Authors Purpose Essay Example
Determine an Author’s Purpose
An author's purpose is his or her reason for writing. Asking two important questions about anything you read will help you understand the author's purpose:
• Why did the author write this? • What does the author expect me to learn or do?
The topic and main idea may contain clues that will help you answer these questions and determine an author's purpose. If the selection you are reading has a title, it too may provide clues. You can learn to recognize three common purposes: to inform, to persuade, and to entertain. Facts and examples presented objectively are clues that the author's purpose is to inform. Details that influence or convince you to think, feel, or act a certain way suggest that the author's purpose is to persuade. Descriptive details that give you emotional and intellectual pleasure may indicate that the author's purpose is to entertain. The type of material may also suggest an author's purpose. Textbooks and professional journals are written to inform. Newspaper editorials and articles from special interest magazines are often written to persuade. Essays, fiction, and some personal interest stories in periodicals are written to entertain. An author may have more than one purpose, but one purpose will dominate. For example, an author who wants to persuade readers to try a new diet may also need to inform them about its benefits and risks.
The following exercises will help you determine an author's purpose, first in sentences, then in paragraphs, and finally in longer selections.
D: Purpose Exercise D.1
Read the following sentences. Then circle the author's purpose. In addition, be prepared to explain your answer if asked to do so.
1. Aranika Sorenstam was only the second woman in history to play in a major PGA tournament.
a. inform
b. persuade
c. entertain
2. Women should do a monthly breast self-examination because early detection of cancer increases the chances
An author's purpose is his or her reason for writing. Asking two important questions about anything you read will help you understand the author's purpose:
• Why did the author write this? • What does the author expect me to learn or do?
The topic and main idea may contain clues that will help you answer these questions and determine an author's purpose. If the selection you are reading has a title, it too may provide clues. You can learn to recognize three common purposes: to inform, to persuade, and to entertain. Facts and examples presented objectively are clues that the author's purpose is to inform. Details that influence or convince you to think, feel, or act a certain way suggest that the author's purpose is to persuade. Descriptive details that give you emotional and intellectual pleasure may indicate that the author's purpose is to entertain. The type of material may also suggest an author's purpose. Textbooks and professional journals are written to inform. Newspaper editorials and articles from special interest magazines are often written to persuade. Essays, fiction, and some personal interest stories in periodicals are written to entertain. An author may have more than one purpose, but one purpose will dominate. For example, an author who wants to persuade readers to try a new diet may also need to inform them about its benefits and risks.
The following exercises will help you determine an author's purpose, first in sentences, then in paragraphs, and finally in longer selections.
D: Purpose Exercise D.1
Read the following sentences. Then circle the author's purpose. In addition, be prepared to explain your answer if asked to do so.
1. Aranika Sorenstam was only the second woman in history to play in a major PGA tournament.
a. inform
b. persuade
c. entertain
2. Women should do a monthly breast self-examination because early detection of cancer increases the chances