Self-Assessment
This report was inspired by the low-calorie craze that has influenced
people to turn to artificial sweeteners as a means of maintaining their love of
sweetness while keeping their caloric intake at a minimum. My mother served
as model for this audience, as she has recently begun to use Splenda as an
alternative to natural sugar. She chose Splenda over the other sugar substitutes
was because it seemed to have a more natural taste. After speaking with her and
telling her of the possible safety concerns, we used her questions as a basis for
what information we included in the report. Using those questions, we studied
the three major types of artificial sweeteners to determine how safe they may be
for frequent consumption.
Engaging the Audience
We first attempted to engage the audience through the use of color in the
title and picture on the first page. The colors of the title coordinated with the
colors in the picture, which displays the three main types of sweeteners. These
colors will immediately help our reader because she will immediately recognize
the colorful packets of artificial sweeteners and thus know exactly what the
subject of the article will be. Beyond the visual, the audience will then be
engaged through the initial use of a story portraying one woman’s ordeal at the
hands of artificial sweeteners. The conflict shown in this ordeal is heightened by
the paragraph summarizing studies that show the potential harm artificial
sweeteners can cause.
Developing the Subject
The subject was developed by dividing the report into sections designed
to answer the audience’s questions. For example, the section on aspartame dealt
with her question about safety, answering the following: How can aspartame
affect people’s health? Who is most at risk? How solid is the evidence for
claiming it can harm people’s health? Later we answered the audience’s
questions about the amount of artificial sweeteners it’s safe to consume. We
mentioned the FDA’s guidelines, and we gave a chart lets the reader compare the
amount of each sweetener it’s safe to consume. To make sure we were giving a
fair account, we cited studies that showed negative side effects as well as studies
that negated these. We also included an excerpt of a news clip from CBS which
discusses aspartame testing on rats that are genetically engineered to be
predisposed to developing cancer easily and how this may skew the results of
some studies. This allows the audience to see and hear a qualified person giving
their opinion of these studies, helping to develop the subject in more depth.
Providing Structure
The first page is almost entirely composed of the title and a picture of the
sweeteners. These are designed to create expectations in the reader of what is to
come later in the report. The introduction summarizes what will be covered in
the later sections of the paper, establishing a given for later information. We then
used headings to separate the different sections so that they are distinct. The first
three sections discuss the different sweeteners, moving from the information the
reader knows (the brand name of the sweetener) to the new information that
they have not been exposed to, such as studies on the chemical. The rest of the
paper is divided into subjects of additional topics about sweeteners that are also
of interest to the audience. Visuals were used sparingly to break up the text and
provide additional support of the topics being discussed.
Self-Assessment
This report was inspired by the low-calorie craze that has influenced
people to turn to artificial sweeteners as a means of maintaining their love of
sweetness while keeping their caloric intake at a minimum. Jenna’s mother
served as model for this audience, as she has recently begun to use Splenda as an
alternative to natural sugar. She chose Splenda over the other sugar substitutes
was because it seemed to have a more natural taste. After speaking with her and
telling her of the possible safety concerns, we used her questions as a basis for
what information we included in the report. Using those questions, we studied
the three major types of artificial sweeteners to determine how safe they may be
for frequent consumption.
Engaging the Audience
We first attempted to engage the audience through the use of color in the
title and picture on the first page. The colors of the title coordinated with the
colors in the picture, which displays the three main types of sweeteners. These
colors will immediately help our reader because she will immediately recognize
the colorful packets of artificial sweeteners and thus know exactly what the
subject of the article will be. Beyond the visual, the audience will then be
engaged through the initial use of a story portraying one woman’s ordeal at the
hands of artificial sweeteners. The conflict shown in this ordeal is heightened by
the paragraph summarizing studies that show the potential harm artificial
sweeteners can cause.
Developing the Subject
The subject was developed by dividing the report into sections designed
to answer the audience’s questions. For example, the section on aspartame dealt
with her question about safety, answering the following: How can it affect
people’s health? Who is most at risk? How solid is the evidence for claiming it
can harm people’s health? Late we answered the audience’s questions about the
amount of artificial sweeteners it’s safe to consume. We mentioned the FDAs
guidelines, and we gave a chart lets the reader compare the amount of each
sweetener it’s safe to consume. The introduction was designed as a hook to
capture the audience’s attention on the subject of the safety of artificial
sweeteners while also introducing them to the overall topic of the report. The
first three main sections specifically addressed the three main types of artificial
sweeteners—aspartame, saccharin, and sucralose—and the further sections
discussed other important issues to the audience, including safety information,
alternatives, and taste comparisons. When discussing the types of sweeteners
independently, we We cited studies that showed negative side effects as well as
studies that negated these. We also summarized the FDA’s position on the
chemicals. The later topics were ones that our target audience (using Jenna’s
mother as a model) had specific questions about and thus were answered in as
much depth as she indicated she would be interested in. We also included an
excerpt of a news clip from CBS which discusses aspartame testing on rats that
are genetically engineered to be predisposed to developing cancer easily and
how this may skew the results of some studies. This allows the audience to see
and hear a qualified person giving their opinion of these studies, helping to
develop the subject in more depth.
Providing Structure
The first page is almost entirely composed of the title and a picture of the
sweeteners. These are designed to create expectations in the reader of what is to
come later in the report. These expectations are necessary so that the audience
will want to continue. The few sentences on the first page are part of the
introduction which is supposed to hook the audience with its story. After the
story, the introduction summarizes what will be covered in the later sections of
the paper, establishing a given for later information. We then used headings to
separate the different sections so that they are distinct. and each can serve as a
given for the next section. The first three sections discuss the different
sweeteners, moving from the information the reader knows (the brand name of
the sweetener) to the new information that they have not been exposed to, such
as studies on the chemical. The rest of the paper is divided into subjects of
additional topics about sweeteners that are also of interest to the audience.
Visuals were used sparingly to break up the text and provide additional support
of the topics being discussed.