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Preparing for the AHSGE: Determining Author’s Purpose

Preparing for the AHSGE: Determining Author’s Purpose. Created by Courtney M. Felton. What is author’s purpose?. The reason for writing something. People write for many reasons: to persuade, to inform, to inspire, to entertain, and others. Think about why you write.

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Preparing for the AHSGE: Determining Author’s Purpose

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  1. Preparing for the AHSGE:Determining Author’s Purpose Created by Courtney M. Felton

  2. What is author’s purpose? The reason for writing something. People write for many reasons: to persuade, to inform, to inspire, to entertain, and others.

  3. Think about why you write. To convince a girl or guy to give you her/his phone number. To tell your parents you are going somewhere. To tell your friends what’s going on. To help your friend who is having trouble. To make a friend or family member laugh. To tell about the fight during the lunch wave that your friends missed.

  4. Technical Definitions (aka Essential Vocab) Persuade: to try to convince someone to do something or believe something Inform: to tell about something; to give information Inspire: to encourage someone Illustrate: tell how; describe

  5. Technical Definitions (aka Essential Vocab) Describe: to paint a picture with words; to tell what someone or something looked like Promote: to encourage people to join a group or participate in an activity Entertain: to tell a story to make someone laugh

  6. How do you determine the purpose? • IT’S NOT ABOUT YOU! • Don’t think about how the story makes YOU feel. • Think about what the writer is trying to do. • You may think a story is inspirational, but that doesn’t mean it was the author’s intention to inspire.

  7. How do you determine the purpose? • Look at word choice. • If the author is urging you to do something, he/she is trying to persuade you or inspire you. • If the author is giving a lot of information, he/she is trying to inform you or promote a program. • If the author is giving a lot of detail, he/she is trying to entertain, describe, or illustrate.

  8. Example #1 Joshua Thompson was born with a hole in his heart. By the time he was 3, he had undergone 8 surgeries. Because he was in the hospital so often, he had a hard time learning things other children his age learned easily such as crawling and talking. However, he was eventually able to catch up and graduated near the top of his class. You may find the story inspirational. HOWEVER, the author is simply informing you about the story. The purpose is to inform, not to inspire.

  9. Example #2 People should not buy aromatherapy products. I thought I was buying something that would help me sleep. However, I was soon introduced to the evils of aromatherapy. Halfway through a bath, I realized I was having trouble breathing. I had to go to the doctor several times and still have trouble breathing. Think about this when you go to Bath and Body Works; you should just get a scented candle instead. The first sentence tells you that this is persuasive. Words like “evil” and “should” tell you that this is an opinionated passage.

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