Author

1
Authors Purpose
Attitude

• Unit 4

2
Authors Purpose Attitude

• REVIEW - Authors Attitude
• Tone authors attitude toward subjects,
  settings, story, etc.
• how the author feels about the subject they are
  writing about.
• You find tone by figuring out the tone of voice
  associated with the writing.
• Positive, negative, neutral?
• Attitude helps to determine what the point of his
  or her writing will be.
• NEW - Authors Purpose
• Every piece of writing has a point (purpose)!
  Authors purpose is the reason they wrote the
  selection.
• Your job on the OAA OGT will be to decide what
  the point of a passage or piece of writing is.
• An author may have more than one purpose in a
  piece of writing.
• A purpose may be stated directly or need to be
  inferred by the reader.

3
Authors Purpose

• Inform
• Provides facts, ideas, terms, or directions
• Simply informs, explains, teaches, or tells you
  about a topic
• Tone is neutral and fair (unbiased)
• Examples of this type of writing expository
  essays or articles, instructions or directions,
  Encyclopedias or other reference texts
• Keep in mind for example, many readers find
  reading the newspaper to be very entertaining,
  but the primary purpose of the majority of the
  text is to provide information.
• Persuade
• The author attempts to lead the reader to take on
  a belief or opinion about the topic / an attempt
  to change the readers mind
• The author wants you to take on his or her
  viewpoint
• Tone is either strongly positive OR negative /
  approving OR disapproving
• Examples of this type of writing advertisements,
  campaign speeches, persuasive letters or notes --
  Also called persuasive writing

4
Authors Purpose

• Entertain
• Meant to entertain and provide enjoyment for the
  reader.
• Tone is outrageously funny, scary, witty, etc.
• This does not mean that the text must be happy
  the text could be a tragedy, but the main reason
  for writing the text is to amuse readers.
• There may be persuasive or informative elements
  however, is the primary purpose to entertain or
  amuse?
• Some examples of this type of writing can be
  poems, stories, plays, or comic strips.
• Describe
• Gives a word picture of a person, place, thing,
  and/or event (an attempt to get the reader to
  truly see what the author sees)
• Uses imagery and several adjectives
• Painting a picture with words
• Tone is neutral and fair (unbiased)

5
Tips to help you find
authors purpose

• Is the text a poem, play, or story?
• Does the text provide facts or opinions?
• Is the text attempting to get the reader to do
  something?
• Based on the title, why do think the author wrote
  this selection?
• Which words do you think best describe the main
  reason the author wrote this selection to
  provide readers with information? To describe a
  person, event, or issue? To persuade readers to
  think about an issue in a certain way and to take
  action? Or to entertain the reader?
• Why did the author write the article from a
  particular point of view?
• How did the author influence your response to the
  selection?
• Was the authors purpose specifically stated?
• Do you think that the author achieved his/her
  intended purposes? Did the article effectively
  give information? Entertain readers? Persuade
  readers to think about an issue and/or take
  action?
• What examples from the text support your
  conclusions about authors purpose?

6
Practice 1

• Jim was unable to get to sleep. When he went to
  bed he cried. Tomorrow is his birthday party and
  it is going to be ruined. How can we go sledding
  with no snow? The next morning, when Jim got out
  of bed and ran to the window, he shouted with
  glee, "The snow has fallen and we can go
  sledding!" Jim was happy because now he can have
  his birthday sledding party.

7
Practice 2

• Everyone should have a pet of some sort. Pets are
  very loving and affectionate, and can add a great
  deal of emotional and mental value to ones life.
  In addition, pets help children learn
  responsibility because a child can have jobs to
  help care for them. Overall, pets give you
  unconditional love. Having a pet is a wonderful
  experience for many reasons.

8
Practice 3

• It was a cold grey day in late November.
  The weather had changed overnight, when a
  backing wind brought a granite sky and a muzzling
  rain with it, and although it was now only a
  little after two o'clock in the afternoon the
  pallor of a winter evening seemed to have closed
  upon the hills, cloaking them in mist.

9
Practice 4

• If you want to become a better reader, you need
  to read often. Research supports that children
  need to read frequently to be able to read
  fluently and to be able to read high frequency
  words. All students will benefit by reading at
  least 20-30 minutes per day. Make it a point and
  read more often!

10
Practice 5

• The largest animal ever to live on earth is the
  blue whale. They can grow this large because
  seawater can support their tremendous weight.
  Once whalers in the Antarctic caught a 108 foot
  long blue whale. In modern times, blue whales
  can reach 150 tons. To maintain its size, a blue
  whale will eat up to four tons of krill per day.

11
Practice 6

• To spot a blue whale, start by watching the
  surface of the sea, looking for the blow of
  water. Blue whales release blows of up to 30 feet
  in height. Next use binoculars to spot the body.
  A blue whale looks like a large moving sandbar.
  Then look for the short dorsal fin near the tail.
  Finally, check for the triangular parts of the
  tail. If the tail rises above the water the
  animal is diving deep and may be gone for awhile.

12
Answers 2 pts each

• 1 - entertain
• 2 - persuade
• 3 - describe
• 4 - persuade
• 5 - inform
• 6 - inform