Authors Purpose

1
Authors Purpose

• Texts serve to inform, instruct, persuade, and
  entertain.

2
Authors Reason

• The main reasons for text include
• To inform by giving information.
• To instruct by explaining how to do something.
• To persuade or convince readers to do or believe
  something.
• To entertain by presenting humor or other
  enjoyable material.

3
Texts have purpose!

• What is the purpose for this paragraph?
• Humans hunted mastodons and wooly mammoths to
  extinction. In Australia, scientists have dug up
  bone and eggshell fossils that indicate a massive
  die-off of large animals many years ago. This
  extinction occurred after humans arrived on that
  continent. People have been responsible for the
  disappearance. In North America, about 1,000
  years after human appearance, about thirty
  species of large animals were gone.

4
Factual texts inform.

• The factual, scientific information tells us that
  the purpose is to inform the reader
• Humans may have hunted mastodons and wooly
  mammoths to extinction. In Australia, scientists
  have dug up bone and eggshell fossils that
  indicate a massive die-off of large animals many
  years ago. This extinction occurred after humans
  arrived on that continent. People may have been
  responsible for the animals' disappearance. In
  North America, about 1,000 years after human
  appearance, about thirty species of large animals
  were gone.

5
Texts have purpose.

• What is the purpose for this paragraph?
• Human beings are used to living under laws and
  patterns that are dictated to us by society, but
  following those patterns does not make us good
  citizens. To be a good citizen first you have to
  be a good person. By that I mean that you have to
  be full of values, principles, ethics, etc. When
  joining all these aspects together you will find
  out that there is nothing else to be needed.

6
How-to texts instruct.

• The author instructs good citizens.
• Human beings are used to living under laws and
  patterns that are dictated to us by society, but
  following those patterns does not make us good
  citizens. To be a good citizen first you have to
  be a good person. You have to be full of values,
  principles, ethics, etc. When joining all these
  aspects together you will find out that there is
  nothing else needed.

7
Texts have purpose.

• What is the purpose for this paragraph?
• I am sure that you know that smoking harms your
  body. Then why do you continue smoking? Maybe you
  do it because you havent really become conscious
  about all the effects that smoking has. There are
  a lot of reasons why you shouldnt smoke. Some of
  them are that smoking affects your health, that
  you spend a lot of money on cigarettes, and that
  when you smoke you are not respecting people
  around you.

8
Texts can be persuasive.

• This text persuades you should not smoke!
• I am sure that you know that smoking harms your
  body. Then why do you continue smoking? Maybe you
  do it because you havent really become conscious
  about all the effects that smoking has. There are
  a lot of reasons why you shouldnt smoke. Some of
  them are that smoking affects your health, that
  you spend a lot of money on cigarettes, and that
  when you smoke you are not respecting people
  around you.

9
All texts have purpose.

• What is the reason for this paragraph?

An officer stopped a car and saw machetes in the
car. "What are those for?" she asked. To
juggle," the man replied. Show me," the officer
said. So he got out the machetes and started
juggling them, first three, then more, finally
seven at one time, even behind the back, amazing
the officer. Another car passed by. The driver
said, "Holy Mother, I've got to give up the
drink! Look at the test they're giving now!"
10
Texts can entertain.

• It is a joke to entertain the reader.

An officer stopped a car with machetes inside.
"What are those for?" he asked. To juggle," the
man replied. Show me," the officer said. So he
got out the machetes and juggled seven blades at
once, amazing the officer. Another car passed by.
The driver said, "Look at the test they're giving
now! No more alcohol for me!"
11
Authors Tone Feeling

• Is this text serious?
• True or False?
• Dueling or shooting at each other with guns is
  legal in Paraguay when both persons are
  registered blood donors.
• How do you know its funny?

12
Authors Point of View

• Does the authors position show bias in favor of,
  opposing, or neutral on an issue?

The reason to enjoy reading is that you can
expand your knowledge and also your culture.
There are a lot of good books in which you can
find history, novels, tragedies, comedies and a
variety of other themes. You can see that people
who read more often frequently have a bigger
knowledge of life and also a bigger perspective
of their environment.  I think that fact gives
them an advantage over all others who do not read
frequently.
13
Authors Point of View

• The author shows bias in favor of reading for
  pleasure.

The reason to enjoy reading is that you can
expand your knowledge and also your culture.
There are a lot of good books in which you can
find history, novels, tragedies, comedies and a
variety of other themes. Readers more often have
a bigger knowledge of life and also a bigger
perspective of their environment. 
14
Authors Intended Audience

• The audience are the readers that the writer has
  in mind.
• A specific person like a newspaper editor.
• A group such as college students or their
  parents.
• The general public the public at large the
  typical American adult.

15
Who is the audience?

• True or false?
• Our nose, eyes and ears never stop growing until
  the day we die.
• Bored people looking for a diversion!

16
Review

• Authors purposes are to inform, instruct,
  persuade, and entertain.
• Their words express attitudes.
• Their bias can be positive, negative, or neutral
  on topics and issues.
• They write texts for particular readers or
  audiences.