AP Language
Who is your Audience?
Teachers of rhetoric stress to their students that it is crucial to consider the audience when crafting arguments.
They know that the ability to appeal to a certain group, to be able to anticipate an audience’s needs and objections, can be
crucial in successful persuasion. Often however, teachers fail to be specific about just who constitutes our audience,
instructing students instead to craft pieces that will appeal to a “general audience,” whatever that means.
Failure to identify, or clarify, a specific audience can lead us to write persuasive essays that appeal only to those
in our own demographic “bubble.” The term “bubble” shouldn’t be seen as derogatory. It merely refers to the notion that
when we create arguments to a nonspecific audience, we tend to do create texts that would only appeal to us or those
people who are like us. As a result we fail to write the sort of nuanced arguments that will either actually persuade anyone
to do anything, or get us fives on the A.P. exam.
The Demographic Approach
One way to break out of our “bubble” is to consider that general audience from a demographic perspective.
Consider these numbers from the US Census Bureau:
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According to the last census there are around 308,000,000 Americans. Roughly 72% are white, 12% are African
American, and 16% are Hispanic.
Women slightly outnumber men . There 155 million women vs. 152 million men.
40% of children were born to unwed mothers
Of those that reported, 51% identified as Protestant, 24% percent Identified as Roman Catholic, and 13% claimed
no religious affiliation.
26% of the population is obese.
The Median age is 36.
Only 15% are identified as upper middle class and 1% in upper class. (A salary of $100,000 dollars is required to
be UMC.)
Looking around your classroom, your community, and your group of peers, you should ask yourself how your “bubble”
measures up against the general population. How would those outside your peer group react if, for example, you based
your arguments on your own economic interests and ignored the needs of people in other economic classes? Failing to
take others’ views into consideration can cost us an argument. Of course we must also be careful to avoid pandering to
specific groups or trying to be all things to all people, as these strategies can also weaken our arguments.
Cohorts
While demographics are also important to consider when shaping arguments, we can also consider the fact that
we are all part of what sociologists refer to as specific generational cohorts. These are people who fall into certain age
ranges and who share cultural and historical experiences. Shuman and Scott, in their article “Generations and Collective
Memories” classify the following major generational cohorts:
Baby Boomer (born from 1943/46 to 1953/57)
Distinction: One of two largest generations in size in US history.
Memorable events: assassinations of JFK, Robert Kennedy, and Martin Luther King, Liberalism, political
unrest, walk on the moon, Vietnam War, anti-war protests, social experimentation, sexual freedom, civil rights
movement, environmental movement, women's movement, protests and riots, rise and peak of rock and roll, and
experimentation with various intoxicating recreational substances.[citation needed]
Key characteristics: idealistic, experimental, progressive, individualism, free spirited, social cause oriented,
activism, social change, "Live and let live", "Do your own thing", Pacifism, Spiritualism, alternative lifestyles,
deeply against racism as well sexism and ethnic prejudice, and first generation thought to demand an eradication
of poverty by government programs (War on Poverty).
Generation X cohort (born from 1964/1967 to 1979/1985).
Distinction: Dubbed Baby Bust they are the smallest generation born in US history.
Memorable events: Challenger explosion, Iran-Contra, Reaganomics, AIDS, Star Wars, MTV, home
computers, video games, safe sex, divorce, single-parent families, end of Cold War-fall of Berlin Wall, Gulf War,
1992 L.A. Riots, 1995 Oklahoma City Bombing, the 1998 Bill Clinton-Monica Lewinsky sex scandal, and the
arrival of the year 2000: new century (21st)/ new millennium (3rd).
Key characteristics: quest for emotional security; pragmatic; independent, informality; entrepreneurial; antipolitical, paleoliberal or left-wing attitudes; fatalistic worldview; somewhat pessimist; many grew up in singleparent households and thought to be the first generation to live worse than their parents' cohorts.
Generation Y Cohort /Millennials (born from 1977/1985 to 2000/2005).
Distinction: Echo Boom they are second highest birth rate generation in US history.
Memorable events: rise of the Internet, iPods, social network services, war on crime (reduced crime rates),
cultural diversity, September 11 attacks, the Death of Osama Bin Laden, Afghanistan War and Iraq War, and
affected by the 2008-09 global financial crisis or "Great Recession".
Key characteristics: acceptance of change, technically savvy, environmental issues, globally minded, more
socially liberal than previous generations, stricter laws on minors, high tech surveillance of public places, political
correctness, no expectation of military service, and increased local volunteerism or community service.
Generation Z Millennials, also called Homeland or Y2K babies are the generation who, at the earliest, were born
after 1994/95 through at least the years 2010/11 and are currently children or teenagers, but they may share some
of Generation Y characteristics. They may be more tolerant and accepting of social groups (e.g. gay rights,
including marriage) than recent previous generations.
When choosing concrete examples as support for essays it can be very important to think about what your audience is
familiar with culturally. Ideally one should choose examples that appeal to the largest possible group. The use of events
and examples “stripped from the headlines” can give your essay a sense of immediacy and can add to your ethos since it
demonstrates an awareness of current events. Using Classical or Historical allusions can show that you have a keen
understanding of context and can highlight the breadth and depth your knowledge. The worst mistake that emerging
writers make is that they tend to argue in general terms, failing to provide any concrete evidence or specific examples.
Without this sort of specific support, your argument will fail to appeal to any group.
Reflection:
Look around your classroom. For the sake of argument, consider this to be representative of your bubble. Answer the
following questions:
What are its demographics (Race, religion, sex, class, cohort)? How does this compare to the larger population?
If you were to address you arguments only to the members of your bubble, whose needs and concerns would you be
ignoring? (Whose is missing from your bubble?)
Is it possible that there are time when it’s acceptable to selectively ignore a demographic group?