Chapter 1 Review

The chapter that was read dealt with informing and explaining how the context and audience of a written communication can be very important on whether the writer gets their purpose across. Before a writer sits down and conjures up 12 pages of text, he/she has to address and analyze who they are writing for and what needs to be included in order to accomplish the objective of the document. The context which surrounds the specific written document should be looked at through location and history. Lets say a small town wants to build a small version of Disney Land, the context used in the proposal for the real Disney Land would have to be altered because the areas are different; the small town wouldn't get as many tourists, pollution from the added visitors, etc. In order to influence a small town to build something like that would take a different approach. Same goes for history; knowing the background of the topic and situation the communication is addressing can allow for more knowledge and facts that can be useful in writing a new document about something that the writer wants people to care about.
The audience for a written communication is who the writer is trying to impress, give knowledge to, and successfully give to them what they asked for. Since the writer wants to please his/her audience, planning and research are required. The media type has to be determined; what is the best way to present to your audience. The audience type has to be taken into considerations too; are they local/global, their gender, age, race, class, education, culture, attitudes, etc. This kind of knowledge is important and aids in the writing process because you have to distinguish your writing for who it is meant to be for.
Research is usually a requirement with papers because it is helpful to see what has been done, what is in progress, and what kinds of questions are still out there; a paper shouldn't be just based on what you know and your opinions. There are so many tools to aid in this endeavor; public library, Internet, journals, field research, surveys, interviews, focus groups, and usability testing. This chapter gave great insight on how these tools work and most are self explanatory, except for the usability testing in my case. Usability testing has several forms, but two common forms are used: Field-testing and laboratory-based testing. Field testing can be done throughout the writing process and it allows for feedback from the people who read or participate in the field test. Laboratory testing is in a place that isn't very comfortable for the audience members and is usually videotaped. The audience may try new things that they aren't used to. Usability tests help in determining where and how the project will be used.
With all these aspects in consideration, the writing of the communication can begin and be completed efficiently. This chapter was helpful in looking at writing in a new way and also gave a little bit of review.