Post 6: Teachers as the Intended Audience

 Producing effective academic papers requires the student to acknowledge the teacher as the explicit audience. Outside of the instructed audience for an academic paper, the teacher is meant to be the reader whom you need to appeal to when deciding how you will write your paper. Establishing your understanding of the instructions and who your assigned audience is will further appeal to the teacher, as it demonstrates your grasp on writing to a particular audience. The Little Seagull Handbook suggests that knowing the purpose of the paper will let you know what type of audience you're writing to, so establish that the purpose of your academic paper is to be written in a way that correctly follows instructions in a sufficient manner. Making sure you know what your audience already knows, or in this case, what the teacher stated the audience knows, will further appeal to him or her. For writing to a certain audience, The Little Seagull Handbook recommends that you, "show an understanding of their expectations." Teachers maintain higher expectations compared to the usual non-academic audience, as they are knowledgeable on how well-written academic papers should be. So, you must write in a way that shows more professionalism and little to no errors. When writing academic papers, it is important to demonstrate how well you understand the assignment and what they're trying to teach you by having assigned it in the first place. Colorado State University's Writing Guide notes that you should acknowledge that, "professors have different expectations depending on their field," and treat them as a sort of "representative of that field." In the context of English, you should treat the reader as an academic professional who expects efficient writing and prose that they approve of. Overall successful assignments and carefully followed instructions are what will engage the professor the most, as that is what they are seeking out the most.