UKUK USUSIndiaIndia

Magic for Learning and Revision

Join Us
Audience and Purpose
You have been asked to write a letter to the council against a recent decision to close parks at 5pm.

Audience and Purpose

Effective writing includes audience and purpose. Every single piece of writing you have ever read has been written with two things in mind: audience and purpose. Imagine a mother who leaves a note on the kitchen table for her children, telling them that there's no milk and asking them to buy a pint before she gets home from work. Even a hastily-written note such as this has an audience (the children) and a purpose (to inform and to make a request).

See how well you understand these concepts by trying this English quiz.

1.
You have been asked to write a guide to starting high school / secondary school. Who is your audience?
Secondary school teachers
Primary school teachers
Pupils who are at the end of Year 6
Pupils who are at the end of Year 11
Your audience would be pupils who had not yet joined Year 7
2.
What would be the primary purpose of a guide to starting high school?
To entertain
To inform
To persuade
To argue
You could have a range of purposes beyond the main purpose of providing information: you might also advise, explain and entertain
3.
You have been asked to write a speech promoting your friend, who is running for school council. Who would your audience be?
Pupils
Parents
Governors
Teachers
4.
What would be the primary purpose of the speech?
To inform
To instruct
To review
To persuade
5.
You have been asked to write a review of the school's musical on its first night of performance, to be published on the school website. Who would be your audience?
Parents
Pupils
Relatives of the performers
All of the above
When writing, you should take into account the format in which your work will appear. A website often appeals to a broad range of readers (more broad, for example, than that of the school newsletter). Exam questions always specify the format (i.e. 'Write an article for a young people's magazine')
6.
What would be the purpose of the musical review?
To persuade the school to reduce ticket prices
To impress the performers with your comprehensive knowledge of musicals
To give people an idea of the performance and whether they should buy tickets for it
To make the performance sound better than it is
7.
You have been asked to write a letter to the council against a recent decision to close parks at 5pm. Who would be your audience?
The receptionist who opens the letter
Councillors
Parents
Residents who live near the parks
8.
What would be your purpose in writing the letter to the council?
To advise
To explain
To argue
To review
Writing to argue a point is a form of persuasion - your goal is to persuade your audience, with carefully-argued points based on facts, that your argument is better than the opposing argument
9.
You have been asked to write an article for your local community centre's monthly newsletter on the benefits of e-readers to the housebound and the elderly. Who would be your audience?
Children only
Teenagers only
Elderly people only
All local residents
Although the article is focussed on benefits to the elderly, the intended audience will be anyone who might know someone who could benefit from an e-reader
10.
What would be the purpose of an article explaining the benefits of e-readers?
To advise
To argue
To persuade
To entertain
Although you had been asked to 'explain', this would not be a true explanation because of the requirement to focus on the 'benefits'. A true explanation would be an article which explained where to find e-books, how to build a virtual library and use the e-reader, or explained how e-readers work
You can find more about this topic by visiting BBC Bitesize - Audience, purpose and form

Author:  Sheri Smith

© Copyright 2016-2024 - Education Quizzes
Work Innovate Ltd - Design | Development | Marketing

We use cookies to make your experience of our website better.

To comply with the new e-Privacy directive, we need to ask for your consent - I agree - No thanks - Find out more