identify the author's thesis and purpose

Reading Skills

Analyzing author’s purpose and point of view.

• The Albert Team
• Last Updated On: June 16, 2023

Introduction

Do you ever wonder why writers write the way they do? Why they pick certain words or tell a story in a specific way? The reason behind this is called the author’s purpose and point of view. It’s like a secret code that helps you understand what they really mean.

In this blog post, we’ll learn about this secret code. You’ll learn to figure out what an author is trying to say, and how they see the world. This will help you understand books, articles, and even posts on social media even better!

What is the Author’s Point of View?

When you read a text, it’s important to think about the author’s point of view. The author’s point of view refers to their unique perspective, opinions, beliefs, and biases that shape how they present information or tell a story. They might see things in a way that’s different from you because of their own experiences, beliefs, and backgrounds.

Understanding an author’s point of view allows us to dig deeper into the underlying motivations and intentions behind their words. It can also help you find hidden messages in the text. So, how do we figure out an author’s point of view? Let’s talk about some ways to do this.

How to Determine the Author’s Point of View

You might think figuring out an author’s point of view is hard, but it can be fun, like solving a mystery! Here are some tips to help you do it:

• Look at the Words : Notice the words the author uses. Are they showing strong feelings or opinions? The way they write can give you hints about what they think and feel.
• Learn About the Author : Knowing more about the author can help you understand their point of view. What kind of job do they have? Where are they from? What are some important things that have happened to them?
• Think About Why the Author Wrote the Text: Why do you think the author wrote this? Do they want to teach you something, make you think, or make you laugh? Knowing this can help you understand what they’re trying to say.
• Notice Patterns: Look for ideas that come up again and again. These can tell you a lot about what the author thinks is important.
• Think About Who the Author is Writing For: Authors often write for specific groups of people. The way they write can tell you a lot about who they are trying to talk to.

Remember, figuring out an author’s point of view is about understanding the text better, not about deciding if they are right or wrong.

Why is the Author’s Point of View Important?

Why should we care about the author’s point of view? Here are some good reasons:

• Contextual Understanding : The author’s point of view helps us make sense of the text. It shows us why they chose to write the way they did and what they want us to learn.
• Uncovering Bias: No author can be totally unbiased. By understanding their point of view, we can see their own opinions in the text. This helps us think critically about what we’re reading.
• Evaluating Objectivity: Knowing the author’s point of view helps us see if the text is objective (without personal feelings) or subjective (based on personal feelings). This can help us decide if we can trust the information in the text.
• Enhancing Interpretation: Understanding the author’s point of view helps us understand what the text really means. We can see what arguments the author is making and think more deeply about the text.
• Encouraging Empathy and Perspective: By seeing things from the author’s point of view, we can better understand people who are different from us. This helps us be more understanding and open-minded.

As you can see, knowing the author’s point of view helps us understand and think about what we read in a deeper way. It makes us better readers and thinkers!

How to Determine the Author’s Purpose

In addition to analyzing the author’s point of view, it is also key to examine the author’s purpose. Here are some tips to help you figure out the author’s purpose:

• Check the Type of Text: Look at what kind of text it is. Is it a story, a news article, or maybe an essay? This can give you clues about why the author wrote it.
• Look at the Words and Tone: Pay attention to the words the author uses and how they write. If they use a lot of emotion, they might be trying to persuade you. If they give a lot of facts, they’re probably trying to inform you.
• Think About Who It’s Written For: Who is the author writing for? For example, a text for experts might be trying to give new information, while a text for kids might be trying to teach something in a fun way.
• Look for Main Ideas: What are the big ideas in the text? What is the author trying to say? This can give you a hint about why they wrote it.
• Check for Facts or Stories: Does the author use a lot of facts and data? Or do they tell stories? This can also help you figure out the author’s purpose.
• Think About the Time and Place: When and where was the text written? Sometimes, this can tell you a lot about why the author wrote the text.

Remember, you might not always see the author’s purpose right away. But if you look closely, you can usually find clues that will help you figure it out.

How Text Structure Contributes to the Author’s Purpose

Text structure, or the way a text is put together, plays a significant role in conveying the author’s purpose and shaping the overall message of a written piece. The way a text is organized and structured can greatly influence how the information is presented and how the reader engages with it. Here are some ways that text structure contributes to the author’s purpose

• Order of Ideas: Authors choose how to order their ideas for a reason. They might use a time order, cause and effect, or compare and contrast to help get their point across.
• Important Points Stand Out: Authors use things like headings or bullet points to show important ideas. This can tell us what the author thinks is most important.
• Storytelling Techniques: In stories, authors might play with the order of events, use flashbacks, or tell the story from different viewpoints. This can make the story more interesting or help make a point.
• Persuasion Techniques: If the author is trying to convince you of something, they will present their arguments in a careful order. They might present a problem, then give evidence, then propose a solution.
• Easy to Follow: A well-organized text is easier to understand. The way the author organizes the text can help you follow their ideas and understand what they want to say.

By looking at how a text is structured, you can get a better idea of what the author’s purpose is. So, next time you read something, pay attention to how it’s put together!

Classroom Application: What is the Author’s Purpose in this Passage?

Analyzing the author’s purpose becomes more engaging and relatable when you can apply your skills to historical speeches. One exemplary text for this exercise is Abraham Lincoln’s Second Inaugural Address. Use this step-by-step guide to  analyze the author’s purpose in this significant piece of writing:

Step 1: Background Research:

First, start by gathering some background information about Abraham Lincoln, his presidency, and the context of the Second Inaugural Address. Learn about the Civil War and how it impacted the nation during that time.

Step 2: Reading and Annotation:

Next, read the Second Inaugural Address carefully, highlighting or underlining key statements and phrases. Take note of any repeated themes or arguments and mark moments where Lincoln’s perspective or tone seems particularly important.

Step 3: Identifying the Type of Text:

Consider the type of text you are analyzing, which is a presidential inauguration speech. Think about the common purposes associated with such speeches, like inspiring unity, expressing gratitude, or outlining a vision for the nation.

Step 4: Analyzing Language and Tone:

Pay close attention to Lincoln’s choice of language and tone throughout the address. Look for emotional or persuasive language and note instances of unity, humility, or calls for reconciliation. Consider how these choices contribute to Lincoln’s purpose.

Step 5: Reflecting on Historical Context:

Think about the historical context surrounding the Second Inaugural Address. For example, you could reflect on the divided nation during the Civil War and how it affected Lincoln’s presidency. Then, connect these historical events to Lincoln’s purpose in addressing the nation during such a critical time.

Step 6: Identifying Key Statements and Arguments:

Identify the central statements and arguments made by Lincoln in the address. Consider how these statements reflect his purpose and the message he wanted to convey. Think critically about the implications of these arguments.

Step 7: Considering the Audience:

Reflect on the intended audience of the Second Inaugural Address, which includes both supporters and opponents of Lincoln. Analyze how Lincoln’s purpose might have been influenced by this diverse audience and how he aimed to unite the nation through his words.

Step 8: Drawing Conclusions:

Based on the evidence you gathered from the text analysis and understanding of the historical context, draw conclusions about Lincoln’s purpose in delivering the Second Inaugural Address. Make sure to support your conclusions with evidence from the text.

Step 9: Classroom Discussion and Reflection:

Finally, wrap up by participating in a classroom discussion, where you can share your analysis and engage in thoughtful reflection. Compare and contrast interpretations with your classmates to deepen your understanding of the author’s purpose and the complexities of historical texts.

By following these steps to analyze Lincoln’s Second Inaugural Address, you’ll develop critical thinking skills, gain historical understanding, and appreciate the power of language in shaping significant historical events. This assignment will enhance your ability to analyze texts and provide you with a deeper insight into the intentions of historical figures like Abraham Lincoln.

Analyzing an author’s purpose and point of view is a skill that empowers you to unlock the hidden meanings within texts. By understanding why authors write the way they do and recognizing their unique perspectives, you can gain valuable insights into the world of written communication. 

Practice Makes Perfect

Albert provides engaging practice questions for key skills like analyzing the author’s purpose as well as a wide range of texts for students to analyze and interpret. For more practice with the skills covered in this post, check out our Author’s Purpose questions in our Short Readings course, which uses short passages to reinforce fundamental reading skills. Readers at all ability levels may enjoy our  Leveled Readings  course, which offers Lexile® leveled passages focused on a unifying essential question that keeps all students on the same page regardless of reading level. Learn more about the Lexile Framework  here !

With our easy-to-use interface and informative feedback, Albert.io is the perfect tool for learning how to determine the author’s purpose and point of view and helping students develop a deeper understanding of the texts they encounter.

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The Author’s Purpose for students and teachers

What Is The Author’s Purpose?

When discussing the author’s purpose, we refer to the ‘why’ behind their writing. What motivated the author to produce their work? What is their intent, and what do they hope to achieve?

The author’s purpose is the reason they decided to write about something in the first place.

There are many reasons a writer puts pen to paper, and students must possess the necessary tools to identify these reasons and intents to react and respond appropriately.

Understanding why authors write is essential for students to navigate the complex landscape of texts effectively. The concept of author’s purpose encompasses the motivations behind a writer’s choice of words, style, and structure. By teaching students to discern these purposes, educators empower them to engage critically with various forms of literature and non-fiction.

Author’s Purpose Definition

The author’s purpose is his or her motivation for writing a text and their intent to Persuade, Inform, Entertain, Explain or Describe something to an audience.

Author’s Purpose Examples and Types

It is universally accepted there are three base categories of the Author’s Purpose: To Persuade, To Inform , and To Entertain . These can easily be remembered with the PIE acronym and should be the starting point on this topic. However, you may also encounter other subcategories depending on who you ask.

This table provides many author’s purpose examples, and we will cover the first five in detail in this article.

Author’s Purpose Teaching Unit

Teach your students ALL ASPECTS of the Author’s Purpose with this fully EDITABLE 63-page Teaching Unit.

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Author’s Purpose 1: To Persuade

Definition: This is a prevalent purpose of writing, particularly in nonfiction. When a text is written to persuade, it aims to convince the reader of the merits of a particular point of view . In this type of writing, the author attempts to persuade the reader to agree with this point of view and/or subsequently take a particular course of action. 

Examples: This purpose can be found in all kinds of writing. It can even be in fiction writing when the author has an agenda, consciously or unconsciously. However, it is most commonly the motivation behind essays, advertisements, and political writing, such as speech and propaganda.

Persuasion is commonly also found in…

• A political speech urges voters to support a particular candidate by presenting arguments for their suitability for the position, policies, and record of achievements.
• An advertisement for a new product that emphasizes its unique features and benefits over competing products, attempting to convince consumers to choose it over alternatives.
• A letter to the editor of a newspaper expressing a strong opinion on a controversial issue and attempting to persuade others to adopt a similar position by presenting compelling evidence and arguments.

How to Identify: To identify when the author’s purpose is to persuade, students should ask themselves if they feel the writer is trying to get them to believe something or take a specific action. They should learn to identify the various tactics and strategies used in persuasive writing, such as repetition, multiple types of supporting evidence, hyperbole, attacking opposing viewpoints, forceful phrases, emotive imagery, and photographs.

We have a complete persuasive writing guide if you want to learn more.

Strategies for being a more PERSUASIVE writer

To become a persuasive writer, students can employ several strategies to convey their arguments and influence their readers effectively. Here are five strategies for persuasive writing:

• Understand Your Audience: Know your target audience and tailor your persuasive arguments to appeal to their interests, values, and beliefs. Consider their potential objections and address them in your writing. Understanding your audience helps you create a more compelling and persuasive piece.
• Use Strong Evidence and Examples: Support your claims with credible evidence, statistics, and real-life examples. Persuasive writing relies on logic and facts to support your arguments. Conduct research to find reliable sources that strengthen your case and make your writing more convincing.
• Craft a Persuasive Structure: Organize your writing clearly and persuasively. Start with a compelling introduction that grabs the reader’s attention and states your main argument. Use body paragraphs to present evidence and supporting points logically. Finish with a strong conclusion that reinforces your main message and calls the reader to take action or adopt your viewpoint.
• Appeal to Emotions: Persuasive writing is not just about logic; emotions are crucial in influencing readers. Use emotional appeals to connect with your audience and evoke empathy, sympathy, or excitement. Be careful not to manipulate emotions but use them to reinforce your argument authentically.
• Anticipate Counterarguments: Acknowledge and address potential counterarguments to show that you have considered different perspectives. By addressing opposing viewpoints, you demonstrate that you have thoroughly thought about the issue and strengthen your credibility as a persuasive writer.

Bonus Tip: Use Persuasive Language: Pay attention to your choice of words and language. Use compelling language that evokes a sense of urgency or importance. Employ rhetorical devices, such as repetition, analogy, and rhetorical questions, to make your writing more persuasive and memorable.

Please encourage students to practice these strategies in their writing in formal essays and everyday persuasive situations. By mastering persuasive writing techniques, students can effectively advocate for their ideas, inspire change, and have a greater impact with their words.

Author’s Purpose 2: To Inform

Definition: When an author aims to inform, they usually wish to enlighten their readership about a real-world topic. Often, they will do this by providing lots of facts. Informational texts impart information to the reader to educate them on a given topic. 

Examples: Many types of school books are written with the express purpose of informing the reader, such as encyclopedias, recipe books, newspapers and informative texts…

• A news article reporting on a recent event or development provides factual details about what happened, who was involved, and where and when it occurred.
• A scientific journal article describes a research study’s findings, explaining the methodology, results, and implications for further analysis or practical application.
• A travel guidebook that provides detailed information about a particular destination, including its history, culture, attractions, accommodation options, and practical advice for visitors.

How to Identify: In the process of informing the reader, the author will use facts, which is one surefire way to spot the intent to inform.

However, when the author’s purpose is persuasion, they will also likely provide the reader with some facts to convince them of the merits of their particular case. The main difference between the two ways facts are employed is that when the intention is to inform, facts are presented only to teach the reader. When the author aims to persuade, they commonly mask their opinions amid the facts.

Students must become adept at recognizing ‘hidden’ opinions through practice. Teach your students to beware of persuasion masquerading as information!

Please read our complete guide to learn more about writing an information report.

Strategies for being a more INFORMATIVE writer

To become an informative writer, students can employ several strategies to effectively convey information and knowledge clearly and engagingly. Here are five strategies for informative writing:

• Conduct Thorough Research: Before writing, gather information from credible sources such as books, academic journals, reputable websites, and expert interviews. Use reliable data and evidence to support your points. Ensuring the accuracy and reliability of your information is essential in informative writing.
• Organize Information Logically: Structure your writing clearly and logically. Use headings, subheadings, and bullet points to organize information into easily digestible chunks. A well-structured piece helps readers understand complex topics more quickly.
• Use Clear and Concise Language: Aim for clarity and avoid unnecessary jargon or complex language that might confuse your readers. Use simple and concise sentences to deliver information effectively. Make sure to define any technical terms or concepts unfamiliar to your audience.
• Provide Real-Life Examples: Illustrate your points with real-life examples, case studies, or anecdotes. Concrete examples make abstract concepts more understandable and relatable. They also help to keep the reader engaged throughout the piece.
• Incorporate Visual Aids: Whenever possible, use visual aids such as charts, graphs, diagrams, and images to complement your text. Visual elements enhance understanding and retention of information. Be sure to explain the significance of each visual aid in your writing.

Bonus Tip: Practice Summarization: After completing informative writing, practice summarizing the main points. Being able to summarize your work concisely reinforces your understanding of the topic and helps you identify any gaps in your information.

Encourage students to practice these strategies in various writing tasks, such as research papers, reports, and explanatory essays. By mastering informative writing techniques, students can effectively educate their readers, share knowledge, and contribute meaningfully to their academic and professional pursuits.

Author’s Purpose 3: To Entertain

Definition: When an author’s chief purpose is to entertain the reader, they will endeavour to keep things as interesting as possible. Things happen in books written to entertain, whether in an action-packed plot , inventive characterizations, or sharp dialogue.

Examples: Not surprisingly, much fiction is written to entertain, especially genre fiction. For example, we find entertaining examples in science fiction, romance, and fantasy.

Here are some more entertaining texts to consider.

• A novel that tells a compelling story engages the reader’s emotions and imagination through vivid characters, evocative settings, and unexpected twists and turns.
• A comedy television script that uses humour and wit to amuse the audience, often by poking fun at everyday situations or societal norms.
• A stand-up comedy routine that relies on the comedian’s storytelling ability and comedic timing to entertain the audience, often by commenting on current events or personal experiences.

How to Identify: When writers attempt to entertain or amuse the reader, they use various techniques to engage their attention. They may employ cliffhangers at the end of a chapter, for example. They may weave humour into their story or even have characters tell jokes. In the case of a thriller, an action-packed scene may follow an action-packed scene as the drama builds to a crescendo. Think of the melodrama of a soap opera here rather than the subtle touch of an arthouse masterpiece.

Strategies for being a more ENTERTAINING writer

To become an entertaining writer, students can use several strategies to captivate their readers and keep them engaged. Here are five effective techniques:

• Use Humor: Inject humour to tickle the reader’s funny bone. Incorporate witty remarks, funny anecdotes, or clever wordplay. Humour lightens the tone of your writing and makes it enjoyable to read. However, be mindful of your audience and ensure your humour is appropriate and relevant to the topic.
• Create Engaging Characters: Whether you’re writing a story, essay, or any other type of content, develop compelling and relatable characters. Readers love connecting with well-developed characters with distinct personalities, flaws, and strengths. Use descriptive language to bring them to life and make them memorable.
• Craft Intriguing Beginnings: Grab your reader’s attention from the very first sentence. Start with a compelling hook that sparks curiosity or creates intrigue. An exciting beginning sets the tone for the rest of the piece and encourages the reader to continue reading.
• Build Suspense and Surprise: Incorporate twists, turns, and surprises into your writing to keep readers on their toes. Building suspense creates anticipation and makes readers eager to discover what happens next. Surprise them with unexpected plot developments or revelations to keep them engaged throughout the piece.
• Use Imagery and Vivid Descriptions : Paint vivid pictures with your words to immerse readers in your writing. Use sensory language and descriptive imagery to transport them to different places, evoke emotions, and create a multisensory experience. Readers love to feel like they’re part of the story, and vivid descriptions help achieve that.

Bonus Tip: Read Widely and Analyze: To become an entertaining writer, read a variety of books, articles, and pieces from different genres and authors. Pay attention to the elements that make their writing engaging and entertaining. Analyze their use of humour, character development, suspense, and descriptions. Learning from the work of accomplished writers can inspire and improve your own writing.

By using these strategies and practising regularly, students can become more entertaining writers, captivating their audience and making their writing a joy to read. Remember, the key to entertaining writing is engaging your readers and leaving them with a positive and memorable experience.

Author’s Purpose 4: To Explain

Definition: When writers write to explain, they want to tell the reader how to do something or reveal how something works. This type of writing is about communicating a method or a process.

Examples: Writing to explain can be found in instructions, step-by-step guides, procedural outlines, and recipes such as these…

• A user manual explaining how to operate a piece of machinery or a technical device provides step-by-step instructions and diagrams to help users understand the process.
• A textbook chapter that explains a complex scientific or mathematical concept breaks it into simpler components and provides examples and illustrations to aid comprehension.
• A how-to guide that explains how to complete a specific task or achieve a particular outcome, such as cooking a recipe, gardening, or home repair. It provides a list of materials, step-by-step instructions, and tips to ensure success.

  How to Identify:   Often, this writing is organized into bulleted or numbered points. As it focuses on telling the reader how to do something, often lots of imperatives will be used within the writing. Diagrams and illustrations are often used to reinforce the text explanations too.

Read our complete guide to explanatory texts here.

Strategies for being a more EXPLANATORY WRITER

To become a more explanatory writer, students can employ several strategies to effectively clarify complex ideas and concepts for their readers. Here are five strategies for explanatory writing:

• Define Technical Terms: When writing about a specialized or technical topic, ensure that you define any relevant terms or jargon that might be unfamiliar to your readers. A clear and concise definition helps readers grasp the meaning of these terms and facilitates better understanding of the content.
• Use Analogies and Comparisons: Use analogies and comparisons to relate complex ideas to more familiar concepts. This technique makes abstract or difficult concepts more relatable and easier to understand. Analogies provide a frame of reference that helps readers connect new information to something they already know.
• Provide Step-by-Step Explanations: Break down complex processes or procedures into step-by-step explanations. This approach helps readers follow the sequence of events or actions and understand the logic behind each step. Use numbered lists or bullet points to make the process visually clear.
• Include Visuals and Diagrams: Supplement your explanatory writing with visual aids such as diagrams, flowcharts, or illustrations. Visuals can enhance understanding and retention of information by visually representing the concepts being discussed.
• Address “Why” and “How”: In explanatory writing, go beyond simply stating “what” happened or what a concept is. Focus on explaining “why” something occurs and “how” it works. Providing the underlying reasons and mechanisms helps readers better understand the subject matter.

Bonus Tip: Review and Revise: After completing your explanatory writing, review your work and assess whether the explanations are clear and comprehensive. Consider seeking feedback from peers or teachers to identify areas needing further clarification or expansion.

Please encourage students to practice these strategies in writing across different subjects and topics. By mastering explanatory writing techniques, students can effectively communicate complex ideas, promote better understanding, and excel academically and professionally.

Author’s Purpose 5: To Describe

Definition: Writers often use words to describe something in more detail than conveyed in a photograph alone. After all, they say a picture paints a thousand words, and text can help get us beyond the one-dimensional appearance of things.

Examples: We can find lots of descriptive writing in obvious places like short stories, novels and other forms of fiction where the writer wishes to paint a picture in the reader’s imagination. We can also find lots of writing with the purpose of description in nonfiction too – in product descriptions, descriptive essays or these text types…

• A travelogue that describes a particular place, highlighting its natural beauty, cultural attractions, and unique characteristics. The author uses sensory language to create a vivid mental picture in the reader’s mind.
• A painting analysis that describes the colors, shapes, textures, and overall impression of a particular artwork. The author uses descriptive language to evoke the emotions and ideas conveyed by the painting.
• A product review that describes the features, benefits, and drawbacks of a particular item. The author uses descriptive language to give the reader a clear sense of the product and whether it might suit their needs.

How to Identify: In the case of fiction writing which describes, the reader will notice the writer using lots of sensory details in the text. Our senses are how we perceive the world, and to describe their imaginary world, writers will draw heavily on language that appeals to these senses. In both fiction and nonfiction, readers will notice that the writer relies heavily on adjectives.

Strategies for being a more descriptive writer

Becoming a descriptive writer is a valuable skill that allows students to paint vivid pictures with words and immerse readers in their stories. Here are five strategies for students to enhance their descriptive writing:

• Sensory Language: Engage the reader’s senses by incorporating sensory language into your writing. Use descriptive adjectives, adverbs, and strong verbs to create a sensory experience for your audience. For example, instead of saying “the flower was pretty,” describe it as “the delicate, fragrant blossom with hues of vibrant pink and a velvety texture.”
• Show, Don’t Tell: Use the “show, don’t tell” technique to make your writing more descriptive and immersive. Rather than stating emotions or characteristics directly, use descriptive details and actions to show them. For instance, instead of saying “she was scared,” describe how “her heart raced, and her hands trembled as she peeked around the dark corner.”
• Use Metaphors and Similes: Integrate metaphors and similes to add depth and creativity to your descriptions. Compare two unrelated things to create a powerful visual image. For example, “the sun dipped below the horizon like a golden coin slipping into a piggy bank.”
• Focus on Setting: Pay attention to the setting of your story or narrative. Describe the environment, atmosphere, and surroundings in detail. Take the reader on a journey by clearly depicting the location. Let your words bring the setting to life, whether it’s a lush forest, a bustling city street, or a mystical castle.
• Practice Observation: Practice keen observation skills in your daily life. Take note of the world around you—the sights, sounds, smells, tastes, and textures. Observe people, places, and objects with a writer’s eye. By developing a habit of keen observation, you’ll have a rich bank of sensory details to draw from when you write.

Bonus Tip: Revise and Edit: Good descriptive writing often comes through revision and editing. After writing a draft, go back and read your work critically. Look for opportunities to add more descriptive elements, eliminate unnecessary adjectives or cliches, and refine your language to make it more engaging.

By applying these strategies and continually honing your descriptive writing skills, you’ll be able to transport readers to new worlds, evoke emotions, and make your writing more captivating and memorable.

Free Author’s Purpose Anchor Charts & Posters

Author’s Purpose Teaching Activities

The Author’s Purpose Task 1. The Author’s Purpose Anchor Chart

Whether introducing the general idea of the author’s purpose or working on identifying the specifics of a single purpose, a pie author’s purpose anchor chart can be an excellent resource for students when working independently. Compiling the anchor chart collaboratively with the students can be an effective way for them to reconstruct and reinforce their learning.

The Author’s Purpose Task 2. Gather Real-Life Examples

Challenging students to identify and collect real-life examples of the various types of writing as homework can be a great way to get some hands-on practice. Encourage your students to gather various forms of text together indiscriminately. They then sift through them to categorize them appropriately according to their purpose. The students will soon begin to see that all writing has a purpose. You may also like to make a classroom display of the gathered texts to serve as examples.

The Author’s Purpose Task 3. DIY

One of the most effective ways for students to recognize the authorial intent behind a piece of writing is to gain experience producing writing for various purposes. Design writing tasks with this in mind. For example, if you are focused on writing to persuade, you could challenge the students to produce a script for a radio advertisement. If the focus is entertaining, you could ask the students to write a funny story.

The Author’s Purpose Task 4. Classroom Discussion

When teaching author’s purpose, organize the students into small discussion groups of, say, 4 to 5. Provide each group with copies of sample texts written for various purposes. Students should have some time to read through the texts by themselves. They then work to identify the author’s purpose, making notes as they go. Students can discuss their findings as a group.

Remember: the various purposes are not mutually exclusive; sometimes, a text has more than one purpose. It is possible to be both entertaining and informative, for example. It is essential students recognize this fact. A careful selection of texts can ensure the students can discover this for themselves.

 Students need to understand that regardless of the text they are engaged with, every piece of writing has some purpose behind it. It’s important that they work towards recognizing the various features of different types of writing that reveal to the reader just what that purpose is.

Initially, the process of learning to identify the different types of writing and their purposes will require conscious focus on the part of the student. Plenty of opportunities should be created to allow this necessary classroom practice.

However, this practice doesn’t have to be exclusively in the form of discrete lessons on the author’s purpose. Simply asking students what they think the author’s purpose is when reading any text in any context can be a great way to get the ‘reps’ in quickly and frequently.

Eventually, students will begin to recognize the author’s purpose quickly and unconsciously in the writing of others.

Ultimately, this improved comprehension of writing, in general, will benefit students in their own independent writing.

This video is an excellent introductory guide for students looking for a simple visual breakdown of the author’s purpose and how it can impact their approach to writing and assessment.

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• B.A., English, University of Michigan

Knowing what author's purpose questions look like is one thing. Finding it is quite another! On a standardized test , you'll have answer choices to help you figure it out, but distractor questions will often confuse you. On a short answer test, you'll have nothing but your own brain to figure it out, and sometimes it isn't as easy at it seems. It may be helpful to practice these types of questions while preparing for standardized tests.

Look For Clue Words

Figuring out why an author wrote a particular passage can be as easy (or as difficult) as looking at clues inside the passage. I've mentioned in the "What is the Author's Purpose" article several different reasons an author would have to write a passage of text, and what those reasons mean. Below, you'll find those reasons, with the clue words associated with them.

• Compare: Author wanted to show similarities between ideas Clue Words: both, similarly, in the same way, like, just as
• Contrast: Author wanted to show differences between ideas Clue Words: however, but, dissimilarly, on the other hand
• Criticize: Author wanted to give a negative opinion of an idea Clue Words: Look for words that show the author's negative opinion. Judgment words like "bad", "wasteful", and "poor" all demonstrate negative opinions.
• Describe/Illustrate: Author wanted to paint a picture of an idea Clue Words: Look for words that provide descriptive detail. Adjectives like "red", "lusty", "morose", "striped", "sparkling", and "crestfallen" are all illustrative.
• Explain: Author wanted to break down an idea into simpler terms Clue Words: Look for words that turn a complicated process into simple language. A "descriptive" text will use more adjectives. An "explanatory" text will usually be used with a complicated idea.
• Identify/List: Author wanted to tell the reader about an idea or series of ideas Clue Words: Text that identifies or lists, will name an idea or series of ideas without providing much description or opinion.
• Intensify: Author wanted to make an idea greater Clue Words: Text that intensifies will add more specific details to the idea. Look for superlative adjectives and "bigger" concepts. A baby sadly crying is descriptive, but a baby mournfully howling red-cheeked for 30 minutes is more intense.
• Suggest: Author wanted to propose an idea Clue Words: "Suggest" answers are usually positive opinions and try to sway the reader to believe. The author will provide a point, then use details to prove it. ​

Underline the Clue Words

It helps to use that pencil in your hand when you're reading if you're unsure what the author's purpose is. As you read, underline the clue words in the text to help you get a better idea. Then, either compose a sentence using the key words (compare, explain, illustrate) to show why the author wrote the piece or select the best answer from the choices given.

• What is The Author's Purpose?
• How to Find the Main Idea
• How to Make an Inference in 5 Easy Steps
• What Is Author's Tone?
• Worksheet 1: Author's Purpose
• 3 Tricks to Figure out the Author's Tone
• Top 5 ACT Reading Strategies
• How to Boost Reading Comprehension With Reciprocal Teaching
• How to Assess and Teach Reading Comprehension
• Reading Comprehension Practice Questions
• Problem Solving in Mathematics
• Worksheet 2: Author's Purpose
• 5 Tips to Improve Reading Comprehension
• Inference: A Critical Assumption
• ACT Format: What to Expect on the Exam
• ACT Reading Test Questions, Content, and Scores

Understanding Author’s Purpose: Why It Matters in Writing

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Welcome to our exploration of author’s purpose in writing! Have you ever wondered why authors write what they do?

Understanding an author’s purpose is like deciphering the code behind their words. It’s about uncovering the intentions and motivations that drive their writing. In this blog post, we’ll delve into the significance of author’s purpose, its impact on the reader, and why it’s essential for both writers and readers to grasp.

So, let’s embark on this journey to unravel the mysteries of author’s purpose in writing.

Now, let’s explore why authors write the way they do, and why it’s crucial for both writers and readers to understand this concept.

The purpose behind a piece of writing is like the North Star guiding a ship through the vast ocean of words. Every word, every sentence, every paragraph crafted by an author serves a purpose beyond mere communication. Whether it’s to inform, persuade, entertain, or provoke thought, the author’s purpose shapes the entire composition, influencing the tone, style, and content.

Consider a persuasive essay advocating for environmental conservation. The author’s purpose is to convince readers of the urgency to protect the planet. They employ rhetorical strategies, emotional appeals, and factual evidence to sway the audience towards their viewpoint. Understanding this purpose allows readers to engage critically with the text, evaluating the effectiveness of the author’s arguments and forming informed opinions.

Similarly, in a work of fiction, the author’s purpose might be to transport readers to a different world, evoke emotions, or convey universal truths about the human experience. By recognizing the underlying purpose, readers can immerse themselves more fully in the narrative, empathizing with characters, and grasping the deeper themes woven into the story.

For writers, clarity of purpose is paramount. Before putting pen to paper or fingers to keyboard, authors must ask themselves: What do I hope to achieve with this piece? Whether it’s to entertain, educate, inspire, or provoke change, a clear understanding of their purpose guides every decision—from choosing the right words to structuring the narrative.

Moreover, understanding author’s purpose fosters critical thinking skills essential in today’s information-saturated world. When readers approach a text with an awareness of the author’s intentions, they become active participants in the dialogue, questioning, analyzing, and interpreting the content more effectively.

What Is Authors Purpose?

The author’s purpose refers to the reason behind why a writer creates a particular piece of writing. It encompasses the goals, intentions, or objectives that drive the author to communicate their message to the audience. Understanding the author’s purpose is crucial for readers as it helps them comprehend the text better, evaluate its effectiveness, and engage critically with the content.

What are the different types of authors’ purpose?

There are several different types of author’s purposes, each serving a distinct function in communication. Here are the primary categories:

• To Inform : The author aims to impart knowledge, facts, or information to the audience. This purpose is prevalent in textbooks, news articles, research papers, and instructional manuals. The author seeks to educate the reader about a specific topic, event, or concept.
• To Persuade : In persuasive writing, the author endeavors to sway the audience’s beliefs, opinions, or actions. This could involve presenting arguments, making appeals to emotions or logic, and advocating for a particular viewpoint or course of action. Examples include opinion pieces, advertisements, political speeches, and editorials.
• To Entertain : Authors may write primarily to amuse, entertain, or engage the audience. Fictional works such as novels, short stories, poetry, and plays often serve this purpose. Through storytelling, humor, drama, or suspense, the author seeks to captivate readers and provide enjoyment.
• To Express : Sometimes, authors write to express themselves, their thoughts, feelings, or experiences. This purpose is common in personal narratives, journals, memoirs, and reflective essays. The author may use writing as a form of self-expression, catharsis, or exploration of identity.
• To Instruct : Writing with the intention to instruct involves providing guidance, directions, or step-by-step procedures to help readers learn or accomplish something. This purpose is evident in how-to guides, recipes, manuals, and tutorials. The author aims to facilitate understanding and skill acquisition in the audience.
• To Describe : Authors may write to describe a person, place, object, or event in vivid detail, appealing to the reader’s senses and imagination. Descriptive writing is often found in travelogues, nature writing, and creative non-fiction. The author aims to paint a rich, sensory picture for the reader.
• To Convey Emotion : Some authors write with the primary goal of evoking emotions in the reader. This purpose is prevalent in poetry, lyrical prose, and personal essays. Through the use of imagery, metaphor, and language, the author seeks to elicit feelings of joy, sadness, nostalgia, or empathy.

Understanding these different types of author’s purposes allows readers to engage more deeply with a variety of texts, discerning the intentions behind the writing and interpreting the messages effectively.

What are the key words for author’s purpose?

Key words for identifying the author’s purpose in a text vary depending on the specific purpose. Here are some key words associated with each purpose:

• To Inform : inform, explain, describe, report, detail, educate, illustrate, clarify
• To Persuade : persuade, convince, argue, advocate, influence, convince, sway, urge, recommend
• To Entertain : entertain, amuse, delight, captivate, engage, charm, entertain, divert, thrill
• To Express : express, share, reveal, convey, articulate, narrate, recount, reflect, disclose
• To Instruct : instruct, guide, teach, demonstrate, show, explain, clarify, direct, advise
• To Describe : describe, depict, portray, characterize, illustrate, paint, evoke, capture, depict
• To Convey Emotion : evoke, express, convey, evoke, stir, elicit, provoke, arouse, communicate

What are the characteristics of the author’s purpose?

• Clarity : The purpose should be clear and evident throughout the text.
• Consistency : The content should align with the stated purpose.
• Tone : The tone of the writing often reflects the author’s purpose (e.g., formal for informing, persuasive for persuading, emotive for conveying emotion).
• Content : The type of information, arguments, or storytelling techniques used correspond to the purpose.
• Audience Engagement : The author aims to engage the audience according to their purpose (e.g., providing information, sparking emotions, guiding actions).

Why does purpose matter in writing?

Understanding the purpose of writing is paramount because it serves as the guiding force behind every word, sentence, and paragraph. Here’s why purpose matters in writing:

• Clarity of Communication : Identifying the purpose helps writers articulate their message clearly and effectively. Whether the goal is to inform, persuade, entertain, or express, knowing the purpose ensures that the content is tailored to achieve that objective.
• Audience Engagement : Purpose-driven writing resonates with the intended audience, capturing their attention and maintaining their interest. By aligning the content with the audience’s expectations and needs, writers can create meaningful connections and foster engagement.
• Effectiveness of Communication : Understanding the purpose allows writers to choose the most appropriate language, tone, and style to convey their message. This enhances the effectiveness of communication, ensuring that the intended message is conveyed accurately and convincingly.
• Achieving Goals : Writing with a clear purpose helps writers achieve their goals, whether it’s to inform, persuade, entertain, or inspire action. By keeping the purpose in mind throughout the writing process, writers can stay focused and effectively achieve their objectives.
• Impact on Readers : Purposeful writing has a significant impact on readers, influencing their perceptions, beliefs, and actions. Whether the goal is to educate, motivate, or entertain, purpose-driven writing can inspire readers, provoke thought, and evoke emotions, leaving a lasting impression.

Overall, purpose serves as the compass that guides writers through the writing process, ensuring that their message is clear, engaging, and impactful.

What is a top priority for all proposal writers?

For proposal writers, a top priority is to clearly articulate the purpose and objectives of the proposal. Here’s why:

• Clarity of Intent : Clearly stating the purpose of the proposal helps stakeholders understand the goals, objectives, and desired outcomes. This ensures alignment and clarity of intent, reducing ambiguity and misinterpretation.
• Audience Engagement : Clearly defining the purpose of the proposal captures the attention of stakeholders and engages them in the proposed initiative or project. It communicates the relevance and importance of the proposal, motivating stakeholders to invest time and resources in its success.
• Alignment of Strategies : A clearly defined purpose enables proposal writers to develop strategies and action plans that align with the intended objectives. It provides a framework for decision-making and prioritization, ensuring that resources are allocated effectively to achieve the desired outcomes.
• Measurable Outcomes : Defining the purpose of the proposal allows for the establishment of measurable outcomes and success criteria. This enables stakeholders to assess the effectiveness and impact of the proposed initiative, facilitating accountability and evaluation.

Overall, clearly articulating the purpose of the proposal is essential for gaining stakeholder buy-in, guiding decision-making, and ultimately achieving the desired results.

In conclusion, understanding the purpose of writing is fundamental to effective communication. Whether informing, persuading, entertaining, or expressing, the purpose serves as the driving force behind every word penned by the author. It guides the tone, style, and content of the writing, ensuring clarity, engagement, and impact on the audience.

Recognizing the writer’s purpose and tone empowers readers to interpret and evaluate the content critically, fostering deeper engagement and meaningful dialogue. For proposal writers, clearly articulating the purpose of the proposal is paramount for gaining stakeholder buy-in, guiding decision-making, and ultimately achieving success.

In essence, purpose matters in writing because it provides direction, relevance, and significance to the text. By understanding the purpose behind the words, both writers and readers can navigate the complexities of communication with clarity, purpose, and effectiveness.

About Sara Cook

Hi, I am Sara! I am the founder of TheWritersHQ! I have loved writing and reading since I was a little kid! Stephen King has my heart! I started this site to share my knowledge and build on my passion!

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Thesis and Purpose Statements

Use the guidelines below to learn the differences between thesis and purpose statements.

In the first stages of writing, thesis or purpose statements are usually rough or ill-formed and are useful primarily as planning tools.

A thesis statement or purpose statement will emerge as you think and write about a topic. The statement can be restricted or clarified and eventually worked into an introduction.

As you revise your paper, try to phrase your thesis or purpose statement in a precise way so that it matches the content and organization of your paper.

Thesis statements

A thesis statement is a sentence that makes an assertion about a topic and predicts how the topic will be developed. It does not simply announce a topic: it says something about the topic.

Good: X has made a significant impact on the teenage population due to its . . . Bad: In this paper, I will discuss X.

A thesis statement makes a promise to the reader about the scope, purpose, and direction of the paper. It summarizes the conclusions that the writer has reached about the topic.

A thesis statement is generally located near the end of the introduction. Sometimes in a long paper, the thesis will be expressed in several sentences or an entire paragraph.

A thesis statement is focused and specific enough to be proven within the boundaries of the paper. Key words (nouns and verbs) should be specific, accurate, and indicative of the range of research, thrust of the argument or analysis, and the organization of supporting information.

Purpose statements

A purpose statement announces the purpose, scope, and direction of the paper. It tells the reader what to expect in a paper and what the specific focus will be.

Common beginnings include:

“This paper examines . . .,” “The aim of this paper is to . . .,” and “The purpose of this essay is to . . .”

A purpose statement makes a promise to the reader about the development of the argument but does not preview the particular conclusions that the writer has drawn.

A purpose statement usually appears toward the end of the introduction. The purpose statement may be expressed in several sentences or even an entire paragraph.

A purpose statement is specific enough to satisfy the requirements of the assignment. Purpose statements are common in research papers in some academic disciplines, while in other disciplines they are considered too blunt or direct. If you are unsure about using a purpose statement, ask your instructor.

This paper will examine the ecological destruction of the Sahel preceding the drought and the causes of this disintegration of the land. The focus will be on the economic, political, and social relationships which brought about the environmental problems in the Sahel.

Sample purpose and thesis statements

The following example combines a purpose statement and a thesis statement (bold).

The goal of this paper is to examine the effects of Chile’s agrarian reform on the lives of rural peasants. The nature of the topic dictates the use of both a chronological and a comparative analysis of peasant lives at various points during the reform period. . . The Chilean reform example provides evidence that land distribution is an essential component of both the improvement of peasant conditions and the development of a democratic society. More extensive and enduring reforms would likely have allowed Chile the opportunity to further expand these horizons.

For more tips about writing thesis statements, take a look at our new handout on Developing a Thesis Statement.

Writing Process and Structure

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Getting Started with Your Paper

Interpreting Writing Assignments from Your Courses

Generating Ideas for Your Paper

Creating an Argument

Thesis vs. Purpose Statements

Developing a Thesis Statement

Architecture of Arguments

Working with Sources

Quoting and Paraphrasing Sources

Using Literary Quotations

Citing Sources in Your Paper

Drafting Your Paper

Introductions

Paragraphing

Developing Strategic Transitions

Conclusions

Revising Your Paper

Peer Reviews

Reverse Outlines

Revising an Argumentative Paper

Revision Strategies for Longer Projects

Finishing Your Paper

Twelve Common Errors: An Editing Checklist

How to Proofread your Paper

Writing Collaboratively

Collaborative and Group Writing

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5.2: Identifying Thesis Statements and Topic Sentences

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Being able to identify the purpose and thesis of a text, as you’re reading it, takes practice. This section will offer you that practice.

One fun strategy for developing a deeper understanding the material you’re reading is to make a visual “map” of the ideas. Mind maps, whether hand-drawn or done through computer programs, can be fun to make, and help put all the ideas of an essay you’re reading in one easy-to-read format.

Your understanding of what the “central” element of the mind map is might change as you read and re-read. Developing the central idea of your mind map is a great way to help you determine the reading’s thesis.

Figure 2.5. 1

- Hand-drawn Mind Map

Locating Explicit and Implicit Thesis Statements

In academic writing, the thesis is often explicit : it is included as a sentence as part of the text. It might be near the beginning of the work, but not always–some types of academic writing leave the thesis until the conclusion.

Journalism and reporting also rely on explicit thesis statements that appear very early in the piece–the first paragraph or even the first sentence.

Works of literature, on the other hand, usually do not contain a specific sentence that sums up the core concept of the writing. However, readers should finish the piece with a good understanding of what the work was trying to convey. This is what’s called an implicit thesis statement: the primary point of the reading is conveyed indirectly, in multiple locations throughout the work. (In literature, this is also referred to as the theme of the work.)

Academic writing sometimes relies on implicit thesis statements, as well.

This video offers excellent guidance in identifying the thesis statement of a work, no matter if it’s explicit or implicit.

Topic Sentences

We’ve learned that a thesis statement conveys the primary message of an entire piece of text. Now, let’s look at the next level of important sentences in a piece of text: topic sentences in each paragraph.

A useful metaphor would be to think of the thesis statement of a text as a general: it controls all the major decisions of the writing. There is only one thesis statement in a text. Topic sentences, in this relationship, serve as captains: they organize and sub-divide the overall goals of a writing into individual components. Each paragraph will have a topic sentence.

Figure 2.5. 2

It might be helpful to think of a topic sentence as working in two directions simultaneously. It relates the paragraph to the essay’s thesis, and thereby acts as a signpost for the argument of the paper as a whole, but it also defines the scope of the paragraph itself. For example, consider the following topic sentence:

Many characters in Lorraine Hansberry’s play A Raisin in the Sun have one particular dream in which they are following, though the character Walter pursues his most aggressively.

If this sentence controls the paragraph that follows, then all sentences in the paragraph must relate in some way to Walter and the pursuit of his dream.

Topic sentences often act like tiny thesis statements. Like a thesis statement, a topic sentence makes a claim of some sort. As the thesis statement is the unifying force in the essay, so the topic sentence must be the unifying force in the paragraph. Further, as is the case with the thesis statement, when the topic sentence makes a claim, the paragraph which follows must expand, describe, or prove it in some way. Topic sentences make a point and give reasons or examples to support it.

 The following diagram illustrates how a topic sentence can provide more focus to the general topic at hand.

Placement of Topic Sentences

What if I told you that the topic sentence doesn’t necessarily need to be at the beginning? This might be contrary to what you’ve learned in previous English or writing classes, and that’s okay. Certainly, when authors announce a topic clearly and early on in a paragraph, their readers are likely to grasp their idea and to make the connections that they want them to make.

However, when authors are writing for a more sophisticated academic audience—that is an audience of college-educated readers—they will often use more sophisticated organizational strategies to build and reveal ideas in their writing. One way to think about a topic sentence, is that it presents the broadest view of what authors want their readers to understand. This is to say that they’re providing a broad statement that either announces or brings into focus the purpose or the meaning for the details of the paragraph. If the topic sentence is seen as the broadest view, then every supporting detail will bring a narrower—or more specific—view of the same topic.

With this in mind, take some time to contemplate the diagrams in the figure below. The widest point of each diagram (the bases of the triangles) represents the topic sentence of the paragraph. As details are presented, the topic becomes narrower and more focused. The topic can precede the details, it can follow them, it can both precede and follow them, or the details can surround the topic. There are surely more alternatives than those that are presented here, but this gives you an idea of some of the possible paragraph structures and possible placements for the topic sentence of a paragraph.

Consider some of the following examples of different topic sentence placements in a paragraph from a review essay of the beloved children’s book, The Cat in the Hat , by Dr. Seuss. Paragraph structures are labeled according to the diagrams presented above, and topic sentences are identified by red text.

Topic Sentence-Details-Topic Sentence

A good children’s book requires an exciting plot and a problem with which children can sympathize. In The Cat in the Hat there is plenty of action, depicted in the wild antics of the cat, and later in the amazing but dangerous and messy tricks of Thing 1 and Thing 2. All this excitement and action naturally draws children into the story and keeps the plot moving forward at a pace that maintains their interest. There is also tension to be resolved. The fish senses danger and constantly warns the children not to participate in the cat’s perilous stunts. And later, as the mother’s return becomes more imminent, the children begin to heed the fish’s warning and finally wish to contain the chaos and clean up the mess, but how? While this plot is fantastic enough to fuel any child’s imagination, it also contains a problem with which any child can relate: a mess and the threat of a parent’s disapproval. The careful balance of action, tension, and relatability is what makes this book an enduring childhood favorite.

Topic Sentence-Details

The careful balance of action, tension, and relatability is what makes Dr. Seuss’s The Cat in the Hat an enduring childhood favorite. In The Cat in the Hat there is plenty of action, depicted in the wild antics of the cat, and later in the amazing but dangerous and messy tricks of Thing 1 and Thing 2. All this excitement and action naturally draws children into the story and keeps the plot moving forward at a pace that maintains their interest. There is also tension to be resolved. The fish senses danger and constantly warns the children not to participate in the cat’s perilous stunts. And later, as the mother’s return becomes more imminent, the children begin to heed the fish’s warning and finally wish to contain the chaos and clean up the mess, but how? While this plot is fantastic enough to fuel any child’s imagination, it also contains a problem with which any child can relate: a mess and the threat of a parent’s disapproval.

You can relocate the topic sentence to the end here, and you’ll have an example of the Details-Topic Sentence method of organizing the paragraph.

Details-Topic Sentence-Details

In The Cat in the Hat there is plenty of action, depicted in the wild antics of the cat, and later in the amazing but dangerous and messy tricks of Thing 1 and Thing 2. All this excitement and action naturally draws children into the story and keeps the plot moving forward at a pace that maintains their interest. The careful balance of action, tension, and relatability is what makes Dr. Seuss’s The Cat in the Hat an enduring childhood favorite. There is definitely tension to be resolved here. The fish senses danger and constantly warns the children not to participate in the cat’s perilous stunts. And later, as the mother’s return becomes more imminent, the children begin to heed the fish’s warning and finally wish to contain the chaos and clean up the mess, but how? While this plot is fantastic enough to fuel any child’s imagination, it also contains a problem with which any child can relate: a mess and the threat of a parent’s disapproval.

Explicit and Implicit Topic Sentences

Similar to thesis statements, topic sentences may be explicit or implicit.

Consider the following paragraph from an essay titled “The Bothersome Beauty of Pigeons,” by author and Boise State writing professor, Bruce Ballenger. It’s important to note that this is a personal narrative essay rather than a more traditional academic essay, but the paragraph provides a good example of an implied topic. In this essay Ballenger takes the time to consider the beauty of pigeons, a bird that’s usually thought of as nothing more than a nuisance. Just prior to this paragraph, Ballenger talks about how he used a fake owl to scare away pigeons on his property. He goes on to explain,

My pigeons moved next door where an elderly couple feed them bird seed and have the time and willingness to clean up after their new charges; so it seems, in this case, things have worked out for everyone. But the large flocks still haunt the piazzas in Florence and Venice, the squares in London, and similar places in nearly every city across the globe. Despite their ability to distinguish between a Van Gogh and a Chagall, pigeons still deposit droppings that deface the great marble statues and facades–the works of art and architecture that are part of our human heritage–and yet people still buy bags of seed for about a dollar and pose for photographs, drenched in doves. Meanwhile, officials in these cities continue, sometimes quietly, to wage war against the birds (“Introduction”).

Here, Ballenger seems to be saying that in spite of the attempts of so many to rid themselves of the pigeons, others are still drawn to them and will feed them and encourage them to come back. His main idea seems to be that the battle against pigeons is a losing proposition, but he doesn’t come out and say so. His message in this paragraph is implied. Do you think this paragraph would be improved with an explicit topic sentence?

EXERCISE 1: Identify the Topic and Focus

Choose a piece of writing, perhaps an essay or some news articles found online, and for each paragraph identify (1) the topic and (2) the more focused idea. Remember, the topic sentence applies more focus to the broader topic to help narrow the scope of the paragraph. For example, the topic of a paragraph might be school lunches. The more focused idea of that same paragraph might be the idea of having students plant school gardens as a way to help incorporate more fresh produce in the menu.

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Adaptions: Reformatted, some content removed to fit a broader audience.

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167 What’s the Point: Finding Thesis Statements

What is a thesis statement.

In academic writing, thesis statements help readers understand the topic and purpose of the composition you’re sharing with them. Thesis statements put up a signpost that identifies your destination and the direction you’ll take. Thesis statements also help you, the writer, focus your work; as you write, you can return to this statement periodically and consider how well you’re sticking to the topic and how well you’re proving your thesis.

By the way, thesis statements may be present in other types of writing, from news articles to memoirs, as well as the focused academic, professional, and scholarly works you’ll use for research and to compose your own essays, reports, and more.

For example, consider these thesis statements:

• Healthcare reform in America is long overdue, and there is no other policy proposition more unequivocally prepared to provide substantial and affordable healthcare, mental health and substance abuse treatment than a single-payer, national health insurance program — better known as Medicare for All. (Cantu 2021)
• I am going to write an essay describing my experiences with fat oppression and the ways in which feminism and punk have affected my work. (Lamm 1975/2001).
• The concept of infinity has different applications in mathematical, philosophical, and cosmological studies.
• We argue that as we are talking about what we “know,” we also need to pivot and think about what we (as composition scholars) don’t know, as well as what novices (such as graduate students) need to know to be effective teachers of writing. (Brewer & di Gennaro 2022)

These examples all fulfill the definition provided in the textbook First-Year Composition: Writing as Inquiry and Argumentation : “A solid thesis statement notifies readers of the writer’s topic and prepares readers for the argument to come.” In other words, a thesis is both a signpost (“notifies readers”) and a roadmap (“prepares readers”).

Let’s consider thesis statements in another way:

• Watch Martha Ann Kennedy’s short YouTube video, “ How to Identify the Thesis Statement .”
• What are thesis statements?
• What clues help you find them?

How Do I Find the Thesis Statement?

Thesis statements can be difficult to find, even for experienced readers. Sometimes, they’re located at the start of the first paragraph of the essay or article. Sometimes, they’re located at the end of that first paragraph. Sometimes — especially in longer articles and in academic books — they’re located several paragraphs or pages into the piece.

What’s a reader to do?

Tips for Finding Thesis Statements

• First, read the title. Scholarly articles, essays, books, and studies usually provide very descriptive and detailed titles that identify the topic. Titles often provide a clue to the author’s point of view, position on the topic, direction of the piece, and key argument.
• Second, read the abstract, if there is one. These entries usually give a somewhat detailed overview. Good abstracts clearly identify the topic, outline the study methods used (if any), and clearly state the author’s argument, conclusions, or findings. Quite often, the thesis statement is the last full sentence of the abstract.
• Third, read the first paragraph or — for longer articles and books — the first page or so. The idea is to get the sense of the piece. But, as with the abstract, pay close attention to the first and last sentences. Quite often, the thesis statement is the last full sentence of the first paragraph.
• As you read, look for sentences that use words like “argue,” “claim,” “conclude,” “contend,” “will,” “in this …,” “should.” There are a few other key words that are common, but these will get you started.
• Finally, ask yourself if the steps above have helped you identify what the essay or article is about, what the author’s position is, and what argument they’re making (or what conclusions they are presenting). Is there one sentence that sums up these details? If so, that’s a candidate for the thesis statement.
• If you’re not sure, repeat or revisit one of the steps above.

Want to learn more?

• “ What is a Thesis Statement and Why is it Important? ”
• “ What is a Thesis Statement? I Need Some Examples, Too .”
• “ How to Find Thesis Statements ”

Reading and Writing in College Copyright © 2021 by Jackie Hoermann-Elliott and TWU FYC Team is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License , except where otherwise noted.

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A Guide To The Author’s Purpose

Table of Contents

What does persuasion mean, some examples of persuasion in writing:, clues to look for persuasive purpose:, what does inform mean, some examples of information in writing:, clues to look for informative purpose:, what does entertain mean, some examples of entertainment in writing:, clues to look for entertaining purpose:, what does explain mean, some examples of explanation in writing:, clues to look for explaining purpose:, what does describe mean, some examples of description in writing:, clues to look for descriptive purpose:.

An essential concept in mastering reading is understanding the why behind the words. What is the author trying to say? What is the motivation, the message, the intent of the literary work?

The reason why the author writes a particular piece of fiction or non-fiction is called the author’s purpose. Authors choose the genre, writing format, and language based on the author’s purpose. Therefore, a student cannot assume the purpose because the text falls in a specific genre category or because it’s a story and not a textbook.

What is authors purpose and how does the reader identify the author’s purpose?

The 5 Types of Author’s Purpose

To persuade.

This is an extremely common form of writing where the author attempts to convince the reader to agree with them or for the reader to act in a specific way. Persuasive writing is easily recognized by a call to action in the text or the author sharing their opinion backed with facts, proof, and examples to help convince the reader.

While it’s commonly found in non-fiction, many well-written fiction books are also attempting to persuade the reader.

• Propaganda pieces that influence people to think or act in a certain way
• Speeches that attempts to convince the reader to agree with the speaker’s opinion
• Advertisements that persuade a person to buy the product or service
• Commercial and news editorials that inform and persuade the reader
• The author’s purpose is in the motivation behind an essay.
• Fiction writing where the author has an agenda intentionally or unintentionally.
• Is the author attempting to convince the reader to take a specific action or believe something specific?
• Does the author make use of hyperbole?
• Does the author use forceful phrases?
• Does the author attack viewpoints that oppose theirs?
• Is the writing filled with imagery and graphics to extract specific types of emotions from the reader?

When the author’s purpose is to inform, they write objectively and use facts. Although both informative writing and persuasive writing use facts, the goals are different. Persuasive writing uses facts to support an opinion; it’s part of the process to convince the reader and present itself as “informative.” Informative writing, however, uses facts to educate the reader about a certain topic. There is no hidden goal; the author presents informative facts to teach the reader and is not interested in convincing the reader to believe or act in a certain way.

You’ll often find a liberal dose of text features in an text when an author’s purpose is to inform.

Informative writing is generally found in non-fiction writing. Fiction may also present information throughout the text.

• School textbooks are written for the primary purpose of teaching students about a subject.
• Recipe books provide the ingredients and methods of how to cook a specific dish.
• Newspapers inform the public about current events and news happening locally, nationally, or internationally.
• Encyclopedias and dictionaries define, explain, and inform about a word or subject.
• Does the author use facts to inform and educate without wanting to persuade the reader?
• Is the content objective where the author does not give their opinion to convince the student in a specific way?
• Does the text contain hidden opinions that are not informative but persuasive?
• Did the reader learn something when reading the text?

To Entertain

The author’s purpose in fiction books is generally to entertain the reader. Non-fiction texts, however, may also be entertaining while informing the reader too. Fiction writers use fascinating characters, sharp dialogue, an exciting storyline, or an action-packed plot to keep readers interested and engaged. Readers may prefer reading genres that they find more enjoyable than others.

Although entertainment in writing is generally found in fiction, non-fiction writers also may use storytelling to engage the reader and accentuate a point.

• Genre fiction authors write for readers who enjoy reading the type of stories typical to that genre. Readers could be picky with the genres they prefer. For example, science fiction readers may not find romance novels as entertaining, and romance lovers may not enjoy suspense that much.
• The author tells an entertaining story that the reader wants to read.
• Does the writer use techniques to keep the reader engaged?
• Do chapters end with cliffhangers or in such a way that all the questions aren’t answered entice the reader to read the next chapter to find out what happened next?
• Does the story or text contain humor, funny incidents, or characters telling jokes?
• Do action-packed scenes build on each other to increase suspense?
• Does the reader identify with a character or circumstances that invite them to read further?

Authors write explanatory text when they want to bring across a particular method or process. The text contains explanations to help the reader understand how the process works or what the procedure requires to do, create, or complete something.

Authors who write to explain a topic generally write non-fiction books. An author may also explain a topic in a novel, for example, how a drone works, to better understand the situation or character better.

• How-to books explain to the reader how to do something or how something works.
• A book with recipes is a classic example of explaining a method to the reader. The reader follows the instructions to cook that specific dish.
• Step-by-step guides like DIY methods instruct the reader through each step by explaining what to do to complete that step.
• Companies may use procedural outlines in orientation or training outlining the steps and the order the actions should take place.
• Does the writing contain a list of points in numbered or bullet format?
• Are there infographics, diagrams, or illustrations that reinforce the written explanation?
• Is the writing action orientated with lots of verbs that portray commands, orders, or instructions?
• Does the text focus on telling the reader how to do something?

To Describe

If describing is the author’s purpose, then the text may contain adjectives and images to illustrate something in detail. The writer may write with such detail that the reader experiences the imagery through their sense as if it were real.

Fiction authors use descriptions in their writing to engage and entertain the reader. Non-fiction may also use detailed reports expanding on a point.

• Novels and short stories contain descriptions to paint a picture drawing the reader into the story.
• Businesses use product descriptions to show potential customer what they will buy.
• Descriptive essays and other non-fiction writing use descriptions to help the reader understand the point, product, or service.
• Does the writer use adjectives to describe something?
• Does the author use language that appeals to the reader’s senses?

Retha Groenewald is a professional writer working for FractusLearning. When not working with Fractus, she is web copywriter for the Christian market. Her writing is featured at Christian Web Copywriter and at Writing That Breathes Life.

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Your Reading Comprehension Toolkit: Identifying the Author's Purpose

Identifying the author’s purpose is an important comprehension strategy for all readers to master. luckily it’s an easy strategy to teach. that’s because identifying the author’s purpose is pretty intuitive..

Ask a first grader who loves the pigeon books why Mo Willems is such a good author and they’ll likely tell you he’s a good author because he’s funny. Likewise, a fifth grader who’s into books about the American Revolution will tell you that they read the books to learn facts about the war. Both students know why they enjoy what they’re reading. And if they can tell you why they enjoy a text, they can easily identify the author’s purpose.

Identifying the Author’s Purpose Is Easy as Pie

Most students learn to use the following acronym when thinking about the author’s purpose:

P is for Persuade  - the author shares their opinion with the reader

I is for Inform  - the author presents facts to the reader

E is for Entertain  - the author amuses the reader

The PIE acronym is a helpful tool to use when introducing readers to the concept of the author’s purpose. You can use it to build an anchor chart or as a springboard for a whole-class activity like the one outlined below:

Make a PIE to Track Author’s Purpose

Display 3 large paper circles (pie pans) on your wall. Label each circle with an author’s purpose “flavor” (persuade, inform, entertain). Then begin to fill your pies:

Read a variety of texts with your students

Work with students to identify the author’s purpose for writing the text

Make a slice of pie for each text. Write why the text is an example of a specific author’s purpose

Add the slices of pie to the correct pie pan

Track author’s purpose throughout the year and discuss any trends across the books and articles that you read.

Moving Beyond PIE

Once readers are familiar with the basic reasons for an author to write a text they can use what they know to deepen comprehension, think critically about text, and just plain enjoy what they read.

Connect Author’s Purpose to Genre

An author’s purpose for writing is almost always connected to the genre of the text they write. By teaching students to connect common genres to the author’s purpose, you can help them set a purpose for reading and set expectations for the text.

Fiction and Author’s Purpose

When an author like Doreen Cronin seeks to entertain her reader, she does so with a fictional cast of silly animals who make laugh-out-loud mischief. Duck for President , for example, was clearly written to entertain the reader. The basic premise of the story is that Duck becomes frustrated with Farmer Brown and holds an election to take over the farm. If this book featured a cast of human characters, it would not be nearly as funny. But through personifying farm animals, Cronin is able to write a truly funny and engaging book thereby achieving her purpose of entertaining readers.

But what happens when a fiction writer has more than one purpose?

What happens when an author seeks to both entertain their reader and share a message or a lesson with readers? With fictional storytelling, expert authors like Kevin Henkes can craft stories that work to share life lessons with readers. Take Chrysanthemum, for example; a highly relatable story about teasing, self-esteem, and acceptance. Through relying on basic story elements and a cast of appealing characters, Henkes is able to both entertain his reader and persuade them to treat people with kindness.

And so, as a result of sharing fiction books like Chrysanthemum with readers, you can teach your students that an author’s purpose can be two-fold. Not only can fiction be entertaining, but authors can also use fiction for the purpose of persuading readers to consider important life lessons.

Nonfiction and Author’s Purpose

Nonfiction by definition is all about the facts. Strict nonfiction, like National Geographic Kid’s Planets , uses features of nonfiction text and matter-of-fact language to present facts – and just the facts. But nonfiction is not always simple. Some authors use it to persuade and entertain readers as well. Here are some examples of authors who blend their purpose of sharing information with another author’s purpose.

Doreen Rappaport is the author of dozens of books that seek to tell the stories of influential and inspiring people in history. Through her writing, Rappaport shares information. She also seeks to persuade her readers to consider the lessons we can learn from the people she writes about. In Martin’s Big Words , for example, Rappaport shares many facts about Martin Luther King Jr.’s life. She also tells his story in such a way that readers can’t help but acknowledge that King was a strong leader who worked hard to change the world. As a result, students should be able to identify Doreen Rappaport’s two-fold author’s purpose for writing.

Similarly, authors like Judith St. George seek to share information by way of comedy. In her book, So You Want to Be President? , St. George tells fun and interesting facts about each of America’s presidents. She pairs those facts with illustrations done in the style of political caricature. By blending these two elements together, Judith St. Geroge is able to inform and entertain her reader.

Focus on the Facts and Opinions

Moving students to think about the author’s purpose beyond PIE can make it easier for readers to comprehend what they read. That’s because you’re helping them to think critically about the texts they read and set a purpose for reading based on the author’s goals as a writer. However, for many students, the task of distinguishing between facts and opinions can be a stumbling block that interferes with the comprehension of nonfiction. Why? Because opinions can easily be disguised as facts. Here is an example:

Flamingos are interesting birds. Their bright pink color makes them more beautiful than other birds.

Because the sentence is about Flamingos, many students will identify it as nonfiction. This quick categorization might also lead students to believe it is a fact that Flamingos are interesting and more beautiful than other birds. But they would be wrong. These two statements can not be researched and proven. Therefore they are not facts. Instead, these statements are two examples of opinions, because other people might disagree with them.

So, how can you help your students become better at separating fact from fiction?

Give them plenty of practice separating facts from opinions. You can invite students to write fact and opinion statements they find while reading on a class anchor chart or you can play a quick game of I Have… Who Has…? Click here to download your printable . Both options will help readers identify the author’s purpose when reading nonfiction.

Identifying the Author's Purpose in the Real World

Chances are students don’t think of authors as real people. We rarely see pictures of the authors we read or know what they have to say beyond the pages of their books, so it’s easy to think of an author’s purpose as isolated to the books they write. Help your students draw connections between the text they read and the authors who write them by following the author’s social media profiles.

You can collect tweets, interviews, and other short pieces of content that will deepen your student’s perspective on the authors they read. Try using these short pieces of content to identify whether or not an author’s purpose is visible across all the content they write. And, as an added bonus, you’ll begin to teach them to think critically about all of the media that surrounds us.

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10.3 Glance at Genre: Thesis, Reasoning, and Evidence

Learning outcomes.

By the end of this section, you will be able to:

• Articulate and analyze key rhetorical concepts in presenting a position or an argument.
• Demonstrate awareness of context, audience, and purpose in a position argument.
• Identify the thesis and supporting evidence of a position argument.
• Distinguish different types of evidence used in a position argument.

The purpose of a position argument is to persuade readers to adopt a viewpoint. Writers of position arguments focus on a thesis that takes a stance on a debatable issue and support that thesis with reasoning and evidence. When writing persuasively, consider your audience and use the kinds of reasoning strategies and evidentiary appeals you believe will be convincing. In addition, use language with which your audience is most comfortable. In academic environments, academic language is generally most acceptable, although you may choose to challenge this notion for rhetorical purposes. Outside academic environments, tailor your language to connect best with your audience.

Reasoning is most effective when it is built on evidence that readers recognize as logical and practical. Suppose you want to persuade your audience that because of the insurrection at the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021, additional police should be hired to protect the building and the people who work there. You could include information about the number of police on duty that day, the number of people injured, and the amount of damage done. You then could explain how the number of police on duty was insufficient to protect the people and the Capitol.

Additionally, you identify and refute the counterclaims . An example of a counterclaim against hiring additional police officers might be that the cost is too high. Your response, then, might be that the cost could easily be shifted from another nationally funded source.

Characteristics of Position Arguments

The characteristics of a position argument include the following elements.

Ethos (Ethical Appeal)

You establish credibility by showing readers that your approach to the issue is fair and that you can be trusted. One way to demonstrate fairness and trustworthiness is to use neutral language that avoids name-calling. For instance, in your paper about hiring additional police to defend the Capitol, you would avoid taking political sides and would use neutral language when describing police, workers in the Capitol, and demonstrators.

To show trustworthiness, always follow these guidelines:

• Use only respected, reliable sources as evidence. Avoid sources that lean heavily to the political right or left or that are otherwise questionable as to accuracy. Reliable sources include scholarly, peer-reviewed articles and books; professional articles and books; and articles from magazines, newspapers, websites, and blogs. For more information about credible sources, see Research Process: Accessing and Recording Information and Annotated Bibliography: Gathering, Evaluating, and Documenting Sources.
• Present evidence from sources in the same context in which it was originally presented. Do not change the original author’s meaning or tone. Be especially careful of such changes when you paraphrase or summarize. See Spotlight on… Citation for more about paraphrasing and summarizing.
• Cite evidence to the proper sources. Use the citation style required by your instructor, usually MLA Documentation and Format or APA Documentation and Format Proper citations direct readers to more information about your sources and show you are not plagiarizing.
• Incorporate common ground between readers who support your position and those who do not. To do this, many authors use evidence pulled from patriotic or religious documents to create ethical appeal. For instance, regarding the activity that took place at the Capitol, both sides might find common ground in the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, which outlines rights of the people. The protestors might cite the section of the amendment that deals with freedom of assembly; those on the other side might point out that the amendment guarantees “the right of the people peaceably to assemble” and that the assembly was not peaceable.

Logos (Logical Appeal)

You appeal to your audience’s intelligence by showing that you understand the value of sound reasoning. To do this, state your position clearly and support it with rational arguments, critical thinking, and credible evidence. Also, avoid exaggerating or making claims you cannot support with reliable evidence. Many authors use facts and statistics to create logical appeal.

To appeal to logic, follow these guidelines:

• State your position clearly with easy-to-understand language. For example, to appeal to readers’ intelligence in your paper about hiring additional police to defend the Capitol, avoid using vocabulary that would feel unnatural. Instead of writing “The verbiage from the campaigners importuned the dispossession of their statesmen,” write “The protestors demanded the resignations of their congressional representatives.”
• Support your position with reasoning that is neither incomplete nor faulty. Sound reasoning is that which all can agree makes sense. For example, you would not contend that to be ready for future protests, the Capitol police force must be doubled from 2,000 to 4,000 because you cannot know the number needed at any time. However, you could argue that the Capitol police force and government leaders should study the January 6, 2021, riot to determine how many additional police are needed, should such an occasion arise again.
• Present your critical thinking through a well-constructed argument. By ordering your position argument in a manner that moves logically from one point to the next, you help guide readers through your thought process, which is reflected in the smooth flow of ideas that work together to support your thesis.
• Incorporate credible evidence from trusted and reliable academic, government, media, and professional sources. Using these sources shows readers that you recognize biased material and have excluded it from your paper.

Pathos (Emotional Appeal)

You appeal to your audience’s feelings—such as sympathy, anger, fear, insecurity, guilt, and conscience—to support your position.

For example, to appeal to your audience’s emotions in your paper about the need for more Capitol police, you might do the following:

• Help your readers understand feelings of fear. One way to appeal to this emotion is to quote from interviews with government workers and bystanders who were hiding behind locked doors and had no police protection.
• Use vivid description and concrete language to recreate images that showed lone officers overwhelmed by crowds of people and beaten.
• Use nonaggressive language to address the positions of readers who do not support your stance. For example, some readers may believe that the federal government spends too much money already and should not allocate more. By using language that is not inflammatory, you can show your empathy for others, and this may help you convince them to support your position.

Kairos (Timeliness)

The sense of timing—presenting your position at the right time—is critical in a position argument. The issue must be worthy of attention at the time it is presented for readers to feel a sense of urgency. For example, in an argumentative paper about the significance of the Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement, you could do the following:

• Point out the history of the BLM movement, which began in 2013 after the acquittal of the man accused of killing Trayvon Martin (1995–2012) in 2012.
• Note that today, most of the speeches delivered in BLM rallies held across the country reference the May 2020 murder of George Floyd (1973–2020).
• Emphasize that Floyd’s killing remains front and center in the minds of rally participants. In other words, the topic of Floyd’s death is timely, and related circumstances indicate a favorable time for action.

You can find further discussion about these appeals in Rhetorical Analysis: Interpreting the Art of Rhetoric .

These are key terms and characteristics of position arguments:

• Allusion : direct or implied reference to a person, place, work of literature, idea, event, or anything a writer expects readers to know about. Allusion is a frequently used literary device.
• Citation : reference to the source of information used in a writer’s research.
• Critical thinking : ability to identify and solve problems by gathering information about a topic and then analyzing and evaluating evidence to form a judgment.
• Counterclaim (dissenting opinion) : statement of what the other side might say in opposition to the stance the writer takes about an issue.
• Ethos : appeal to readers’ ethical sense; establishing authority and credibility.
• Evidence : facts and other information that prove or disprove the validity of something written or stated.
• Introduction : first part of a paper. In position arguments, the writer alerts readers to the issue or problem discussed and often presents the thesis at the end of the introduction.
• Kairos : appeal to timeliness of the subject matter.
• Logos : appeal to readers’ sense of logic, or reason.
• Pathos : appeal to readers’ emotions.
• Purpose : author’s reason for writing the paper. In a position argument, the purpose is to persuade readers to agree with the writer’s stance.
• Reasoning : logical and sensible explanation of a concept.
• Recursive : movement back and forth from one part of the writing process to another.
• Rhetorical appeals : methods of persuasion (ethos, logos, pathos, and kairos).
• Rhetorical question : questions intended to make a point rather than to get an answer. Rhetorical questions, which often have no answers or no obvious answers, appear frequently in argument writing as a way of capturing audience attention.
• Topic : subject of a paper. In this genre, the topic is a debatable issue.
• Thesis : declarative sentence (sometimes two) that states a writer’s position about the debatable issue, or topic, of the paper.
• Transitional words or phrases : words and phrases that help readers connect ideas from one sentence to another or from one paragraph to another. Transitions establish relationships among ideas.

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When You Write

What is the Author’s Purpose & Why Does it Matter?

There’s always a reason a writer decides to produce their work. We rarely think about it, but there’s always a motivating factor behind intent and goals they hope to achieve.

This “why” behind the author’s writing is what we call the author’s purpose, and it is the reason the author decided to write about something.

There are billions—maybe more—of reasons a writer decides to write something and when you understand the why behind the words, you can effectively and accurately evaluate their writing.

When you understand the why, you can apprehend what the author is trying to say, grasp the writer’s message, and the intent of a particular piece of literary work.

Without further ado, let me explain what the author’s purpose is and how you can identify it.

What is Author’s Purpose?

Just as I introduced the term, an author’s purpose is the author’s reason for or intent in writing.

In both fiction and non-fiction, the author selects the genre, writing format, and language to suit the author’s purpose.

The writing formats, genres, and vernacular are chosen to communicate a key message to the reader, to entertain the reader, to sway the reader’s opinion, et cetera.

The way an author writes about a topic fulfills their purpose; for example, if they intend to amuse, the writing will have a couple of jokes or anecdotal sections. The author’s purpose is also reflected in the way they title their works, write prefaces, and in their background.

In general, the purposes fall into three main categories, namely persuade, inform, and entertain. The three types of author’s purpose make the acronym PIE.

But, there are many reasons to write, the PIE just represents the three main classes of the author’s purpose .

In the next section, I’m going to elaborate on the various forms of the author’s purpose including the three broader categories that I have introduced.

How useful is the Author’s Purpose?

Understanding the author’s purpose helps readers understand and analyze writing. This analytical advantage helps the reader have an educated point of view. Titles or opening passages act as the text’s signposts, and we can assume what type of text we’re about to read.

If you can identify the author’s purpose, it becomes easier to recognize the proficiencies used to achieve that particular purpose. So, once you identify the author’s purpose, you can recognize the style, tone, word, and content used by the author to communicate their message. 

You also get to explore other people’s attitudes, beliefs, or perspectives.

Why does the Author’s Purpose Matter for the Writer?

The intent and manner in which a body of text is written determine how one perceives the information one reads.

Perception is especially important if the author aims to inform, educate, or explain something to the reader. For instance, an author writing an informative piece should provide relevant or reliable information and clearly explain his concepts; otherwise, the reader will think they are trying to be deceptive.

The readers—particularly those reading informative or persuasive pieces—expect authors to support their arguments and demonstrate validity by using autonomous sources as references for their writing.

Likewise, readers expect to be thoroughly entertained by works of fiction.

Types of Author’s Purpose

Mostly, reasons for writing are condensed into 5 broad categories, and here they are:

1. to Persuade

Using this form of author’s purpose, the author tries to sway the reader and make them agree with their opinion, declaration, or stance. The goal is to convince the reader and make them act in a specific way.

To convince a reader to believe a concept or to take a specific course of action, the author backs the idea with facts, proof, and examples.

Authors also have to be creative with their persuasive writing . For instance, apart from form complementary facts and examples, the author has to borrow some forms of entertaining elements and amuse their readers. This makes their writing enjoyable and relatable to some extent, increasing the likelihood of persuading people to take the required course of action.

2. to Inform

When the author’s purpose is to inform or teach the reader, they use expository writing. The author attempts to teach objectively by showing or explaining facts.

When you look at informative writing and persuasive writing, you can identify a common theme: the use of facts. However, the two forms of the author’s purpose use these facts differently. Unlike persuasive writing, which uses facts to convince the reader, informative writing uses facts to educate the reader about a particular subject. With persuasive writing, it’s like there’s a catch: the call to action. But, informative writing only uses facts to educate the reader, not to convince them to take a specific course of action.

Informative writing only seeks to “expose” factual information about a topic for enlightenment.

3. to Entertain

Most fiction books are written to entertain the reader—and, yes, including horror. On the other hand, non-fiction works combine an entertaining element with informative writing.

To entertain, the author tries to keep things as interesting as possible by coming up with fascinating characters , exciting plots, thrilling storylines, and sharp dialogue.

Most narratives, poetry, and plays are written to entertain. Be that as it may, these works of fiction can also be persuasive or informative, but if we fuse values and ideas, changing the reader’s perspective becomes an easier task. 

Nonetheless, the entertaining purpose has to dominate, or else, readers are going to lose interest quickly and the informative purpose will be defeated.

4. to Explain

When the author’s purpose is to explain, they write with the intent of telling the reader how to do something or giving details on how something works.

This type of writing is about teaching a method or a process and the text contains explanations that teach readers how a particular process works or the procedure required to do or create something.

5. to Describe

When describing is the author’s purpose, the author uses words to complement images in describing something. This type of writing attempts to give a more detailed description of something, a bit more detail than the “thousand words that a picture paints.”

The writer uses adjectives and images to make the reader feel as though it were their own sensory experience.

Main elements and examples of Author’s Purpose

A great way to identify the author’s purpose is to analyze the whole piece of literature. The first step would be to ask “What is the point of this piece?” One can also look at why it was written, who it was written for, and what effect they wanted it to have on readers.

Another method is to break down the text into different categories of purpose. For example, if someone wants their writing to persuade, they would use rhetorical devices (i.e., logical appeals).

Below are the types of publications dominated by each purpose and the things to look for when identifying the author’s purpose.

Persuasive Purpose

Persuasion is usually found in non-fiction, but countless other fiction books have also been used to persuade the reader.

Propaganda works are top of the list when it comes to persuasion in writing. But we also have other works including:

• Political speeches
• Advertisements
• Infomercial scripts and news editorials meant to persuade the reader
• Fiction writing whose author has an agenda

How to Identify Persuasive Purpose

When trying to identify persuasion in writing, you should ask yourself if the author is attempting to convince the reader to take a specific course of action.

If the author is trying to persuade their readers, they employ several tactics and schemes including hyperboles, forceful phrases, repetition, supporting evidence, imagery, and photographs, and they attack opposing ideas or proponents.

Informative Purpose

Although some works of fiction are also informative, informative writing is commonly found on non-fiction shelves and dominates academic works.

Many types of academic textbooks are written with the primary purpose of informing the reader.

Informative writing is generally found in the following:

• Textbooks  
• Encyclopedias
• Recipe books  

How to identify Informative Purpose

Just like in persuasive writing, the writer will attempt to inform the reader by feeding them facts.

So, how can you spot a pure intent to inform?

The difference between the two is that an author whose purpose is persuasion is likely going to provide the reader with some facts in an attempt with the primary goal of convincing the reader of the worthwhileness or valuableness of a particular idea, item, situation, et cetera.

On the other hand, in informative writing, facts are used to inform and are not sugar-coated by the author’s opinion, like is the case when the author’s purpose is to persuade.

Entertaining Purpose

The entertaining purpose dominates fiction writing—there’s a huge emphasis placed on entertaining the reader in almost every fiction book.

In almost every type of fiction (be it science fiction, romance, or fantasy), the writer works on an exciting story that will leave his readers craving for more.

The only issue with this purpose is that the adjective ‘entertaining’ is subjective and what entertains one reader may not be so riveting for another.

For example, the type of ‘entertainment’ one gets from romance novels is different from the amusement another gets from reading science fiction.

Although entertainment in writing is mostly used in fiction, non-fiction works also use storytelling—now and then—to keep the reader engaged and drive home a specific point.

How to identify Entertaining Purpose

Identifying works meant to entertain is fairly easy: When an author intends to entertain or amuse the reader, they use a variety of schemes aimed at getting the readers engaged.

The author may insert some humor into their narrative or use dialogue to weave in some jokes.

The writer may also use cliffhangers at the end of a page or chapter to keep the reader interested in the story.

Explaining Purpose

Authors also write to explain a topic or concept, especially in the non-fiction category. Fiction writers also write to explain things, usually not for the sole purpose of explaining that topic, but to help readers understand the plot, an event, a setting, or a character.

This type of purpose is dominant in How-to books, texts with recipes, DIY books, company or school books for orientation, and others.

How to identify Explaining Purpose

Texts with explaining purpose typically have a list of points (using a numbered or bulleted format), use infographics, diagrams, or illustrations.

Explaining purpose also contains a lot of verbs that try to convey directions, instructions, or guidelines.

Every author’s purpose or motive should be more than just entertaining the reader, it should be about more than just telling a good story.

A lot of authors tell stories to accomplish different objectives – some want to teach, provoke thought and debate, or show people that they’re not alone in their struggles. Others—like yours truly—write an article about the different types of Author’s purpose and hope it changes your writing style accordingly.

Authors must take their audience’s needs and interests into account, as well as their purposes for writing when writing something they intend to publish.

The author should find a way to make a piece that both generates interest as well as provides value to their reader.

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© 2024 When You Write

Evaluating a Text

Main idea, purpose, & audience.

Text evaluation and analysis usually start with the core elements of that text: main idea, purpose, and audience.  An author needs to consider all three of these elements before writing, as they help determine the author’s content and language.  As a reader, it’s important to ascertain these aspects of a text which exist as a foundation for the author’s content and language.

Always start with the main idea.  Main ideas may be stated directly in the text or implied; you need to read a text carefully in order to determine the main idea. Put the main idea into your own words, so that it’s expressed in a way that makes sense to you.  Then ask and answer the following basic questions about that main idea:

• Is the main idea reasonable/believable to most readers?
• Is the main idea clear and if not, why do you think the author embedded it?
• Is the main idea the author’s opinion, or is it something that the author asserts about an issue?

Asking and answering these questions should help you get a sense of the author’s intention in the text, and lead into considering the author’s purpose.

Main idea and purpose are intricately linked. There are a few basic purposes for texts; figuring out the basic purpose leads to more nuanced text analysis based on its purpose. Basic purposes of a text include:

• to inform – to describe, explain, or teach something to your audience
• to persuade/argue – to get your audience to do something, to take a particular action, or to think in a certain way
• to entertain – to provide your audience with insight into a different reality, distraction, and/or enjoyment

The following video more fully explains these different purposes of a text, and adds a fourth, to share insights or feelings.

Main Idea & Purpose Determine Analysis

The author’s main idea and purpose in writing a text determine whether you need to analyze and evaluate the text.  They also determine the pieces of the text you should analyze—content or language or both.

If the purpose is to persuade or argue

You always need to analyze the text to see if the main idea is justified.  Do the supporting ideas relate to and develop the main idea? Is the supporting evidence taken from recognized, valid sources?  Is the author arguing via language instead of evidence or facts?  Persuasion and argument need to present logically valid information to make the reader agree intellectually (not emotionally) with the main idea.

If the purpose is to inform

You usually need to analyze the text, since the text needs to present valid information in as objective a way as possible, in order to meet its purpose of explaining concepts so a reader understands.

If the purpose is to entertain

You may or may not need to analyze the text. Writing that entertains does not necessarily have to be either logical or complete in order to accomplish its purpose. You may want to analyze the text for language, though, to see how the author manipulates language to accomplish their purpose.

Who are the author’s intended readers?  Figuring out this will help you understand an author’s approach to providing the main idea with a particular purpose. Does the audience know little or nothing about the topic, or are they already knowledgeable?  Is the audience’s knowledge at beginner or expert level, somewhere in between, or mixed? Does the audience include people who may be skeptical of the author’s ideas?  Does the audience include people who outright oppose the author’s ideas? As you can see, asking and answering questions about audience can help an author determine the type and amount of content to include in a text. As a reader, it’s important to figure out the author’s intended audience, to help you analyze the type, amount, and appropriateness of the text’s information.

The following video presents the concept of audience from a writer’s perspective, but the concepts are applicable to you as a reader who needs to consider audience as a foundation for evaluating a text.

You may also want to link to one of Purdue’s Online Writing Lab’s page on Author and Audience to get a sense of the wide array of variables that can influence an author’s purpose, and that an author may consider about an audience.

Read the article “ Forget Shorter Showers ” by Derrick Jensen.

Note that most of the Try It exercises in this section of the text will be based on this article, so you should read carefully, annotate, take notes, and apply appropriate strategies for reading to understand a text.

Then answer the following questions about the article’s main idea, purpose, and audience.

Which selection best represents the author’s main idea?

• We have it in our power and right to take action to stop the industrial economy over-using and wasting our natural resources.
• We are victims of a campaign of misdirection, being told and accepting that our personal use of natural resources is both the cause of scarcity and the solution to preservation.
• Because we have accepted our identities as consumers, we reduce our forms of political existence to consuming and not consuming.
• Simple living is better for the planet than over-consumption.

Sentence 1 is the best answer. Although sentences 2 and 3 extract main ideas from the text, they are key supporting points that help lead to the author’s conclusion and main idea.

Which selection best represents the author’s purpose?

• to inform readers about the actual use of resources by individuals vs. the industrial economy
• to persuade readers to consider taking action against an unjust situation that assigns blame to individuals instead of big business in regard to the depletion of natural resources
• to persuade readers to re-think their personal attempts to live more simply and more “green”
• to entertain readers interested in nature with accusations against the industrial economy

Selection 2 best represents the author’s purpose. The author’s purpose is to get readers thinking about conservation of resources in order to spur them to action against a system that, in his opinion, exploits those resources as well as individuals. His purpose is both to inform and persuade, but persuasion seems to take precedence, as he both starts and ends with a reminder about historically justified instances of activism.

Who comprises the author’s audience and what cues can you use to determine that audience?

The author is writing to an audience of readers who are interested in nature and conservation. If you look on the Orion website and read the “About” section on Mission and History, you’ll see that this publication started as a magazine about nature and grew from there. Based on reading the text, the author’s intended audience has the following characteristics:

• Educated – The author assumes that readers know about WWII, the Civil Rights Act of 1974, and other historic events.  The author also uses language such as “systematic misdirection,” “solar photovoltaics,” and even “consensus” (instead of agreement).
• Concerned about the environment – because they are reading this magazine in the first place
• Willing to entertain the idea of taking action to improve quality of life and preserve resources
• Comfortable enough (with themselves? with their social status? with their personal philosophies?) to feel that their voices might make a difference if they choose to protest the current use of natural resources
• Purpose & Audience. Authored by : Susan Oaks. Project : Introduction to College Reading & Writing. License : CC BY-NC: Attribution-NonCommercial
• video The Author's Purpose. Authored by : Marc Franco. Provided by : Snap Language. Located at : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z6H2NLPqWtI . License : Other . License Terms : YouTube video
• video Audience: Introduction & Overview. Authored by : Gracemarie Mike and Daniel Liddle. Provided by : The Purdue Online Writing Lab. Located at : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4_ypxLRYsrE . License : Other . License Terms : YouTube video
• image of woman with a stack of books instead of a head, facing shelves of books. Authored by : Gerd Altmann. Provided by : Pixabay. Located at : https://pixabay.com/photos/books-question-mark-student-stack-4158244/ . License : CC0: No Rights Reserved
• image of the word Evaluation. Authored by : Gerd Altmann. Provided by : Pixabay. Located at : https://pixabay.com/illustrations/district-evaluation-assessment-1264717/ . License : CC0: No Rights Reserved

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Understanding the relationship between text structure and author’s purpose, lesson plan.

• Printer Friendly Version
• Grade Levels 8th Grade
• Related Academic Standards CC.1.2.8.A Determine a central idea of a text and analyze its development over the course of the text, including its relationship to supporting ideas; provide an objective summary of the text. CC.1.2.8.B Cite the textual evidence that most strongly supports an analysis of what the text says explicitly as well as inferences, conclusions, and/or generalizations drawn from the text. CC.1.2.8.C Analyze how a text makes connections among and distinctions between individuals, ideas, or events. CC.1.2.8.D Determine an author’s point of view or purpose in a text and analyze how the author acknowledges and responds to conflicting evidence or viewpoints. CC.1.2.8.E Analyze the structure of the text through evaluation of the author’s use of specific sentences and paragraphs to develop and refine a concept. CC.1.2.8.F Analyze the influence of the words and phrases in a text including figurative and connotative, and technical meanings; and how they shape meaning and tone.
• Assessment Anchors E08.B-K.1 Key Ideas and Details E08.B-C.2 Craft and Structure
• Eligible Content E08.B-K.1.1.1 Cite the textual evidence that most strongly supports an analysis of what the text says explicitly as well as inferences, conclusions, and/or generalizations drawn from the text. E08.B-K.1.1.2 Determine a central idea of a text and analyze its development over the course of the text, including its relationship to supporting ideas; provide an objective summary of the text. E08.B-C.2.1.1 Determine an author’s point of view or purpose in a text and analyze how the author acknowledges and responds to conflicting evidence or viewpoints. E08.B-C.2.1.2 Analyze in detail the structure of a specific paragraph in a text, including the role of particular sentences in developing and refining a key concept.
• Competencies

In this lesson, students will explore text structures of nonfiction texts. Students will:

• identify transitions and text structure elements to draw conclusions and make inferences about the author’s purpose.
• identify the author’s purpose for a text.
• identify relevant parts of a text that reflect the author’s purpose.

Essential Questions

• How do strategic readers create meaning from informational and literary text?
• What is this text really about?
• How does interaction with text provoke thinking and response?
• How do readers know what to believe in what they read, hear, and view?
• Author’s Purpose: The author’s intent either to inform or teach someone about something, to entertain people, or to persuade or convince the audience to do or not do something.
• Expository Text: Text written to explain and convey information about a specific topic. Contrasts with narrative text.
• Informational Text: Nonfiction text, written primarily to convey factual information. Informational texts include textbooks, newspapers, reports, directions, brochures, and technical manuals.
• Text Structure: The author’s method of organizing a text.
• Nonfiction Structure : An organizational structure found in nonfiction (e.g., sequence, question/answer, cause/effect, problem/solution).
• Transition Words: Words that help maintain the flow of ideas in a text and signal the author’s purpose.
• Thesis: The subject or major argument of a composition.
• Topic Sentence: The sentence in a paragraph that states the main idea.
• Heading: Words or phrases in bold print that indicate the topic of a portion of the text.

50–100 minutes/1–2 class periods

Prerequisite Skills

• “Should kids be banned from indoor tanning facilities?”

http://junior.scholastic.com/issues/05_13_13/book#/14

• “Interview with J. Michael Fay, Conservationist”

http://kids.nationalgeographic.com/kids/stories/peopleplaces/interview-mike-fay/

• Teachers may substitute other texts to provide a range of reading levels and text complexity.
• Author’s Purpose handout ( L-8-1-1_Author's Purpose and KEY.doc )
• Common Transitions handout ( L-8-1-1_Common Transitions and KEY.doc )

Related Unit and Lesson Plans

• Analyzing Structure of Nonfiction Texts
• Analyzing Compare/Contrast and Question/Answer Text Structures
• Understanding and Analyzing Arguments in Nonfiction Texts

Related Materials & Resources

The possible inclusion of commercial websites below is not an implied endorsement of their products, which are not free, and are not required for this lesson plan.

• http://www.studygs.net/wrtstr6.htm for categories and uses of transition words and phrases

Formative Assessment

The goal of this lesson is to build upon prior knowledge of nonfiction text structures while exploring the various types of text structures.

• To assess students’ grasp of the concepts, walk around and observe while students complete study guide questions.
• identify transitions and text structure to draw conclusions and make inferences about the author’s purpose
• identify author’s purpose
• identify relevant parts of a text that reflect author’s purpose

Suggested Instructional Supports

Instructional procedures.

Focus Question: How does an author communicate purpose?

Say, “With a partner, identify an author’s purpose for writing each of the following genres: novel, textbook, newspaper editorial, complaint letter.”

Have students share their answers with the class. Make sure that students correctly identify an author’s purpose for each genre.

• novel: tell a story, narrate, entertain
• textbook: present facts, inform, explain
• newspaper editorial: present a position or an opinion, persuade
• complaint letter: describe and explain what went wrong, ask for a replacement product or a refund

Ask students to brainstorm ways authors communicate their purpose. (Possible responses include word choice, structure or organization, information or evidence included.) Say, “Authors communicate their purpose in a variety of ways. One way is by choosing a particular structure for the text. The author should choose a structure that works to best convey the meaning of the text.”

Say: “In this lesson, we will look at how authors of nonfiction texts use specific structures to help convey meaning.”

Provide copies of the Author’s Purpose worksheet ( L-8-1-1_Author's Purpose and KEY.doc ). To help students review the different structures, direct them to complete the matching section. Review the answers with the class and reteach any terms that students have difficulty with. Answer any questions about how the different text structures might be used to support an author’s purpose.

Ask students to complete the second half of the worksheet, matching text structure type to the brief samples. When students are finished, encourage them to compare answers with a partner and discuss the reasons for their answers. After this discussion, review the correct answers as a class. If some students have different answers than the key, ask them to give reasons for their choice, referring back to the individual texts to support their reasons.

Say, “Nonfiction authors also use text features to support the structure they choose to convey the meaning of a text. You are familiar with text features, but now we are going to analyze how text features support an author’s purpose.”

List the following text features on the board/interactive whiteboard: thesis, heading, topic sentence, transition. Then ask the following questions to help students identify the purpose of each feature:

• “Which feature tells the main idea and position for an entire nonfiction text?” ( thesis )
• “Which feature tells the main idea of a paragraph?” ( topic sentence )
• “Which feature divides the article into different sections based on topics?” ( heading )
• “Which feature connects the ideas between sentences and paragraphs?” ( transition )

Reteach concepts if necessary. Say, “Now we are going to examine some common transitions and how they are used to support an author’s purpose.” Have students complete the Common Transitions handout ( L-8-1-1_Common Transitions and KEY.doc ). Discuss the answers as a class, and answer any questions students may have about the relationship between transitions and author’s purpose. Explain that transitions are important in maintaining the flow of ideas in a text. Spot check the handouts for comprehension.

In small groups, have students examine sample texts (from textbooks, newspapers, magazines, or online sources) and make a list of transitions in the text. Then have the groups read the text aloud, omitting the transitions as they read. Have the groups discuss how the text is changed without transitions. As a class, discuss their results. Say, “Transitions are a sort of glue that holds ideas together. Without them, ideas are less clear and the reader can be confused about the purpose of the text.” Answer any questions about the use of transitions.

For additional information about the use of transition words and phrases, see Related Resources.

Have students read “Guppy Gulch, Pennsylvania: A Middle Atlantic State’s Dive Haven.” Then have them work in groups to do the following:

• identify the author’s purpose.
• locate sections of text that support the purpose.
• identify transition words in the text and relate them to the purpose.

After students have finished, have the groups share their work with the class. This text has more than one purpose. While the main purpose is to describe a local attraction, other purposes include giving a history of the site and persuading people that it is a fun place to visit. In the discussion, make sure that students have identified the various purposes in the text: describing, informing, narrating, and persuading. Have students offer examples of sections of the text that reflect the author’s purpose, as well as any transition words they notice, to ensure that students have understood that task. Say, “As you can see, a single text may have several purposes and different ways of achieving them. The better we understand an author’s underlying purposes, the better we can understand the real meaning of a text.”

• Students who are ready to go beyond the standard can be given a speech, magazine article, or nonfiction essay and asked to identify the text structures, citing evidence of each.
• Students who need additional opportunities for understanding transitions might be given a reading-level appropriate text and asked to circle or highlight transition words within the text, look up what purpose the transition words support, and then label the purpose.

Related Instructional Videos

• Grades 6-12
• School Leaders

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Going Beyond PIE: 5 Ways to Teach Students How to Find the Author’s Purpose

Plus, 3 ways to teach kids how to identify bias.

If you teach students about author’s purpose, you probably already know about the acronym PIE (persuade, inform, entertain) and the related cutesy anchor charts.

SOURCE: Teacherific Fun

While those are good umbrella categories, the actual reasons that authors write nonfiction are often more nuanced. Textbook authors write to educate. Bloggers write because they’re passionate about a topic. Journalists write to disseminate information.

Today’s students are surrounded by information. The ability to figure out exactly why authors write—and not accept every opinion as fact—is a key skill. In particular, as students read, they’ll need to figure out the author’s purpose, identify bias, and draw their own conclusions.

As students get more advanced in their work with informational text, these five strategies will teach them how to figure out why authors really write.

1. Start with why.

“Why did the author write this piece?” is the core question asked to identify author’s purpose. To help students expand their understanding of “why,” post various types of nonfiction (an advertisement, opinion article, news article, etc.) around your classroom and have students quickly identify a purpose for each. Or keep a running author’s purpose board with a list of the various reasons why authors write.

2. Talk about structure.

Authors use different structures—sequence, problem and solution, compare and contrast—for different purposes. For example, one author may use sequence to explain an event, while another author uses compare and contrast to put that event into perspective.

3. Get to the heart.

Often when authors write, they’re trying to get readers to feel a certain way. Perhaps the author of an article about whale conservation wants readers to feel sad about the plight of whales. Or the author of a letter may want to make the recipient feel better about a situation. After students read a text, stop and ask: How do you feel? And how did the author get you to feel this way?

4. Connect to students’ own writing.

Writing and reading go hand in hand. Expand students’ awareness of why people write by having them write for different purposes. When students are charged to write about a topic that they think everyone should know about, to explain a procedure, or to share a personal memory, they’ll become more aware of how authors approach writing.

5. Observe how purpose changes within a text.

Author’s purpose is often studied through the text as a whole, but authors have different reasons for writing within texts as well. For example, an author may include a funny anecdote to draw in the reader. Then, they may launch into a list of facts that make the reader feel frustrated about the situation. And finally, they may conclude with an appeal. Take a short article and break it apart, identifying the different purposes so that students see how author’s purpose changes as they read.

Bonus: Three ways to teach kids how to identify bias

Right now, your students may take every nonfiction reading at face value, but as they develop as readers (and consumers of information), they need to learn how to evaluate bias.

1. Mind the gap.

When authors are writing to convince their readers of something, they’re choosing evidence that best makes their case. Have students read for an eye toward what information isn’t there. For example, if an author is writing in support of keeping horse-drawn buggies in New York City legal, they may include examples of the benefits (e.g., tourism) and leave out the drawbacks (e.g., horses holding up traffic).

2. Review the experts.

Have students pull out the names and titles of the people cited in an article. What can students learn from whom was included? And how credible is each expert?

3. Seek out stats.

Pull out statistics, images, facts, graphics, and other numbers to paint another picture of how the author is thinking. Based on the information, what does the author want readers to remember? What was included? What wasn’t included?

Every time kids read, they engage in conversation with the author, and knowing the author’s purpose makes that conversation that much richer.

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15 Anchor Charts To Teach Kids About Identifying the Author’s Purpose

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Free Printable Identifying the Author's Purpose worksheets

Identifying the Author's Purpose: Discover a collection of free printable Reading & Writing worksheets to help students analyze and understand the author's intent behind their literary creations. Perfect for educators teaching all levels.

Recommended Topics for you

• Author's Purpose in Fiction
• Author's Purpose in Nonfiction

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Identifying the Author's Purpose worksheets are an essential tool for teachers looking to improve their students' reading and writing skills. These worksheets help students develop critical thinking and reading comprehension strategies by encouraging them to analyze the author's intent behind a piece of text. By incorporating these worksheets into their lesson plans, teachers can provide a structured and engaging way for students to practice their reading skills while also gaining a deeper understanding of the various purposes an author may have for writing. Furthermore, these worksheets can be easily adapted to suit different grade levels, ensuring that students of all ages can benefit from this valuable learning resource. In conclusion, Identifying the Author's Purpose worksheets are a must-have for any teacher looking to enhance their students' reading and writing abilities.

Quizizz is an innovative platform that offers a wide range of educational resources, including Identifying the Author's Purpose worksheets, to help teachers create engaging and interactive learning experiences for their students. In addition to these worksheets, Quizizz also provides various other offerings, such as quizzes, flashcards, and games, which can be used to supplement traditional reading and writing activities. By incorporating Quizizz into their lesson plans, teachers can not only improve their students' reading comprehension strategies but also make learning more enjoyable and accessible for students of all grade levels. Furthermore, Quizizz's user-friendly interface and extensive library of resources make it an invaluable tool for teachers looking to enhance their students' reading and writing skills in a fun and engaging way.

Identify author’s purpose (Inclusive Big Idea #6)

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What are students learning?

Reading Informational Text

Grade 2 : English Language Arts

Inclusive Big Idea #6 : Identify author’s purpose

Standard : Identify the main purpose of a text, including what the author wants to answer, explain, or describe. RI.2.6

How could I teach this?

Think about how instructional strategies and activities can give students multiple ways to engage with learning. One way won’t work for all, so how can you remove and reduce barriers for all students?

• Socratic Seminar: To encourage students to think more about the author’s purpose of the text, including what question the author is answering, explaining, or describing, teachers can model how to facilitate a Socratic Seminar. Before meeting with a small group or whole class, make a list of questions to ask about the author’s purpose. Throughout the seminar, the facilitator positions him/herself as a question-asker. Present the questions verbally and have them recorded on the board or on handouts so students can access them in multiple ways. Provide opportunities for students to use graphic organizers or other ways to record some of their ideas or to take notes as others are sharing. Students should have a free-flowing conversation with minimal interruptions from the facilitator. See this TIP Sheet for more information on Whole Group Discussions.
• Think, Pair, Share: Ask students to think about and record their ideas individually about the author’s purpose. Then, they can meet with a peer to discuss and add to their answers. After they have had time to discuss with a peer they can share their thoughts with the rest of the class in flexible ways, such as verbally, using images, a recording, or other options. See this TIP Sheet for more information on Think, Pair, Share.
• Discussion Webs: Add a question about the author’s purpose in the middle of a digital or paper-based web. Model how to draw lines extending from the web and ask students to provide responses to the question. For example, you may write “What was the author’s purpose in this report about volcanoes?” or have an image in the middle of the web. Then, on extended lines, students can work together or on their own to offer responses to the question. They could use images, text, or other ways of sharing ideas. They may respond with, “To teach us something,” “to help us better understand volcanoes,” “to warn us,” “to scare us,” etc.
• Think Aloud: The purpose of asking students questions about texts is to get them into the habit of self-questioning as they read by themselves. To model this, read aloud or listen to an informational text of interest. Periodically, model how to stop and ask questions about the author’s purpose. These self-questioning questions can also be on a handout or written on the board in the room. As students read or listen to the text, model how to answer the questions and record ideas. See this TIP Sheet for more information on how to model using a Think Aloud.

Don’t stop here! Remember to reduce barriers for all students.

Make reducing barriers a process - take a few minutes to think about your process! Is there a barrier related to:

• interest or engagement? Think about how to incorporate student’s lived experiences, culture, and interests… 
• background knowledge? Think about how to highlight key ideas and define key vocabulary… 
• showing what they know? Think about having options for how they use learning tools and technology to communicate…

For example, one possible barrier is the amount of information that a student needs to hold in mind.

Ideas to reduce this barrier could include:

• be aware of how much sensory input occurs at once, perhaps offer the option to use headphones
• show examples and provide answers to check along the way
• provide templates or graphic organizers
• allow use of spell checks and other tools 

Use these Inclusive Strategies to help reduce barriers.

Tell me more about this Inclusive Big Idea (I need a refresher)

Brush up on the content of this Inclusive Big Idea. It will help you and your colleagues to understand and teach this content better.

• The Big Idea: Identify author’s purpose
• Author’s Purpose is the reason an author writes something. Sometimes, the purpose affects the content and the way an author crafts their writing. Typically, authors write to entertain, inform, or persuade.
• An author writes for many reasons. An author may give you facts or true information about a subject. If so, they are writing to inform. Some authors write fiction stories or stories that are not true. They write these stories to entertain you. Other authors may write to persuade or to try to get you to do something.
• The book is fiction
• It tells a story
• It usually makes the reader laugh
• It does not include real information
• One day, a beautiful princess was walking down the street hoping to find her prince. She looked high and low and finally gave up. On her way home, she found a lonely little frog. She picked him up and began to talk to him, telling him all her problems. When she was done, she said goodbye to the frog and gave him a kiss on top of his head. Before her very eyes appeared the man of her dreams and they lived happily ever after.
• Gives the reader real information
• May include text features such as diagrams, cutaways, and photographs
• May include definitions
• May be procedural and tell the reader how to do something
• To make a peanut butter and jelly sandwich you must first get your items together. You will need bread, peanut butter, jelly, and a knife. First, get out the two pieces of bread. Then, with your knife, spread on some peanut butter and jelly. Put the two slices of bread together and enjoy your sandwich. You might want a nice glass of milk too.
• Tries to convince the reader to do something or think a certain way
• Gives facts and opinions
• May include statistics and information from an expert
• Tells how the author feels about the subject
• Every child should play a sport. When you are on a team, you learn to get along with everyone and work together for a common goal. Teamwork is the best lesson anyone can learn. This is why I believe every child should be on a team.

Looking for more suggestions? Target student common misconceptions, build on interdisciplinary links, and implement strategies and supports across multiple lessons or units.

Common Student Misconceptions

• Determining Author’s Purpose: Until students are familiar with the key words and structures associated with the different purposes, students may struggle to determine the author’s purpose. Provide a variety of examples for each purpose and model finding the key words and other text features that support determining an author’s purpose in a text.

Links Across Content Areas

• Social Studies: Students can view historic speeches to determine the purpose of the author/speaker.

Everyday Connections

• On TV: Have students watch different news programs and advertisements and have them determine the author’s purpose for each.

Show me other related Inclusive Big Ideas 

Explore other Inclusive Big Ideas to think about the content you are teaching. How can you connect what you are teaching now to what has been taught before or what will be taught in the future?

First Grade: Determine the source of information ( RI 6 )

Other TIES resources:

• Ready to build a more inclusive lesson? Check out the 5-15-45 Tool !
• Looking for engaging distance learning ideas? 
• Find out more about how TIES is promoting systems change ! 

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