y not written for seasoned WordPerfect users, and an article in Scientific American will not target grade-school science students.
3. How do you establish rapport with the audience?
The most important place to define your relationship with the reader is in the introduction; if you do so only later, you may lose the intended audience. By making appropriate choices of style, tone, and support, you will also ensure that the reader feels you are taking him/her into account. A note on using "you": many teachers warn students not to use the second person pronoun "you." Many real world writers, however, use "you" (as well as direct commands) to establish a direct, fairly informal rapport with the reader (as does this handout), and sometimes trying to avoid the second person makes writing awkward or stilted. There are two main reasons for avoiding you: (1) avoid "you" in very formal writing (term papers, scientific writing, legal documents); (2) avoid "you" when you mean "anyone"; remember, you have worked hard to define a specific intended audience, so using the generic "you" may actually confuse the reader.
4. How do you direct the audience's attention?
Visual artists often use color or lighting to emphasize a point; musicians and speakers often change the volume or pitch of their text. Writers can use italics, bold print, fancy typefaces (often called fonts), typographical and other symbols, smileys( :^) ) (which should be read sideways), or different sizes, but the least gimmicky way and most effective way to direct your reader is through transitions. Try to avoid simplistic transitions like "first," "second," and "third"; instead use transitions that show the relationship between ideas, such as "nevertheless" or "for example." Better still, use transition sentences that connect the old idea to the new one, as does the middle sentence in the following example:
Opponents of forced busing point to the long distances children have to travel. But proponents note that during segregation, buses took minority students on long trips past white schools. The key issue, therefore, is not distance but equal access to a good education.
5. How do you wrap up with an audience?
The conclusion is not just a way to indicate that the end of the essay is near; it's also your chance to indicate to the audience what you want them to do or think as a result of having read your paper. Rather than just summarizing or repeating your main point, you can look to the future, envisioning a consequence of the particular change you've advocated. This can be a subtle but effective way of implying that you believe your reader has accepted the truths of your argument.