Author's Purpose:
Why do writers write? We write for many different reasons. The reasons can be divided into many different categories, but let's break it down into three:
- to persuade
- to inform
- to entertain
Writing to Persuade:
This kind of writing gives an argument and tries to change the mind of the reader. An example of this is a letter to the director of a school asking for better lunches in the school cafeteria. Persuasive writing often uses strong voice, strong adjectives and adverbs, and tries to show how life or things would be better if the writer got their way. If you change the way you think about something because of what you read, the writing was probably written to persuade. |
Writing to Inform:
There are many different kinds of writing to inform; some examples are a research report on the life cycle of a frog, instructions on how to put a table together, and a weather report. Writing to inform is trying to tell the reader something they didn't know, or how to do something. It gives facts, not opinions. The author's voice is often not really strong, since they are trying to focus on the information, not themselves. If you learn something while you read, it was probably written to inform. |
Writing to Entertain:
This is often the most fun kind of writing to read; some examples of this are magazines about sports, the Harry Potter books, fairy tales, and comic books. This kind of writing is for the reader to have fun. There are many different kinds of material that is written to entertain. If you had fun while you read, it was probably written to entertain. |
How to Tell?
How can we know what kind of writing it is? There are some important questions to ask when reading, and these can help you understand what the author's purpose is. Some of these questions are: 1. Based on the title, why do you think the author wrote this piece? 2. Which words do you think best describe the main reason the author wrote this selection: to provide readers with information? To describe a person, event, or issue? To persuade readers to think about an issue in a certain way and to take action? Or to entertain the reader? 3. Does this writing show a point of view? What point of view does it express? 4. How did the author influence your response to the selection? 5. Did the author say why they were writing? |
Here are some games to practice identifying author's purpose:
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