DL#9 HW#5

1) Thinking About your Writing: Addressing your Audience's Wants and Needs

1. My audience is teenagers and adults. The implied audience is the teacher and other students.
2. I would think that teenagers and adults value their health and future. Everyone would like information that will help them in some way.
3. The audience will expect data and statistics, which is required in this research topic. The audience will probably like personal experiences, especially teenagers because it makes the topic seem more real.
4. Most people already have opinions that either alcohol is fun or is dangerous. Most teenagers don't know all of the dangers of drinking alcohol and the long-term effects of heavy drinking. However, most people will agree that alcohol isn't good for you.

2) Connecting To Your Writing: Developing Evaluation Criteria

1. My audience for this research paper is teenagers and adults. The teacher and class members are also part of the audience. They want to know exaclty why alcohol is bad and what it can do to them and they need to know this because it is beneficial to their health and well-being.
2. The purpose of this research paper is to spread knowledge that alcohol is not always fun. Too many people die from drunk driving crashes and alcohol-related illnesses. Personal experiences and statistics need to be used.
3. This research paper won't take too much time. I already know what I want to write and have a basic idea of how I'm going to organize it. The information I have is contemporary because the sources are up to date with very recent dates. The issues my topic deals with are recent and still happening. Statistics needs to be recent for the most current information.
4. I have continued to narrow my topic by limiting it to mental and physical dangers of alcohol. I have found most of the information I need about the many different dangers.
5. Others elements I want to cover are why prohibition started and ended because it will explain why our society treats alcohol the way it does.
6. I can't write too much about Prohibition because it will take away from the dangers of alcohol.

3) Clustering

I drew a cluster diagram of my topic on a piece of paper. I put the question in the middle and extended satellites as the answers to the question. On a couple of the satellites I further extended answers to those topics. I really liked this activity because it helped me to see my topic on paper and this diagram will help me organize my paper better.

4) Finding Additional Resources

1. I am concerned that I don't have enough information on the mental dangers. I have a lot of information on the physical aspect, but only depression, anger, and family abuse for the mental aspect.
2. I asked my mom to look at my cluster diagram and she said the same thing, that I have more physical dangers than mental. She also added that alcohol helps people go into debt.
3. I also asked a friend to look at my diagram and he didn't really have much feedback. He agreed that I didn't have much on the mental dangers, but didn't think there were any more than what I have.