Author’s Purpose

1. Author’s Purpose Ms. Christoph ESE~Intensive Reading

2. This week… We will be working on: • Author’s Purpose • Point of View • Persuasive Appeal • Tone

3. Author’s Purpose There are a variety of reasons authors choose to write, this is called the author’s purpose. The FCAT tends to deal with four main purposes for writing. • To inform – when an author wishes to simply convey information to an audience • To persuade – when an author wishes to make an audience feel a certain way about a topic, • To describe – when an author wishes to convey a picture or feeling to an audience, or • To entertain – when an author wishes to simply entertain an audience.

4. most authors writing science, educational, or journal articles are writing to inform. • most authors writing newspaper or magazine articles are writing to persuade. • most authors writing poetry are writing to describe. • most authors writing fiction are writing to entertain.

5. Along with the four main purposes for writing, there are four types of writing: • Narrative – in this type of writing the author wishes to tell a story, • Descriptive – in this type of writing the author wishes to describe something or convey a mood, Expository – in this type of writing the author wishes to inform an audience, and • Persuasive – in this type of writing the author wishes to express an opinion and convince readers to share that opinion.

6. In order to determine what an author’s purpose in writing is, the reader should ask questions after reading, such as:

7. “Does the author want the reader to do something or believe something?” If the answer is yes, the author’s purpose is most likely to persuade (persuasive writing). • Political commercials are a good example of this type of writing. • Look for opinion words.. I think , I feel, I believe.

8. “Is the author giving the reader mostly unbiased information for knowledge or information?” If the answer is yes, the author’s purpose is most likely to inform (expository writing). • A science textbook is a good example of this type of writing.

9. “Is the author trying to paint a picture for the reader or make the reader understand a feeling?” If the answer is yes, the author’s purpose is most likely to describe something or convey a mood (descriptive writing). • One example of this type of writing is a restaurant review.

10. “Is the author telling a story not teach anything but so that the reader can enjoy the story?” If the answer is yes, the author’s purpose is most likely to entertain (narrative writing). • One example of narrative writing is the short story.

11. How do you do this? • Try to look for the main idea to help you determine the author’s purpose.