea that they have. Therefore, they have to have a very strategic method in doing so. If the ideas they present are too outrageous, or too redundant, the audience’s attention will not be captured. People do not want to feel like they are being pushed in to something that is too different from what they know; and they also do not want to listen to something that they have heard a dozen times and offers nothing new.

As discussed previously in Bowdon and Scott’s, “A Rhetorical Toolbox for Technical and Professional Communication”, it is vital to appeal to the audience through pathos, logos, and ethos. Even more important is the concept of kairos. Perhaps the ideas discussed in Scarlet Letter were valid and powerful, but they were too revolutionary to appeal to the population reading it at the time. If a writer intends to be heard and listened to, they must start slow because, “this is how culture evolves—in small steps that from afar might seem like giant leaps”. A professional writer who intends to reach a public audience must connect with their audience and display similar thoughts and values that they know their audience has a belief towards. If the audience feels alienated by what they are reading, the author has failed, and their argument is lost.

Middle school was when I first became more aware of societal problems, of solutions to those problems. My father worked in the construction industry and battled seasonal unemployment almost every year that I can remember. As I grew older, I began to grasp the financial struggles and sense the familial stresses. We were still more fortunate than others in our situation, however. Not far from the marbled mansions of Doylestown and New Hope are the beaten boroughs of Quakertown and Bensalem.  I can vividly recall the horrible chants our school had at sporting events for schools who were less wealthy. It was that bad.

Alongside the issues of unemployment and poverty, the issue of mental health played a large role in my intellectual growth, or rather, of my brother’s. He has Asperger’s syndrome. That doesn’t make him any less capable, he just requires more time and a greater support system than others. He also has trouble with socialization and recognition of unspoken cues or norms. He and I were withdrawn from private school because of a lack programs and understanding that might have helped him. Public school, on the other hand, provided him with the right tools and apparatus necessary.

Education, then, became another passionate interest of mine. Public education had afforded my brother and me opportunities we couldn’t have found anywhere else. Others are not so fortunate. Living close to Philadelphia, we would witness the disparities not only in regards to poverty but also between education systems. This topic has stuck with me the most as I believe education to be the greatest equalizer and, if done right, could solve many problems a society may face. Mental health and poverty both, in my estimation, are related back to education and the socialization of a populace.

Now that I am in college, I am granted access to classes and resources I never had back in my corner of Pennsylvania. I gravitated towards political science as my major because of my unhealthy fascination with history combined with a desire to apply that knowledge in a more practical, scientific manner.

Armed with this new knowledge and a greater capability, I began to delve deeper into the topic of education. When given the opportunity in my seminar in composition, I focused more specifically on educational segregation. Minorities were an occurrence rather than a rule in my school district; it was quite the homogeneous suburban bubble. None of my teachers, or any that I can remember for that matter, were minorities either. This is a problem. Without exposure to other ideas, other people, mind’s can close off and become ignorant. Ignorance signals the death of a democracy.

I would go on to discover more statistics about our county, statistics that lent weight to my initial fears. For example, my county has one of the highest ratios of whites to blacks in the entirety of the United States. My county was also a destination for white flight from Philadelphia following the Second World War. For much of the mid-century, the unspoken racism of homeowner’s associations and neighborhood committees kept blacks from moving there beside them. It would then follow that because the area became exclusive, blacks had fewer and fewer opportunities to move from the city and attend the schools that were in the suburbs. The Private schools that remain in the city are far too expensive and take too few applicants to be considered a real solution.

Public education may not be able to solve every problem but I believe it is a society’s best chance. Poverty, mental health, and other issues can at the very least be addressed in our schools. Education can provide an important first step towards self-awareness and empathy so that others might apply knowledge in their communities and begin to affect real change.

 

I would say that the decision of whether or not MAYA applies to public and professional writing depends entirely on what aspect of writing you’re discussing. While the balance between novel and familiar is especially important in novels and other consumer oriented, entertaining writing genres, this is not necessarily the case in public and professional writing. The subject matter of public and professional writing is not dictated or guided by consumerist forces and therefore the option to choose a “cool” topic is often not on the table. Your topic is dictated by the work you are doing or the directives of your boss or superior whereas in other types of writing, authors choose what they want to write about, often with the goal of selling copies.

However the presentation of information is subject to consumerist principles because your readers have the option of whether or not to read it, no matter whether your writing is professional or creative. Thus, I would argue that public and professional communication is subject to MAYA and the principles of coolness not regarding its subject but regarding its style. Whether its adding familiarity to make something incredibly novel seem more manageable (as in the case of Loewy’s contributions on the space station) or adding something novel to make old news seem worth reading (like with US 1) it is important to keep readers engaged so that the information you are trying communicate can even reach your audience.

Another interesting point would be to discuss the role of people in the editor type position of journals or other publications and how they are subject to MAYA. This would require a revision of my separation of subject and coolness. Thompson extends past consumerism to the realm of academics and discusses how applications for funding in the research world has been experimentally demonstrated to be subject to MAYA, with comfortably novel proposals experiencing more success than drastically novel ones. This demonstrates that, from a top down administrative position, decisions of which writing pieces you will share, or which proposals you will grant funding to has an aspect of choice and coolness. However, I would argue that this decision process is more of an intermediate consumption writing than it is the act of writing itself. Therefore, MAYA can apply in some contexts to subject in the entire process of writing and publishing/distributing, however, writing itself does not employ MAYA when choosing topics.

 

Successful writing styles are very much dependent on what the norm of a time is. Consider reading Shakespeare versus reading Jodi Picault; reading an article from nature versus reading an article from the times. While both Shakespeare and Jodi Picault seek to convey drama and entertainment to their reader, they are written in drastically different ways simply because of the norms of communication at the time. What style of writing experiences the most success in its attempts at communication depends greatly on the temporal and topical context of that writing. So are changes in writing styles between conexts different sides of the same coin? Are they reinventing the wheel? Or are they simply the same techniques applied to different topics and goals?

The Marvel analogy discusses is an example of the latter; Marvel uses the same characters, in the same setting, with slightly different events but nonetheless the same goal (entertainment) and values throughout a series. The FX tv show analogy discusses different sides of the same coin. It is a situation wherein novel presentation is used for the same goal over and over again; each new presentation is inherently the same, it just has a different façade.” They are more like narrative Trojan horses, in which new characters are vessels containing classic themes—surprise serving as a doorway to the feeling of familiarity, an aesthetic aha.” Thomas also relates this to the use of similar chords in music. While a great number of pop songs are all built on the same exact chord progression, they sound completely different, and while you may argue that they each try to make their listener try to feel something different, their ultimate goal is nonetheless to invoke emotion.

In the same way, all writing is has one fundamental goal: communication. While the goal can range from informing to persuading, the goal is always to effectively convey a point. And this ultimate goal requires clarity and interest to keep your reader reading. Thus I would argue that all writing, public and professional writing included, most closely resembles the FX tv show, with new façades and styles intended to keep readers reading but the ultimate goal is always the same, clarity and comprehension. Small changes in style to maintain engagement add up over time, resulting in slow revolutions in the norms of communication between time periods and contexts the same way that small, single letter or sound changes in baby names add up. “This is how culture evolves—in small steps that from afar might seem like giant leaps.”

There are so many topics and issues that I could choose from to focus on for the semester. There are is so much going on in the world right now in politics, science, healthcare, and technology that it’s almost impossible to pick one. I have often found myself getting angry at the state of the world that we live in today for a bunch of different reasons. For one, I hate social media, but I am addicted to social media. I think 80% of my time on my phone is spent on Twitter, Snapchat, or Instagram, and the more I try and stay away from these forms of media the more I find myself using them. The other thing that I am incredibly passionate about is Net Neutrality. This is a recent issue, but I have known about this since 2015 when I saw John Oliver discuss this issue on his show “Last Week Tonight”. Last semester I took a media class that gave me the option to write a paper on the issue, which I did, and I don’t think I’ve ever been so mad about something the government has done. It’s also another case of our short-term memories as a nation because 3 weeks ago this was hot news, but since the vote to repeal net neutrality passed there has been absolutely no coverage that I’ve seen.

 

While I am passionate about these issues, I decided that I would rather choose something that I have had first hand experience with and have an emotional connection. For this reason, I decided to focus on the opioid and heroin epidemic happening in the United States right now. Since this post is late and I’ve already seen some other people’s posts, I know that this is a pretty popular topic for this class. The reason that I have chosen to focus on this topic is because I have known a few people die from a heroin or related drug overdose that began with prescription painkillers. While my relationships with these people have varied from friends, to family friends, to old classmates that I knew but not well, each one has affected my life greatly.

 

I know that this epidemic exists because of my first hand experience, but I know that it’s an incredibly popular topic in many different circles of people. Everyone I know that has died from overdoses was under the age of 25 and used different forms of opiates, benzodiazepines, and heroin. I have seen bright young futures crash and burn in a matter of months and it’s incredibly sad, but more than anything it’s baffling. Another reason I want to focus on this topic is because I have had friends that used Xanax recreationally last year and a lot of them got to scary places. I countlessly tried to get them to stop, but it was almost impossible. Then I found out a kid from my high school took Xanax and drank– like my friends often did– and he died. For many of them that was a final straw, but for others it was just a beginning step. Either way, that story helped a lot of my friends out and they’re all off of that stuff. That’s why I think it is possible for this epidemic to change. It’s one of the saddest stories in history; the life expectancy of Americans has dropped a few years because of how many young people are dying from overdose. I want this to stop and I’m eager to look into the means of how to end this tragedy.

In the past environmental and conservation issues have really peaked my interest. Once our planet is beyond repair and certain species are extinct there is no going back, and it’s all downhill from there. I don’t want to have the next generation suffer from our consequences. Earth can recover from the damage done by humans over a millennia, but humans won’t be able to recover from the damage done by humans. There is no greater example of this than climate change and the exhaustion of our natural resources. Politicians use the excuse that environmentally friendly options are detrimental to the economy. However, once the icecaps melt and the sea rises, there will be no economy left to worry about.

Another key concern of mine is women’s rights and equality. I have personally suffered multiple occasions not being treated equally as men, whether it be in the workplace, public, or private settings. The United States should be closer to equality, but it’s not. And in other countries around the world women receive far worse treatment. Why kind of example are we setting in the U.S. if we don’t even have equality? Women should receive fair and equal treatment as men and also shouldn’t even have to question if their wages are the same as men.

Education and of course the cost of education is another great concern of mine. Certain political figures hold strengthening our borders and border security at higher importance than education. I don’t think border security is where the focus should be set, or necessarily where money should be spent. When I was younger, I enjoyed many different programs my school would have. But towards my later years it was my realization, that programs and specific classes were continually suffering or were rid of due to budget cuts. In my college years I have constantly felt the pressure of grotesquely high tuition costs. While trying to go to school, it is incredibly difficult for students to work jobs, but when financial aid is stretched thin they have no choice.

Gun control is a very important conversation. I used to have nothing against gun ownership until mass shootings became more prevalent. In terms of legislation being passed to place more restrictions on gun ownership, there hasn’t been any. To be clear, I don’t think that people shouldn’t own guns. My old belief was that no one should have guns. After shooting a gun myself and meeting with different responsible gun owners, I realize getting rid of guns all together isn’t the right answer. However, I do believe that something needs to happen– the United States has one of the highest rates of gun violence.

Mental health is one of the greatest areas of concern, but until recently, the issue hasn’t had much exposure. There is still a huge stigma against those suffering from mental health issues. Anxiety and depression aren’t seen as a medical condition but a weakness. This is especially troubling because mental health issues are seen in schools, in the military, the workplace, and across any gender or age. In schools especially, there aren’t enough resources for students with mental health issues. I believe not only should there be more resources available, but that teachers and professors should be trained to at least recognize symptoms of mental health problems.

My different concerns are all reasons that I have for wanting to earn a degree in international relations. I feel whether I deal with people internationally or on a more local level, my political science background will help me understand these issues better and will further help my approach towards solving them.

To me, professional writing differs from other kinds of writing due to the sheer tactics that are involved in creating successful professional writing. Reading Bowdon and Scott’s piece about the Rhetorical Toolbox I was reminded of tools I’ve learned about through my schooling, like logos, ethos, pathos, and the five canons. Though the text was dense, it clearly examined some of these concepts that I’ve used in my writing for a long time and how important they are when it comes to technical communication.

The study of rhetoric as defined in this piece is, “the art of discovering the available and appropriate means of persuasion in a given situation” (53). In my mind, when compared to creative writing, professional writing is the rule-following, more bland style that is often not read for pleasure. It serves a purpose and typically is succinct and effective in its text choices and delivery (especially when it follows the concepts talked about in Bowdon and Scott’s piece).

Going through each section, I tried to think about my groups’ issue we decided to work with, the opioid over-prescription epidemic in the United States. When it came to the concepts of audience, text and subject, it was easy for me to think about our topic because the example that was primarily use was one about an STD pamphlet in university health centers. Last week, we juggled with who we want our audience to be, as we were between doctors, the prescribers of the medications, or patients, the users and sometimes abusers of them. Bowdon and Scott refer to the works of many writers, but their reference to Andrea Lunsford and Lisa Ede’s “audience invoked” versus “audience addressed” helped me think about the decision we had to make. Audience invoked is, “the audience the writers call to and, in a sense, help shape through the language and design of the text,” while audience addresses is, “the actual readers who encounter and use the text” (35). The audience addressed is “almost always [the] more complex” of the two, and presents the idea of a secondary audience (35). The secondary audience is compromised of people who may also see the work, on its way to your primary, or invoked, audience. In our case, we thought to make a pamphlet for doctor’s offices. Though our primary audience would be patients waiting for their appointment who may be taking pain medications, it could also reach people who have never taken pain medications before, people who have a loved one or friend taking them, doctors as they pass through the waiting room, receptionists as they refill the boxes/brochure holders…the list could go on! After audience is established, the concept of text is utilized.

Text is “determined by the purposes, audiences and uses of a document” and “follow the conventions of particular genres not simply to conform to rules or standards, but to fulfill their audiences’ expectations and to enable their readers to better follow and act on the information in their texts” (36). Text doesn’t only refer to the copy itself, but to many things surrounding it, including sociocultural contexts/cultural norms and the medium in which the text is being distributed. When brainstorming with my group last week, we came up with ideas that varied from legislation, to brochures, to flyers, and each of these has its own purpose. A flyer would contain significantly less information/copy and has a different method of reaching its target audience and achieving its purpose than formal legislation, such as a petition would. While trying to reach this audience, it also is important to be aware of cultural norms and subject-specific standards when wording touchy information, such as drug addiction.

After reading this piece, rhetoric in technical communication makes more sense to me and it showed me how important rhetoric tools are when it comes to persuasion and informing of the public in specific situations.