Blog #6   Jeanne Nixt

I am not solitary whilst I read and write, though nobody is with me. Ralph Waldo Emerson

This week the readings by Rose and Sigona shared the same message, though their topics were very different.  Rose wrote about being blocked while writing and shared a study he did with ten students – five blocked, five not-blocked.  The idea of rules of engagement – too rigid and no writing could be done contrasted with the five non-blocked students who used rules as a guide to follow or not, as the task demanded.  One of the ideas I had was of audience.  Who is telling the blocked writer that in order to succeed that she must follow a prescription for writing?  The writer did not come up with this alone – often, in Rose’s examples, it was teacher or classroom created.  Then, who is the audience the blocked reader cannot please without breaking these immutable rules?  The demanding hard to please teacher who created the rules, or the self who cannot meet the rules’ demands?

Sigona, on the other hand, talked about audience in terms of changing self-promotion through social media and the differences between what we post and who our audience is. Again, it is the audience who dictates what is ‘on the page’ in this case the page is on Facebook, or three lines on Twitter, or the aesthetic used on Instagram.

I spoke about vulnerability last week in my blog post.  This is a direct response to audience: Who is reading what I’m writing? In the case of peer review: Will my friends like it?  Will they judge me for it? 

Audience guides how we write, how we speak and how we present ourselves.  When going on a first date, we are very aware of this new audience, and want to be found pleasing.  When home alone we get to relax and let go of the roles of the persona we present.  A bicultural person may change their clothes, language, behavior depending on the culture of the company they are in.  We all code-switch throughout the day, choosing how we present ourselves to our audience.  This is why I like to read.

When I read, I don’t worry about my audience: I have none.  I can choose my companions from a selection of books at the ready, and they can not choose or deny me in turn.  Reading is a safe place, free from worry of how I should present myself. 

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