Venue determines subject matter.
What any given individual expects varies depending on the venue (the locale or setting).
- Venue determines subject matter.
- At its most basic, venue determines what subject will be accepted and what wonât be.
EX: Imagine the same person in a store, a doctorâs office, and a classroom. In the store they want to buy something, or at least check availability and prices. In the doctorâs office they want a prescription or a follow up, and in the classroom they want to discuss Hamlet.
- Expectations are almost entirely controlled by venue; ignore it at your peril.
EX: Donât try to persuade a person to re-evaluate your paper in the store or the waiting room; you will only annoy them.
- Venue determines approach.
- Venue may determine what approach works and what doesnât.
EX: Joan and Wendy both want jobs, one at a corporate office and one as a professor. Businesses prefer 1 to 2 page resumes, whereas professors want your entire academic life spelled out in detail. Here, it is crucial that Joan and Wendy understand and work within the expectations of their fields, even to get to the interview stage.
- Venue determines terminology.
- Unless your target audience is exceedingly naive, you generally canât persuade anyone to accept you without first establishing yourself as an insiderâsomeone who understands what is expected in their world. Here, terminology (whether written or oral) is crucial. And while no single word or reference will prove your qualifications, one wrong phrase is definitely enough to lose all influence.
EX: Dr. Smith winces every time a student cites âthe Bibleâ in a research paper. This has nothing to do with Dr. Smithâs religion (heâs a Methodist). To him, such references prove that the student does not understand peer-reviewed sources and cannot even distinguish between translations.
- If you must try to persuade people as an outsider, itâs best to admit your status frankly, say why they should listen to you anyway, and show them how diligently youâve tried to learn their rules.
- Instructors are not all alike: Of all groups, students are most likely to ignore their target audience: their instructor. Divided by training and background, the gulf between student and instructor can be hard to bridge. Yet of all our groups, students are in the best position to know what their target audience wants and how to approach it.
- Character: What is this particular instructor looking for? Donât write for the last science instructor you had, or the last person whose prompt seemed familiar; write for this one. After all, youâve been listening to this person all semester. What do they emphasize?
EX: My teacher talks a lot about research, criticizes the five paragraph essay, reiterates her interest in new ideas, and emphasizes women and minorities. To persuade her, I probably need to write about something un-traditional: show that I can think outside the mold.
- Genre expectations: Before you write for any instructor, make sure you know exactly what professionals in that field of study expect. What is ânormalâ in the community your instructor inhabits? Ask yourself the following questions:
- What does your instructor focus on?
- What kind of evidence does your instructor expect?
- What sort of language does your instructor use?
- What does your instructor take for granted?
Itâs okay to judiciously violate expectations, but never ever do it by accident: make sure you know how your instructor will âreadâ your surprise.
EX: My high school teachers didnât ask us to write âscholarlyâ papers, but she does. My community college professor gave us prompts to write from, but she doesnât. This makes me nervous. Iâll write my paper proposal early and discuss it with her. Then Iâll ask for a sample bibliography so I know what she expects.
- Analyzing expectations: It is difficult to put yourself in the shoes of someone with an idea of ânormalâ that is not yours. Most of us know what we expect, and we all have our own comfort zone. Persuasion, however, puts the burden of initiative on us, not them. To persuade an instructor, start by asking yourself what your instructor assumes.
EX: You are writing a paper for a social science class and are at a loss for what to write. Thinking back on the class, you recall that Dr. Jones is particularly interested in cultural artifacts. You have studied what you can of ancient civilizations through surviving artifacts and have gone to the local museum.
Warning: So far, so good. Merely regurgitating what Dr. Jones said about cultural artifacts and civilization never works, however; youâll never be the expert in someone elseâs field of expertise. Instead, re-examine your own knowledge base through her lens. What do you know that you never thought of in terms of cultural artifactsâbut could?
- Getting down to brass tacks: In persuasion, as in argument, âthe devilâs in the details.â
- Keeping your instructorâs perspective in mind, list 3 to 5 things you might argue that you think your instructor is looking for. Avoid vague generalizations. Make sure you write several sentences about each one without sarcasm. They should be from their point of view, not yours.
EX: You start by listing some of the differences between artifacts common to different cultures, and what they indicate. Next, you list modern artifacts. Finally, you write a sentence or two about the similarities and differences between the two, as your professor did in class.
- Juxtaposition: Look for the overlap between what your instructor wants, and what you think you can manage.
Note: When looking for overlap, donât forget to consider how you could repackage your areas of expertise to fit your instructorâs expectations. Half of all papers fail simply because the student hasnât come up with an idea that requires defending. ...
