Analyzing the Audience

Although I am not yet sure exactly what my thesis for my English 225 convincing paper will be yet, our textbook, Aims of Argument suggests analyzing the intended audience prior to deciding on a thesis. The audience is a significant factor in the rhetorical context of a paper, and it is quite possible for an argument to be decided as successful or a failure primarily based on who the audience is. In order to make an argument an author needs to know to whom they are speaking and how the audience currently stands on the issue to be discussed. The authors of the textbook suggest that the best way to convince is to present one's position while creating as little resistance in the readers as possible.

My inquiry paper searched the effect having a chronic illness has on one's perception of their identity. In my exploration I found that identity was affected but not necessarily in a negative way. There also seemed an age at which identity prior to be diagnosed at this age proved no significant change in identity, but diagnosis after this age proved a significant change in identity in most cases depending upon the individuals social self and social environment. While still unsure what exactly I wish to convince my audience, it may help to determine who will be reading a paper about such issues. I think that medical professionals, parents, individuals with chronic disease, organizations that support chronic disease patients, and the academic society are the people who need to hear my argument. It is hard to answer exactly what the values are of these groups of people and what common ground we have that can be used as the basis for any argument I wish to pursue. It seems that obviously all of them understand what chronic disease is and the impact it has on people's lives, and see the significance in exploring this relationship. All of them understand the importance of the issue and probably would not be resistant to discussing it. If I started my argument discussing something that we all believe in I might be more apt to draw their attention and then lead into the topic I will try to convince them of. Lets say I decide to try to convince them of the idea that there is a critical age at which an individual's identity will or will not change depending upon if diagnosed before or after this age. I could begin explaining the importance of studying the effects that chronic disease has on these patients, which my audience sympathizes with and then I could explain the importance of better understanding how and when the diagnosis occurs impacts the identity. By understanding this medical professionals and parents might be able to provide better care or organizations may be able to devise more helpful programs for chronic illness patients. Then once I had their attention and our common ground was established I could try to convince them of a specific age. Although I am still undecided about my argument, I do see the importance of understanding who your audience is and where they are coming from.