August 29, HW #4, Impact of Audience, Purpose, and Context

The way I understand this is. For example, as a firefighter children come into my fire station all the time to do station tours. They are so excited to see the truck and equipment that we use. Like most children they have many questions about everything. Which I enjoy answering. If they were to ask me a question like. How are you able to breath in a fire with all that smoke? If I were to explain to them that it's because I use personal protective equipment. The part of my personal protective equipment that allows me to sustain a breathable atmosphere is my SCBA (Self Contained Breathing apparatus). I then continue to explain to them how much oxygen my bottle will hold and how the technical components of the air pack works. And so on..... My explanation would totally lose their interest. If I were to answer them saying. Have you ever seen a firefighter's coat and stuff? Do you know the air bottle we wear on our back, kind of like how you wear your backpack? There is air in that bottle that allows for us to breath when we're in the fire. Explaining to them in a much simpler language and vocabulary I should be able to keep there interest. The length of my answers would also make a difference on how effective I would be. Explaining this same question to an adult would be much different. The way I answer the question would also differ depending on the purpose of their visit. Is this a person that is thinking of becoming a firefighter or is it a local citizen that wants to know more about the equipment their tax dollars are paying for.