Describes a writing exercise to help technical writing students determine the appropriate methods of extension for technical definitions, decide which terms need to be defined for a particular audience, and place definitions effectively in the document. (MM)

Presents a brainstorming aid for students whose technical writing assignments focus on real problems they must discover on their own. (SRT)

Suggests assigning students a spontaneous "how-to" paper the first day of class to clarify the need for audience and purpose considerations. (HTH)

Suggests having students write letters of inquiry to companies as a practical way to research a specific area and then write for a specific audience. Argues the benefits of this assignment, such as increased student motivation when writing for a real audience rather than a teacher. (SRT)

Outlines a revision checklist for student use in analyzing purpose, audience, form, and expression; summarizes classroom procedures for individuals, small groups, or whole classes to use in revision and proofreading exercises. (AEA)

Describes a writing assignment for which students must write a letter of application and a resume based on a fictitious biography and the text from an job advertisement. (SRT)

Presents results of a six-week research project in a creative writing class that focused on developing audience sensitivity among students. Describes three units combining social, rhetorical, and informational perspectives. Concludes that a sequential approach seems to increase audience sensitivity among students. (KEH)

Describes a technical writing assignment designed to teach (1) audience awareness, (2) strategies for analytical problem solving, (3) an understanding of the patterns of organization that make the information clear to the intended audience, and (4) a mastery of the editing skills needed to make writing correct and concise. (SRT)

To shift the focus away from the writing instructor as the primary audience for written compositions, these writing assignments address the issue of audience directly. The assignments include the following: (1) select a magazine and analyze its audience; (2) compose a letter to the editor; (3) write an article for the selected magazine about an…

Argues that the best way to encourage writers is to allow that their writing has a real purpose and a real audience. Discusses how unself-conscious response to the purpose of writing is more useful than responses that attend only to technique and form. (SRT)

Uses ideas from speech act theory to show students how to become "co-communicants" with their readers. (DF)

Investigates the implications of conceiving writing-as-performance. Claims that public speaking compares closely with a writing-as-performance course. Focuses on students' perception of themselves as writers and of their audience and presents several analogies comparing writing with other performance activities. (JD)

Describes an activity that involved eight-year-old children writing stories for three- to five-year-old children. (DF)

Proposes rejection of the traditional complex classification of correspondence (letter of inquiry, claim letter, adjustment letter) and the adoption of a simplified system of classification (direct versus indirect communication), addressing the genuine complexity of a specific rhetorical situations. Offers teaching suggestions involving…

In the "real" world of writing, people make writing decisions based in part on their analyses of audience expectations and their own purposes. Yet, composition teachers at all levels assign general or abstract topics for essays rather than create writing tasks that require students to reflect on target audiences. Even students are aware…