Portfolio 2: Audience Exploration Report

Overview: To complete this activity, you will create a series of interview or survey questions. Then, you will use these questions to interview five college students or to survey 20 college students in order to find out what the readers of your issue analysis already know about your issue. You will use the results from your interview or survey to write a brief report exploring the connections between your readers and your issue.

Purposes for this Report: To learn what your readers already know about your issue so that you can shape your issue analysis to better meet their needs and interests.

Audience: Your audience for this report will be your instructor. However, you will need to address your interview or survey questions to college students. I will be reading and evaluating your interview or survey questions along with your audience exploration report.

Portfolio Content: Please submit your report in a folder clearly labeled with your name and email address. Your portfolio should include:

• The final draft of your audience exploration report formatted with one-inch margins, double-spaced lines, and a readable (e.g., not in italics or script) 12-point font.
• Your interview or survey questions
• A record of responses to your questions
• Printed copies of your topic proposal and my reactions to it

Report Requirements: The audience exploration report should be roughly 500 words in length. In the report you should:

• Describe students' knowledge of your issue.
• Summarize their attitudes toward your issue.
• Describe the complexity with which students viewed your issue. Did they recognize the range of positions and approaches people take? Did they simplify the issue as a pro/con debate?
• Discuss, based on what your audience thinks about your issue, what will you need to do to show them that your issue is complex and that it goes beyond a simple pro/con debate.