Audience-mapping — academic, civic, creative; the audience-register triangle

Quick-share: think of a time you spoke or wrote differently for two different audiences (e.g., to a friend vs. to a teacher). What changed?

• Affirm: audience-adapted register is a habit you already have
• Connect: today we make it explicit as a learnable craft

Today we learn AUDIENCE-MAPPING — choosing your audience for the capstone and adapting register accordingly. Look at MG-2 — the audience-register triangle. Three vertices: ACADEMIC (top), CIVIC (lower-left), CREATIVE (lower-right). Each has register features. ACADEMIC: third-person default; precise modifiers; varied sentence openings; signposting; MLA citation; formal register; abstract claims with research evidence. Audience: teachers, scholars, college admissions readers. CIVIC: second-person sometimes appropriate; collective 'we' may belong; direct address; clear stakes; shorter sentences for rhythm; concrete examples; advocacy register. Audience: community, town meetings, op-ed readers, civic representatives. CREATIVE: first-person often appropriate; sensory detail and imagery foregrounded; humor or self-deprecation may belong; structural surprise tolerated; lyrical register; personal voice central. Audience: literary magazines, personal essay readers, writers' workshops. The same TOPIC — climate, justice, education, identity — can be addressed to any of the three audiences. The audience choice precedes the register choice. Today's mentor text: Amy Tan's 'Mother Tongue.' Tan writes about language and code-switching — and she demonstrates the SAME writer addressing multiple audiences within one essay. Notice her register shifts. We also learn 5 of the 20 Tier-2 Set 18 words. AUDIENCE (recipient of communication). REGISTER (level of formality matched to context). RHETORIC (art of effective communication). PERSONA (writerly identity assumed for audience). EXIGENCE (situational urgency calling for communication).

• Tan is meta-writing about audience while writing for one. Her essay is BOTH academic AND civic — she advocates for valuing different Englishes.

  model She addresses an academic audience first (formal language, scholarly diction) — then immediately complicates by introducing her mother's English. Tan is performing audience-awareness: she shows the academic audience and then breaks the wall.

  prompt Read Tan's 'Mother Tongue' opening paragraph aloud. What audience does she SEEM to address? Listen to her register.
• Notice: the academic version is information-led; the civic is stake-led; the creative is image-led. Each register fits its audience.

  model ACADEMIC: 'This essay synthesizes recent research on anthropogenic climate change to argue that policy interventions must address multiple drivers simultaneously, citing IPCC AR6 (2021) and peer-reviewed studies.' CIVIC: 'Our town faces a choice. Sea levels are rising. Whose home will go first? We need to act now.' CREATIVE: 'I remember the summer the river jumped its banks. My grandmother's photo album, sodden. The wallpaper peeling like skin. I was nine.' Same topic — three audiences — three registers.

  prompt Map the topic 'climate change' to all three audiences. What changes?

• Pair-share: pick a topic — name one audience it fits well and why.
• Cold Call: define 'exigence' in your own words.

M-8-S-RH-02-A Chart

MG-2 anchor with 3 vertices ACADEMIC/CIVIC/CREATIVE and register-features per vertex; worked example with climate topic across 3 audiences. Print-ready 18x24.

MG-2 Chart

Audience-register triangle anchor: 3-vertex triangle with ACADEMIC (top), CIVIC (lower left), CREATIVE (lower right). Each vertex has a register-features card. ACADEMIC: third-person default; precise modifiers; varied sentence openings; signposting; MLA citation; formal register; abstract claims with research evidence. CIVIC: second-person sometimes appropriate; collective 'we' may belong; direct address; clear stakes; shorter sentences for rhythm; concrete examples; advocacy register. CREATIVE: first-person often appropriate; sensory detail and imagery foregrounded; humor or self-deprecation may belong; structural surprise tolerated; lyrical register; personal voice central. In the center: 'YOUR CAPSTONE picks one vertex as PRIMARY audience — but may blend toward another (e.g., academic-with-creative voice; civic-with-academic evidence).' Worked example below: 'Same topic — climate. ACADEMIC version: A research synthesis citing IPCC + Wallace-Wells + peer-reviewed sources. CIVIC version: An op-ed addressed to the town council with local stakes. CREATIVE version: A personal essay weaving family memory of a flooded summer with research.' Print-ready 18x24.

• Read Tan's 'Mother Tongue' middle section (pp. 4-6). Annotate with 6-color toolkit: where does Tan SHIFT register? Mark with purple-syntax color.

  scaffold Pre-marked Tan text with 2 example shifts; 6-color toolkit
• Choose a sample topic. Write 1 thesis statement for EACH of the 3 audiences (academic / civic / creative). Notice how the diction shifts.

  scaffold MG-2 audience-register triangle at desk; example provided

• Name 3 register features of the CIVIC audience.
• Use 'exigence' in a sentence about the capstone.

• Restate: audience precedes register; register is a learnable craft
• Preview lesson 3: capstone topic-choice + audience-choice

• Finish Tan annotation. Continue annotated reading log. Begin brainstorming 3 capstone topic options.