Writing: Assessing the Basics
Writing: Assessing the Basics Revision
Assessing the Basics
Different texts have different purposes – this will help you understand why texts are written!
You will need to understand who the audience is when writing texts – this will help you decide which type of text is more suitable!
Make sure you are happy with the following topics before continuing:
The Audience + Purpose
The audience is who the text is intended for – the person who will read the text.
Assessing who the target audience is is vital for the writing exam – it will decide how you will format and style your writing.
The purpose of a text is its aim or reason why it has been written.
If you know what the purpose of a text should be, it will help you decide what to write about and the way it should be written.
Note:
Use formal writing when you are writing to people in positions of power or to people that you do not know!
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Example: Audience and Purpose
In your writing exam, a task could be:
Write a response letter to the local council about a fly tipping issue in the neighbourhood.
For this, the audience would be the council and the purpose of the text is to explain.
Because the council is the audience for this letter, the style of writing needs to be formal.
A short example:
Dear Sir/Madam,
I am writing in response to a letter I have received about the recent fly tipping issue. It seems as though residents in the area have been leaving their rubbish at the end of our street illegally. This has been causing a lot of concern, especially in terms of health and safety. Usually, it takes place every Wednesday and Friday, even since September from the same people living nearby. I have overheard conversations that they live in Grange Street, meaning they have been using Clement Street as an attempt to avoid blame.
Yours sincerely,
Minnie Roll
Because the purpose of the letter is to explain, the text contains information about the situation.
The language used is polite and formal – this shows that the writer is trying to reason with the reader (instead of having an argument!)