Lesson 2: Audience, Purpose, and Platform
Duration of Days: 3
Lesson Objective
Students will be able to analyze how audience, purpose, and platform shape public arguments.
Who is the audience?
What is the purpose of the argument?
How does platform affect message?
Audience
Purpose
Platform
Rhetorical situation
D1.INQ.6.9–12 – Evaluate claims and reasoning
D2.CIV.8.9–12 – Evaluate civic participation in democratic processes
D1.INQ.7.9–12 – Analyze how communication tools shape discourse
Rhetorical analysis
Evaluating effectiveness
Comparing arguments
Students analyze how the same issue is communicated differently across platforms and audiences.
DOK Level: 3
Connections to social media posts versus formal editorials
Discussion of message adaptation
“One good argument fits all audiences”
“Platform does not affect meaning”
Comparative examples
Audience-mapping organizers
Collaborative analysis
Audience analysis write-up
Discussion synthesis
Editorials
Posts
Videos