IXL | Identify audience and purpose | 9th grade language arts

Read the women's clothing store advertisement and then answer the question.

Let the snow fall! Chase away the winter chill with our luxurious coats and fashionable faux-fur accessories. Our new arrivals are the hottest looks of the season. And don't miss out on our 40% off sale! Friday is the last day to save!

Who is the primary audience?

shoppers looking for practical winter clothing

shoppers who don't wear fur

shoppers looking for trendy winter clothing

shoppers who live in areas with lots of snow

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Learn with an example

question

Read the newspaper article and then answer the question.

A four-alarm fire caused severe damage to multiple historic buildings downtown early Thursday morning before being extinguished. More than fifty firefighters from the Springfield Fire Department responded to the blaze around 4 A.M. The fire was largely controlled by 5:30 A.M., but crews continued to survey the area for hot spots. No injuries have been reported, but the extent of the damage is still unclear. The fire's cause has not been determined.

Who is the primary audience?

a local news audience

firefighters and fire-prevention advocates

students at Springfield elementary schools

an international news audience

key idea

Audience and purpose are important factors that work together to guide writers' decisions about word choice, sentence style, tone, and use of evidence.

Audience refers to the intended readers of a text. Writers use their understanding of audience to make choices about what information readers need, what evidence readers will find convincing, and what language is most appropriate for those readers. For example:

A car ad targeted toward an audience of new parents might describe a vehicle as "spacious" and boast about its crash test ratings. Meanwhile, an ad for the same car targeted toward outdoor enthusiasts might use words like "rugged" and emphasize the vehicle's four-wheel drive capability.

Purpose refers to a writer's reason for writing, or what he or she hopes to accomplish. Two primary purposes of nonfiction writing are to inform readers, as with a textbook or lab report, and to persuade readers to change the way they think or act, as with an advertisement or a newspaper opinion piece. Individual pieces of writing will typically have more specific and complex purposes. For example:

A news report might inform voters of politicians' voting records by providing that information without commentary. A political website might try to persuade voters to support a particular candidate by highlighting the specific portions of his or her record that the website's visitors are likely to approve of.

solution

The primary audience of the text is a local news audience. The newspaper article is written with them in mind.

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Work it out

Not feeling ready yet? These can help:

C.1Identify the author's purpose

B.1Which text is most formal?

B.4Compare passages for tone

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