College Composition / Unit 18 CMP 0427 short lesson, about 20 seconds
What the Reader Already Knows
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The idea
How much background a text needs depends on how much its audience already knows about the topic.
In practice
Too little background loses readers who are new to the subject; too much bores readers who know it well.
Where people slip
Writers tend to overestimate what readers share with them, because the writer's own knowledge feels obvious.
Your place on the trail
Every lesson rests on earlier ones and opens later ones. Tap any to jump.
Builds on
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