COM 101: Week 2

Audience, Language, Tone

& Summary

Dr. Tremblay, Seneca College (2018)

 Who will read your writing.

Audience. What you know about your audience

affects how you write your message.

Dr. Tremblay, Seneca Collage (2018)

 “Out of Context” – When a writer’s
words are read without the
surrounding ideas/words, or read by
Audience an unintended audience. The words
then appear inappropriate or their
meaning is misunderstood.

Dr. Tremblay, Seneca Collage (2018)

 Jamila Lyiscott, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor
University of
Massachusetts Amherst
Audience.
“3 Ways to Speak English”
TED Talk

Dr. Tremblay, Seneca College (2018)

 Which words we choose based on our
Language. audience and how serious our subject is.

Dr. Tremblay, Seneca College (2018)

Language.

Dr. Tremblay, Seneca College (2018)

 Formal Language
 An emphasis on respect and limited
emotion
 Appropriate language for school
and the workplace
Language.
 It is signaled by complex, complete
sentences and an avoidance of
slang or familiar vocabulary

Dr. Tremblay, Seneca College (2018)

 How the words you choose convey your attitude
toward the subject or circumstance

Tone

The kind of emotion(s) you put into your writing

 Steve Jobs
CEO, co-founder of Apple
Chairman of Pixar
Language
& Tone
“Steve Jobs Knew How To
Write an Email. This Is How He Did It”
(Bariso, 2018).

Dr. Tremblay, Seneca College (2018)

 Your first assignment:
Audience
Language
Write me an email introducing yourself.
& Tone

Dr. Tremblay, Seneca College (2018)

 Summary: outline the essence of
something

Summary.
You must be short and to the point:
you can’t say everything.

Dr. Tremblay, Seneca College (2018)

 1) what program you’re in
2) what your experience writing in high
school/prior to this class has been like
3) what part of your writing (process or product)
you hope to work on in COM 101

Your email.
Rules: The Body
- 250 words maximum
- Two parts: a thesis sentence &
paragraph explaining the details
Dr. Tremblay, Seneca College (2018)
 Thesis:
The main point of your email in
one sentence.
Thesis.
TL;DR

Dr. Tremblay, Seneca College (2018)

 Writing your email
Step one: Brainstorm
 What do you want to say about
yourself?

Email.  What writing experiences / skills

do you want to talk about?
 What most appropriate for me to
know?

Dr. Tremblay, Seneca College (2018)

 Writing your email
Step two: Put it in a thesis
 Fit all three points into one
complex sentence
“I am a business student, who is proficient at email
writing, and I am aiming to work on expanding my
Email. creative thinking and writing skills”
“As a future Early Childhood Educator, I have lots of
essay writing experience but I would like to practice
grammatically correct punctuation.”
“At this point, in second year of Civil Engineering, I
have had very few writing opportunities at Seneca, so
I am looking forward to learning how to communicate
my ideas in a clear, organized way.”Dr. Tremblay, Seneca College (2018)
  Email due on Sunday @ Midnight
For Tuesday:
 Read: “Connected but Alone”
(Turkle)
Next Week.

Dr. Tremblay, Seneca College (2018)