Class #18: Monday, November 14, 2016: READING ASSIGNMENT: Writing for a Hostile Audience

READING: Writing for a Hostile Audience:

Consider some words of wisdom by reading the following excerpt (courtesy of The Writing Process by Steven D. Krause, with edits and modifications by yours truly)

Whenever you are trying to develop a clearer understanding of your writing, think about the kinds of audiences who may disagree with you. Think about the opposition and alternatives to your main idea or thesis because these are what a hostile audience might think about while reading your work.

Sometimes, potential readers are hostile to a particular working thesis because of ideals, values, or affiliations they hold. These values may be at odds with the point being advocated. For example, people who identify themselves as being “pro-choice” on the issue of abortion would certainly be hostile to an argument for laws that restrict access to abortions; people who identify themselves as being “pro-life” on the issue of abortion would certainly be hostile to an argument for laws that provide access to abortion.

At other times, audiences are hostile to an argument because of more crass and transparent reasons. For example, the pharmaceutical industry disagrees with the premise of the working thesis “Drug companies should not be allowed to advertise prescription drugs on TV” because they stand to lose billions of dollars in sales. Advertising companies and television broadcasters would also be against this working thesis because they too would lose money. You can probably easily imagine some potentially hostile audience members who have similarly selfish reasons to oppose your point of view.


Since crass or transparent reasons may be more easily defended, a writer may address such opposition directly, while working around other, more salient arguments.

Good writers use a combination of evidence and claims to support a controversial arguments (See "Rhetorical Triangle" handout from class).



Some audiences will oppose a working thesis based on a different interpretation of the evidence and research. This sort of difference of opinion is probably most common with research projects that are focused on more abstract and less definitive subjects. A reader might disagree with a thesis like “The Great Gatsby’s depiction of the connection between material goods and the American dream is still relevant today” based on differences about how the book depicts “the American dream,” or about whether or not the novel is still relevant, and so forth. Then, rolled into that argument is the abstract nature of a phrase like "American Dream." Every individual perceives that concept differently.


But there are also different opinions about evidence for topics that you might think would have potentially
more concrete “right” and “wrong” interpretations. Different researchers and scholars can look at the same evidence about a subject like conservation of fisheries and arrive at very different conclusions. Some might believe that the evidence indicates that conservation is not necessary and would not be effective, while other researchers and scholars might believe the completely opposite position.

Regardless of the reasons why your audience might be hostile to the argument you are making with your working thesis, it is helpful to try to imagine your audience as clearly as you can. What sort of people are they? What other interests or biases might they have? Are there other political or social factors that you think are influencing their point of view? If you want to persuade at least some members of this hostile audience that your point of view and your interpretation of the research is correct, you need to know as much about your hostile audience as you possibly can. Of course, you’ll never be able to know everything about your hostile audience, and you certainly won’t be able to persuade all of them about your point. But the more you know, the better chance you have of convincing at least some of them.