Essay 3: Audience Reaction Analysis
Due Date: See syllabus
Background:
In terms of rhetoric, the audience always determines whether or not a given piece of
communication is effective. With this in mind, understanding audiences becomes vital to
professional and academic success. Audiences can be broken down into a number of
different variables, all of which can interact and affect one another.
Assignment:
Write an analytical paper in which you compare and contrast how two other individuals
responded to the same cultural artifact. A cultural artifact is any item that communicates
(video, music, book, short story, video game, etc.) For this essay, you must choose
specific individuals and explain which concrete traits affect how these individuals
interpret a specific piece of communication. If youre confused about what qualifies as a
cultural artifact, feel free to ask.
Potential Topics:
This paper has two parts: the audiences you wish to analyze and the communicative
artifact that makes your audiences reaction/interpretation. Your chosen audiences might
be specific family members, friends, instructors, or coworkers. It can be anyone you
know well enough to describe and analyze. You will need enough information to support
your conclusions. The second part of this paper requires you to choose a specific piece of
communication.
Depth:
Your analysis should lead to a meaningful conclusion beyond the audiences like or
dislike of the artifact. A weak idea would be, My best friend hated this movie because it
was boring. A much stronger idea would be, My fathers professional experiences as a
police officer led him to see Zootopia as liberal propaganda. The first thesis is overly
vague and lacks depth. The second thesis offers a meaningful idea that can be fully
explored over the course of an academic essay.
Organization:
This essay must include an introduction, a thesis statement, body paragraphs with topic
sentences, and a conclusion. This essay should be appropriate for an academic audience.
Purpose:
This essay gives you the opportunity to think critically about how individuals react to
different kinds of information. Additionally, this essay challenges you to analyze
audiences under specific circumstances.
Requirements:
2000-2400 word essay, MLA Format, word count, a minimum of three sources (your
research can include demographic data, critical reviews, academic analyses, or anything
else relevant to your topic)
Assessment:
Your essay will be assessed based on its structure, format, use of specific language, its
adherence to academic conventions, and its use of MLA style.
Tips:
Choose something interesting. Choose something dense.
Get help. Get feedback from multiple audiences.
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