Keeping your Reader in Mind
Good writers know that if they want their writing to be effective, they have to think carefully about who will read what they write. Consequently, good writers go through a process of first writing out what they want to say; then they read what they have written the way they think their readers will in order to evaluate how successfully they have addressed their readers. Let's consider some of the things writers think about when they consider their readers.
Interest
We can begin to answer this question by think about jokes. When you tell a joke to a friend, you consider certain things. First, will the joke be interesting to your friend? If you know that your friend is interested in political jokes and has been collecting jokes about Bill Clinton, you might share one of you own favorite Clinton jokes with him. However, if your friend happens to have blonde hair, and you happen to know that she is very offended by blonde jokes, and you also happen to be a considerate person (not everyone is considerate), you will not tell her your newest blonde joke. So, here's the first thing you may think about when you write: Will your reader be interested in your subject and the material you select to develop this subject? You might want to write about military conquest in prehistoric China, but you won't publish it in Woman's Day magazine because who want to read it.
Relevance
Think about the puns you wrote recently. In order for a pun to work, several factors have to be present. Obviously you have to tell the pun correctly, but beyond that, you have to be sure that your listener knows the expression the pun is built on, otherwise the relevance of the pun is lost. Consider this pun: "Two boll weevils went off into the world to make their fortunes. The first one went to Hollywood and became a great start. The second took up farming, but failed miserably. He became known as the lesser of two weevils." In order to understand this pun you have to know that a weevil is an insect that eats cotton, and you have to know the expression "The lesser of two evils." If you don't understand either or both of those, you won't understand the pun. Similarly, writers must be certain that they explain themselves so that their writing is relevant and clear to their readers. When you write about the process whereby Americans elect a president, you have to explain carefully any terms your reader may not know like primaries and caucuses, for instance.
Connection
Say you have a subject that your reader will enjoy, and you've been careful to explain every term carefully so that you have been completely clear. Is that all you have to think about? No, there's more. Next you have to consider whether you have made every one of your ideas connected. Try this experiment. Below are five paragraphs. Each one is numbers, but the paragraphs are not in their original order. Read the paragraphs carefully and put them in order. What internal cues do you notice that tell you which paragraph should come first, which second, and so forth?
This reliance on modern technology has its problems for the farmer. The tractor that plows his fields, the combine that reaps and threshes his grain, and the silos that store the grain for winter feeding are all very expensive. For example, a single tractor can cost as much as fifty thousand dollars. Without this equipment, the farmer could not run the farm profitably, but in order to pay for it, he must take out large bank loans. A single bad season could put him deeply in debt. And when his machinery wears out or becomes obsolete, he must replace it with newer, still more expensive models. Still, most farmers are willing to put up with these difficulties, because their machines have freed them from the heavy labor and hard life that farmers had to endure in the pastAs a result of the modernization of agriculture, the farm of today looks a lot like a factory. When the farmer's hens lay their eggs, conveyer belts carry the eggs off to be sorted and packed. If the farmer keeps pigs, they will not be wallowing in the mud, but lying around in sanitary pens. And the farmer himself is likely to be found studying a computer printout of long-range weather conditions. Why isn't he milking cows in the barn? The answer is easy: a machine is doing it for him.
No doubt there is some truth to these complaints but the problem is not easy to solve. Giving up modern methods of agriculture would mean a return to a lower standard of living. The average dairy cow in the United States produces nearly 15,000 pounds of milk a year; without modern methods, the figure would be only a tenth of that. The choice between old-fashioned flavor and modern abundance is not an easy one to make.
Today, only four million people live and work on farms in the United States, but they produce more than enough food for two hundred million Americans. They are able to do this because modern agriculture depends more on up-to-date machinery and scientific method than it does on old-fashioned knowledge and human labor. These days, one man or woman spending an afternoon in an air-conditioned, stereo-equipped tractor can do the work which years ago would have required hundreds of hours of back-breaking drudgery.
Not everyone is happy with the changes that have taken place on the farm. Some people say that the eggs which come from farm-factory chickens lack the flavor of the old-fashioned kind; the hens that lay them have become too civilized. Fruits and vegetables are no longer grown for flavor but for their ability to withstand mechanical harvesting.
If you got the paragraphs in the right order, your essay should look like the original. Here it is its original form:
Today, only four million people live and work on farms in the United States, but they produce more than enough food for two hundred million Americans. They are able to do this because modern agriculture depends more on up-to-date machinery and scientific method than it does on old-fashioned knowledge and human labor. These days, one man or woman spending an afternoon in an air-conditioned, stereo-equipped tractor can do the work which years ago would have required hundreds of hours of back-breaking drudgery.As a result of the modernization of agriculture, the farm of today looks a lot like a factory. When the farmer's hens lay their eggs, conveyer belts carry the eggs off to be sorted and packed. If the farmer keeps pigs, they will not be wallowing in the mud, but lying around in sanitary pens. And the farmer himself is likely to be found studying a computer printout of long-range weather conditions. Why isn't he milking cows in the barn? The answer is easy: a machine is doing it for him.
This reliance on modern technology has its problems for the farmer. The tractor that plows his fields, the combine that reaps and threshes his grain, and the silos that store the grain for winter feeding are all very expensive. For example, a single tractor can cost as much as fifty thousand dollars. Without this equipment, the farmer could not run the farm profitably, but in order to pay for it, he must take out large bank loans. A single bad season could put him deeply in debt. And when his machinery wears out or becomes obsolete, he must replace it with newer, still more expensive models. Still, most farmers are willing to put up with these difficulties, because their machines have freed them from the heavy labor and hard life that farmers had to endure in the past.
Not everyone is happy with the changes that have taken place on the farm. Some people say that the eggs which come from farm-factory chickens lack the flavor of the old-fashioned kind; the hens that lay them have become too civilized. Fruits and vegetables are no longer grown for flavor but for their ability to withstand mechanical harvesting.
No doubt there is some truth to these complaints but the problem is not easy to solve. Giving up modern methods of agriculture would mean a return to a lower standard of living. The average dairy cow in the United States produces nearly 15,000 pounds of milk a year; without modern methods, the figure would be only a tenth of that. The choice between old-fashioned flavor and modern abundance is not an easy one to make.
Look carefully at each paragraph. How did you know what order to place it? The connections between ideas are your cues. Consider how the first paragraph starts with a time reference so you know when you are reading. It also introduces the topic: modern farms. Notice how the second paragraph uses the phrase "...as a result of this modernization...." What modernization is the writer referring to? The only paragraph which talks about modernization is the first one, so these paragraphs must follow each other. Consider how the third paragraph starts with this line: "This reliance on modern technology has its problems for the farmer." You know, because of the phrase "modern technology," that this paragraph belongs with the two which talk about modernization, but how do you know it follows the first two? Probably because it's normal for people to mention a situation before they point out the problems of that situation. No one would mention a problem without first describing the context of the problem. You're left with two paragraphs. You study them carefully and notice that one says "No doubt there is some truth to these complaints..." What complaints is the writer mentioning? Clearly those in the other paragraph you have left, so the "No doubt" paragraph must follow the "Not everyone is happy" paragraph, so these two paragraphs will come last.
Expectation
Good writers know that each sentence they write raises in their readers a certain expectation about what will come next. If a writer starts a piece with the phrase, "Once upon a time..." the reader knows to expect a fable or fairy tale. Imagine how the reader would feel if a piece opened like this:
Once upon a time, architects at Andrews University's Division of Architecture, announced the long-awaited release of plans to develop new, smart dormitories for on-campus residents. These dormitories, to be built during the next decade, will feature all the latest in electronic equipment so that students will never have to attend formal classes again. Rather, they will be able to conduct their classes through distance learning facilities. Because learning can take place at students' discretion, this will release them to use their college time for more important activities like sports, dating, and travel to local areas of historical and personal interest.
You wouldn't know whether or not to take this information seriously. The writer led you to expect a fairy tale, but gave you a serious issue to deal with. Which should you believe? The fairy tale part or the information that follows it?
See how it works with a paragraph from a professional writer, Sir James Jeans. This is the first paragraph from his essay, "A View of the Solar System." Read the first sentence. Use any information Jeans provides you in the first sentence to help you predict what he will write in the second sentence. When you think you know, click on the NEXT to see if you were correct.
Because of the way it came into existence, the solar system has only one-way traffic, like Piccadilly Circus. NEXT