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The Writing Situation

Every writing situation in unique. Why are you writing? To inform, persuade, entertain? Who are your readers? Classmates, community members, political candidates? What will you write about? Cats, tornadoes, books? What form will your writing take? Story, essay, letter to the editor, poem, play?

To quickly understand any writing situation, use the PAST strategy. Each letter stands for an element—P stands for purpose, A stands for audience, S stands for subject, and T stands for type. To understand your writing situation, answer each question in the graphic below.