there may be background information you should include or leave out.

you’re writing to be read, by your peers, your professor, or by any audience designated in your prompt

Analyzing your audience affects nearly every stage of your writing, from early drafting to how you revise and get to the final draft.

ow you can work together with your audience to develop your paper

you have an audience that you’re writing to that can help you generate ideas and stay focused.

it may be up to you alone to move past that writer’s block

There is a common misconception about writing that it is a solitary exercise.

Identifying our purpose can help us decide what we need to include to achieve that purpose.

We might simply aim to make people believe that global warming is real.

Many times, the purpose of a piece of writing is to encourage critical thinking

For example, when the argument is part of an advertisement, the goal is clear:

Sometimes the purpose goes beyond just “Believe me!

Every argument sets out to convince readers or listeners to believe it,

argument we assessed a step further.

thinking about all the issues it brings up, and primes us to add our own two cents.

agreement doesn’t have to be the end of a conversation.

individual exceptions

One way to do so is to state that the argument only applies in a certain set of cases.

investigative journalism

t may expose areas of uncertainty or contradiction that are intriguing.

analyzing the argument

Does the writer need to clarify what they mean?

uncertain about the argument

They can also help us respond to classmates’ work in live discussions or online comments on other people’s posts.

Many college writing assignments call for responses that go beyond agreeing or disagreeing with an argument.

In this chapter, we lay out various options for response.

people today seek to use academic writing for their own empowerment.

Academic writing gives us the chance to join a worldwide conversation

how to summarize and evaluate

Our voices matter.

they are in our hands, ready to listen to our assessment.

we are probably impatient to find our own voice.

we agree or disagree

controversial or not.

clearer picture

If we choose a more dramatic and precise verb like “calls for,” “criticizes,” “describes,” “argues,” or “questions,”

basic data on the sample border argument with the phrase

some basic information about the argument

I have had to remind myself several times: “Just keep writing; it will eventually come together;”

Even though slow thinking never gets easy, it does get easier.

How much should I work while in school?

Slow thinking is a tool for soul searching.

Humans are not innately great at this.

It helps us slow down and clarify our ideas.

writing skills will help us succeed in a career.

we will need to do more writing, whether that looks like lab reports, explanations of mathematical methods, or essays in psychology, political science, literature, or economics.

“college teaches you to think