At the beginning of this class, I initially thought that purpose was synonymous with exigence and couldn’t really differentiate the two in my writing. In fact, I mixed up the two in my reflection on the technical description assignment. However, I learned the differentiate the two later on.
Purpose is defined as why you are writing, which differentiates slightly from the definition of exigence. This rhetorical element focuses on what you want to achieve by writing this, such as what information do your audience to get from reading your work or what outcomes do you want to occur. Utilizing persuasive writing techniques is important in establishing your purpose as you are persuading your audience to listen to you and take some form of action based on your writing.
For instance, the purpose of my memo assignment (Figure 1) was to inform my audience of the lack of assistance and navigation in the advising process for declaring a major in The City College of New York (CCNY). My audience members are Dr. Vincent Budreau, president of CCNY, and Herbert Seignoret, director of the Office of Advisors at CCNY. Having authority in the appropriate departments, I want them to review these issues and arrange meetings with my colleagues and I to discuss this issue further.
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