In my opinion, the concept of the tertiary reader is almost too vague of an idea for most writers to worry about. From my point of view, it seems almost impossible to accommodate for every possible tertiary reader. The reading gives the example of trying to remember who your tertiary readers are, as well as making sure that you do not write anything that could reflect poorly on you or your company. I feel that the process of identifying all of the possible tertiary readers and accommodating your writing to suit them is, to some extent, a ridiculous task. There is also the distinct possibility that your tertiary readers are going to change overtime.
For example, say you write a paper for a class and it happens to be a somewhat anti-government paper. You write this paper with your primary reader being the teacher and any second or tertiary readers being your fellow students. Ten years later you are applying for a government job and they happen to somehow find this paper you wrote and decide not to hire you because of it. You had never intended for these people to see this paper, and as a result you could have never known to accommodate your writing for them.
Other than this concept of the tertiary reader I found the rest of the reading to be informative. I found it to be a good introduction to the field of technical writing. It helped to lay out all of the basic concepts as well as to present examples of how these concepts work. I especially found the example of how different cultures interpret the way information is presented to be very useful. I knew that cultures differed to a great extent, but not to the amount that was shown in the reading.
Response
I tend to agree with your thoughts on the tertiary reader. It is at least partially impractical to write technical documents with these readers in mind. Doing so will detract from the real purpose of writing the document in the first place-the primary reader. However, as you've pointed out in your rather clever example-the tertiary reader cannot be overlooked completely. It may be wise, with this in mind, to consider tertiary readers in terms of content of what is written as opposed to how that information is presented. As far as differences in culture, the text does not do justice to all of the variances present among all regions and countries, but it's a start
Response
I also agree with you that the tertiary reader is vague. Of course I believe that it is clearer when you are writing in a business setting. You would not want to lose your job because of some unfavorable writing about the company you work for or even start a political scandal because you could not keep your mouth shut.
As for your creative example I understand where you are going with it however unlikely it may be. You may offend someone you never even thought of until it is too late. Thankfully many people have short attention spans now and will quickly turn their heads to the next scandal once it arises.
Response
I agree with what you said about the tertiary reader being somewhat of an abstract idea. I don’t think it is possible to write something that all audiences will be 100% content with. Writing for all audiences will definitely make a document, paper, or essay better but it’s somewhat of a difficult task.
Your example makes a good point concerning the tertiary reader as well. If you are supposed to consider all audiences when writing, does that mean you have to change your opinions or views on a certain subject? Just seems somewhat irrational to change what we want to say just too keep all the readers happy.
Censoring a document due to
Censoring a document due to the threat of a tertiary reader certainly would be unfortunate. I would say that it all really depends on the actual value and meaning of the document. If a certain document, such as the one given as an example in this chapter could negatively affect ones image, then that person should most definitely take care in censorship of certain details and/or opinions. I do not feel that censorship should be practiced if a document is intended merely for informative purposes for the masses. Considering your tertiary readers does seem to have some importance, but a document should not always be censored because of these possible readers, maybe only if the situation calls for it.
www.JFlitt.com