When you are writing a scholarly article, in addition to what you are trying to say, you should also consider your audience. That is, you should think of what your audience thinks of your article. You need to be aware of your audience’s biases, values, expectations, and knowledge. Besides, you should know your purpose in writing.
Consider Your Position
By choosing the title of your article, you take a position. You decide whether you agree or disagree with it. Also, you choose whether you investigate it from a specific or general point of view.
Consider Your Audience
Taking a position regarding the title of the article is not enough. You also need to consider your audience. If you write an essay for a college class, the audience is usually your classmates and professors. Although professors usually ask you to write for a wider audience. No matter who your reader is, you need to identify the audience before writing.
What do you know about your audience and their feeling about the subject of your article? What does the audience want to know about the subject? What are their biases and orientations? More importantly, how do you hope your article would affect your audience? Do you want your article to be controversial, entertaining, or educational? Will the audience welcome it or dislike it?
Once you’ve identified the audience of your article, you should also consider how to connect to them. For example, if you have a topic and want to write for an audience who has little or no knowledge of it, then you should write an educational article. But if you are still unsure about your topic and have many questions, you should choose another type of article.
In any case, choose a topic that you can be honest about and take a position. Nothing is worse than reading an article that makes you feel that the author has no clear position on the subject. Even if you have two different views, explain it to the reader.
Lastly, don’t take a position just to please your professor. They will be happy to hear about different points of view of their students. Most readers hope that your article contains new information.