ABSTRACT
The implicit know-how of relating words and audiences is not an isolated skill.
It is fundamental to reading and writing. In this chapter, we explain why liter-
ate skills of reading and writing include the hidden skill of using language to
prime an audience’s experience. We consider why an understanding of literacy
as using language for audience priming is essential to non-question begging
theories of close reading. We then turn to the significance of priming theory to
writing education.
