Audience+and+Genre

Consider when writing to a specific audience, it is wise to understand and if not familiar come to understand what is able to captivate their senses and understanding. Audience and genre is important when writing an introduction as it sets the stage for what is to come next. This area is also where it is determined if the reader will continue to read on or by the end of the paragraph loose interest in what may be otherwise an interesting piece. Losing the reader is more common than is known but many writers tend to focus on an assignment and not towards their reader, and that leaves room for the information not to be understood and digested. As a novice writer the idea of writing may seem imposing and in some cases personal. A common comment from writers is not knowing or having difficulty putting words on paper. It is not an easy task to think of something and simply to make it sound on paper as it did when the thought came about.

Remember, one of the purposes of a research paper is to add something new to the academic community, and the first-time researcher should understand her role as an initiate into a particular community of scholars. As the student increases her involvement in the field, her understanding of her audience will grow as well. Once again, practice lies at the heart of the thing.
 * Identifying an Audience **
 * The following are questions that may help the student discern further his or her audience: **
 * Who is the general audience I want to reach?
 * Who is most likely to be interested in the research I am doing?
 * What is it about my topic that interests the general audience I have discerned?
 * If the audience I am writing for is not particularly interested in my topic, what should I do to pique its interest?
 * Will each member of the broadly conceived audience agree with what I have to say?
 * If not (which will likely be the case!) what counter-arguments should I be prepared to answer?


 * Genre and the Research Paper **

A research paper is the culmination and final product of an involved process of research, critical thinking, source evaluation, organization, and composition. It is, perhaps, helpful to think of the research paper as a living thing, which grows and changes as the student explores, interprets, and evaluates sources related to a specific topic. Primary and secondary sources are the heart of a research paper, and provide its nourishment; without the support of and interaction with these sources, the research paper would morph into a different genre of writing (e.g., an encyclopedic article). The research paper serves not only to further the field in which it is written, but also to provide the student with an exceptional opportunity to increase her knowledge in that field. It is also possible to identify a research paper by what it is not.
 * Research: What it is. **

A research paper is not simply an informed summary of a topic by means of primary and secondary sources. It is neither a book report nor an opinion piece nor an expository essay consisting solely of one's interpretation of a text nor an overview of a particular topic. Instead, it is a genre that requires one to spend time investigating and evaluating sources with the intent to offer interpretations of the texts, and not unconscious regurgitations of those sources. The goal of a research paper is not to inform the reader what others have to say about a topic, but to draw on what others have to say about a topic and engage the sources in order to thoughtfully offer a unique perspective on the issue at hand. This is accomplished through two major types of research papers.
 * Research: What it is not. **


 * Two major types of research papers. **

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;"> **Argumentative research paper:**

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;"> The argumentative research paper consists of an introduction in which the writer clearly introduces the topic and informs his audience exactly which stance he intends to take; this stance is often identified as the [|thesis statement]. An important goal of the argumentative research paper is persuasion, which means the topic chosen should be debatable or controversial. For example, it would be difficult for a student to successfully argue in favor of the following stance.

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;"> Cigarette smoking poses medical dangers and may lead to cancer for both the smoker and those who experience secondhand smoke.

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;"> Perhaps 25 years ago this topic would have been debatable; however, today, it is assumed that smoking cigarettes is, indeed, harmful to one's health. A better thesis would be the following.

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;"> Although it has been proven that cigarette smoking may lead to sundry health problems in the smoker, the social acceptance of smoking in public places demonstrates that many still do not consider secondhand smoke as dangerous to one's health as firsthand smoke.

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;"> In this sentence, the writer is not challenging the current accepted stance that both firsthand and secondhand cigarette smoke is dangerous; rather, she is positing that the social acceptance of the latter over the former is indicative of a cultural double-standard of sorts. The student would support this thesis throughout her paper by means of both primary and secondary sources, with the intent to persuade her audience that her particular interpretation of the situation is viable.

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;"> **Analytical research paper:**

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;"> The analytical research paper often begins with the student asking a question (a.k.a. a research question) on which he has taken no stance. Such a paper is often an exercise in exploration and evaluation. For example, perhaps one is interested in the Old English poem //Beowulf//. He has read the poem intently and desires to offer a fresh reading of the poem to the academic community. His question may be as follows.

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;"> How should one interpret the poem //Beowulf//?

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;"> His research may lead him to the following conclusion.

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;"> //Beowulf// is a poem whose purpose it was to serve as an exemplum of heterodoxy for tenth- and eleventh-century monastic communities.

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;"> Though his topic may be debatable and controversial, it is not the student's intent to persuade the audience that his ideas are right while those of others are wrong. Instead, his goal is to offer a critical interpretation of primary and secondary sources throughout the paper--sources that should, ultimately, buttress his particular analysis of the topic. The following is an example of what his thesis statement may look like once he has completed his research.

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;"> Though //Beowulf// is often read as a poem that recounts the heroism and supernatural exploits of the protagonist Beowulf, it may also be read as a poem that served as an exemplum of heterodoxy for tenth- and eleventh-century monastic communities found in the Danelaw.

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;"> This statement does not negate the traditional readings of //Beowulf//; instead, it offers a fresh and detailed reading of the poem that will be supported by the student's research.

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;"> It is typically not until the student has begun the writing process that his thesis statement begins to take solid form. In fact, the thesis statement in an analytical paper is often more fluid than the thesis in an argumentative paper. Such is one of the benefits of approaching the topic without a predetermined stance.

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;"> Sources: []

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;"> Sources: []