Audience Analysis of Food Fermentation Examination Articles
Angel Foreman
This report serves as an analysis of a website article and a scholarly journal article, one
targeting a nonspecialist audience and the other an expert audience. This report will
examine each article’s use of document design, style and tone, and source usage to
reach their respective target audiences.
Nonspecialist Audience: Web Article
The web article “This Bubbling Jar: Or How I Learned to Love Fermentation” was
published by The Dark Mountain Project. It addresses a nonspecialist audience,
particularly those who may have little knowledge of fermentation as a process or cultural
concept.
Document design. This article is primarily designed with its nonspecialist audience in
mind, illustrated by the formatting of the text. It begins with an anecdote from the
author, which simultaneously captures the audience’s attention and introduces the main
sources to be seen throughout the document. It also concludes with a recipe provided
by the author as a way to encourage readers to take immediate action toward applying
their newfound knowledge.
Additionally, the document uses visual elements to allow for easier conceptualization of
its content. For example, the “Pulque in gourd vessel[1]” photograph gives a visual
representation of what pulque is, allowing the audience a point of reference when
reading the following information in “Rehabilitating pulque”.
Style and tone. The style of this article is descriptive, while the tone is both reflective
and conversational. For example, the author uses words such as “our,” “we,” and “us”
frequently throughout the article, which facilitates a feeling of being spoken with instead
of spoken to. The descriptive style of writing used in the article also allows the audience
a more thorough understanding of the topics they are reading about.
Source usage. The majority of source usage in this article is from and/or in reference to
works of the author Sandor Katz, with the addition of a reference to an article from
Vanessa Kimbell. This gives further context to the audience and adds a feeling of
credibility to the mostly opinion-centered piece.
Expert Audience: Scholarly Article
The scholarly article “Seeking Prehistoric Fermented Food in Japan and Korea” was
published in Current Anthropology. It targets an expert audience, primarily those
specializing in anthropology, as the publication journal suggests, and similar fields.
Document design. The article is organized in a way that allows each section topic to
transition smoothly into the next. Each section’s content adds further relevance to the
next, allowing the audience a clear picture of the author’s intended level of
understanding from the piece.
The article utilizes graphics such as tables, charts, and photos for deeper elaboration on
each section’s major topics. These visual elements also provide periodic relief from
dense blocks of text, making it easier to read and maintain interest.
Style and tone. The article’s tone is formal and concise, while the style is primarily
direct. Through the use of its text, sources, and visual elements, it gives an extensive
overview of known history of food fermentation and other speculative information, such
as “Potential of Biomolecular Archaeological Approaches [2:S253]”, that is also relevant
to the topic.
Source usage. The article utilizes a wide variety of sources throughout the paper.
These sources provide numerous levels of credibility to the piece, as they support the
intensive research required to create it.
Works Cited
1. Watson, Mark. “The Bubbling Jar: Or How I Learned to Love Fermentation.” The
Dark Mountain Project, 2022. [Online]. Available: https://dark-mountain.net/thisbubbling-jar/Links to an external site.. [Accessed: March 30, 2025].
2. Shoda, Shinya. “Seeking Prehistoric Fermented Food in Japan and
Korea,” Current Anthropology, vol. 62, no. 24, pp. S242-S255, 2021. [Online].
Available: Academic Search Complete. [Accessed: March 30, 2025].