Reader

Jonathan Safran Foer’s essay “How Not to Be Alone” was published in the American newspaper The New York Times as well as on the paper’s website.

Given the newspaper’s worldwide reach and influence, this implies that the potential readers of the essay are both Americans and all English-speaking readers anywhere in the word. Considering that The New York Times has a liberal and progressive orientation, we can infer that the potential readers are mostly liberals and Democrats (the US Democratic Party is considered more progressive than the Republican Party which is typically more conservative).

Consider also that the essay was adapted from a speech delivered at Middlebury College in 2013, which implies the original audience of the speech was formed by college students, parents, and professors.

In the essay, Foer addresses his readers dire...