Journal 3 - Maggie Weeks

How do you define "audience" and "knowledge," and how are these concepts important for writers? How do Lunsford and Estrem define these two terms, and what connections do they make between these terms and writing? 

After reading, I would define audience as the particular group of people that are interested in reading or attempting to understand a piece of writing. Knowledge is information that is previously obtained and thoroughly understood by an individual. Both of these concepts are important for writers because, in order to be able to successfully get their ideas across, they must understand their audience. If the author does not correctly understand their audience their ideas and points could be incorrectly perceived by the readers. Knowledge is also important because, in order to make educational points or explain a fact or idea, the author must have previously obtained this information and be able to understand it well enough to describe it to the audience. The information must also be correct and well portrayed in order to have credibility. The two authors define these terms as the authors understanding of who they're discussing their ideas to and their ability to correctly do so. Audience and knowledge are connected to the idea that the author needs to have the knowledge or the awareness of the audience in order to write a meaningful paper. 

What do these definitions of knowledge and audience help you to understand about Anzaldua’s text? What does Anzaldua's text contribute to your understanding of audience and knowledge that you hadn’t considered before?

The definitions of knowledge and audience help me understand Anzaldua's text better by being able to understand the points being made. The audience isn't always just about who is reading a paper, an audience can be in life at any time. The audience can be another person you're talking to or even a person overhearing your conversation with another. I hadn't always considered that audience was just about anyone, anywhere. I also hadn't considered that knowledge is any information I know, whether or not it is a fact. Any information I have obtained in my life can be considered knowledge because I had previously obtained it in a moment or experience.

Finally, after reading these three texts, have your definitions of audience and knowledge changed? if so, how? if not, why not? Be prepared to discuss your answers in class and to draw our attention to passages from the texts that support what you’re saying, that confuse you, that are illuminating for you, etc.

My definitions of audience and knowledge have definitely changed. Before, I believed audience to be the reader of a piece of writing or literature. But now, I understand audience to be anyone or anything that has experienced a moment. Someone who has read a book, seen a play or even spoken in a conversation. Knowledge I now understand to be any previously obtained information that can be used in other situations, not just facts. Information can be obtained in any moment or experience, and now become knowledge.