Task, Audience, Purpose (TAP)
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4. Produce clear and coherent writing in which the development and organization are appropriate to task, purpose, and audience.
I can write clearly. W.5.4
I can write for different purposes, audiences, and topics. W.5.4
I can write clearly. W.5.4
I can write for different purposes, audiences, and topics. W.5.4
Task
Consider how task influences a piece. Time is a part of task: if you have several weeks to complete a multi-draft argument, the teacher expects clever organization and a polished style; if you have 30 minutes to complete an argument (as there might be with state writing tests), a more predictable organization and a less developed style is expected.
Consider these different types of writing:Narrative: Students write narratives based on real or imagined ideas, events, or observations that include characters, setting, plot, sensory details, a logical sequence of events, and a context to enable the reader to imagine the world of the event or experience. Informational/Expository: Students write to inform, such as to explain, describe, and report. Writing tasks may include summaries, procedures, recipes, instructions, how-to manuals, observations, notes, lists, charts, map labels, and directions Persuasive: Students write to influence, such as to persuade, argue, and request. Persuasive essays should establish a controlling idea, develop supporting arguments, provide detailed evidence, and include persuasive techniques (e.g., word choice, repetition, emotional appeal). Personal Communications: Students write friendly letters, thank-you notes, formal letters, messages, and invitations that have a clearly stated purpose and that include the date, proper salutation, body, closing and signature. Creative: Students write to entertain, such as to compose humorous poems, short stories, skits, song lyrics) that employ figurative language (e.g., simile, metaphor, onomatopoeia, personification), rhythm, dialogue, characterization, plot, and/or appropriate format. Responses to Literature: Students demonstrate an understanding of the literary work and support judgments through references to both the text and prior knowledge.
Audience
Audience is also a crucial consideration in any piece of writing. If you are writing an email to your teacher, the style of the email will be considerably more formal than an email to your friend. If you are texting with a classmate, there will be different stylistic choices than a thank you letter to someone who made donations to the classroom. Similarly, when you are writing literary analyses that only our class will read, the teacher will give you an academic style to mimic, whereas if you are composing a “letter to the editor”-style argument, you need to consider how a public audience differs from an academic one.
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Purpose
Finally, purpose is the third part of TAP, and it, too, is going to shape a piece of writing. If you want to get a magazine editor to publish your ideas, the purpose is to sell an idea, and this totally impacts your organization and style: you’ve got to be efficient in showing the value of your idea. Meanwhile, if you're writing a proposal to the principal for something to improve at school, you are going to choose evidence and language that you believe will be most compelling to them.
