The Appropriate and Audience

Of the texts we have read so far, I think that Cicero's work has the most interesting take on style and its connection to audience. In Orator, Cicero tells us of what he sees as the three styles of speech (plain, middle, and vigorous) but notes that "the man who controls and combines these three varied styles needs rare judgment and endowment" (339). This is because "nothing is harder than to determine what is appropriate" (Cicero 339). Cicero then specifically notes that this difficulty occurs both in speaking and in writing both poetry and prose (339).

When speaking to any audience, it is vital to first determine what type of audience it is and then adjust style accordingly. If the style chosen is inappropriate, the speaker or writer is doomed to alienating the audience before he or she even begins. And that is an issue of the utmost significance. In De Oratore, Antonius explains that "nothing in oratory ... is more important than to win for the orator the favor of his hearer" (Cicero 328). If a speaker uses the same style for a political speech on television that he does while chilling with his friends at the local pub, his audience is likely to be surprised and disgruntled. Not much favor won there. And so the impact of the entire speech declines significantly.

Now that I either have taken or am in the process of taking all of the writing courses required for graduation plus a few, I feel rather secure in saying that, for me, the writing major has been more about addressing the appropriateness and audience issue than anything else. We have devoted almost no time to grammar and specific details about certain kinds of writing are usually forgotten. However, what I try desperately not to forget is how each piece of writing must be adjusted for its intended purpose and audience, just like the graphic included in this post indicates. All the types of writing we do and all the different audience scenarios we are given have helped me learn how to adjust my writing in this way. For an example, check out my own or other posts. My diction, grammatical constructions, and other elements of craft are utilized differently here than they would be in, say, a research paper. Because y'all don't want to read that here, and I know it.