ACTIVITY:
Indicate the reason or purpose (inform, persuade, apology, describe or entertain) for the following.
The first one is done for you as an example.
- Notes when studying 1. Inform 2. Explain
- Notes to friends, teachers, relatives 1._____ 2_____3______4________
- Answers on a worksheet, homework, or test 1________
- Birthday and holiday notes to family and friends 1_____ 2______
- Graffiti 1_________
- Artwork 1________
- Directions to your house so a friend can visit 1_________
- Apology notes 1___________ 2__________
- Notes when studying 1. Inform 2. Explain
- Notes to friends, teachers, relatives 1. Inform 2. Persuade 3. Apology 4. Describe
- Answers on a worksheet, homework, or test 1. Inform
- Birthday celebrations and holiday notes to family and friends. 1.Persuade 2. Entertain
- Graffiti 1. Entertain
- Artwork 1. Entertain
- Directions to your house so a friend can visit. 1. Explain
- Apology notes 1. Persuade 2. Describe
Having discussed students’ purpose of writing in above activity, now let’s discuss an author’s purpose of writing.
- Are you engaged in reading a book or a novel?
Sometimes, they are so interesting that we read them continuously.
- Have you ever wondered how an author engages their audience/readers?
That is possible through a concept called author’s purpose.
Let’s learn more about it.
What is an author’s purpose?
An author’s purpose is his/her reason or intent with what they write.
An author’s purpose is his/her reason or intent with which they write.
An author’s purpose may be any of the following:
- To amuse the reader.
- To persuade the reader.
- To inform the reader.
- To describe a condition.
- To explain something.
An author’s purpose is seen in the way he writes about a topic.
For example, if he/she wants to amuse the readers, he/she uses jokes or anecdotes in his/her writing.
Why do authors write a story?
- Persuade: Authors try to get you to do something or make you believe what they say.
- Inform: Authors give you information about a topic.
- Entertain: They tell us a story that we enjoy reading.
- Describe: Authors want us to visualize or experience a person, place or thing.
- Explain: They tell us how to do something or how something works.
Let’s discuss in detail:
INFORM:
Authors want to give information.
Examples:
- Textbooks
- Non-fiction books
- Essays
- Newspaper articles
- Directions
ENTERTAIN:
Authors want to amuse the readers.
Examples:
- Fiction stories
- Poems
- Songs
- Plays
- Jokes
- Narratives
PERSUADE:
Authors want you to do or believe something.
Examples:
- Advertisements
- Persuasive letters
- Opinions
- Campaign speeches
DESCRIBE:
Authors want you to visualize or experience a person, place or thing.
Examples:
- Descriptions
- Essays
- Imagery
EXPLAIN:
Authors want to tell you how to do something or how something works.
Examples:
- Instructions
- Directions
- Steps
- Procedures
- How-to-do recipes
Tips or ideas to inform:
- Write a letter informing about your daily routine.
- Describing the items of catalogues or magazines or classrooms.
- Design a brochure containing facts about a subjects like history, geography, science, mathematics etc.
- Prepare a recipe and outline the steps needed to make the varities of dishes
- Write a news report on some special events in the school or the community.
Tips or ideas to create entertainment:
- Create a fun-story.
- Create a book of jokes.
- Describe a jovial event that made you to burst into laughter.
- Write a fun-poem some animals.
- Write a very short description on inanimate object in the classroom (i.e. – the stapler, the dry erase markers, etc.).
Tips or ideas to persuasive writing
- Make a radio advertisement to motivate people to purchase products.
- Draft a speech to encourage people to vote for you for school head-boy.
- Work with your team on a drama about a salesgirl trying to sell a reluctant buyer a costly item..
- Write an essay on new changes you would like to see and why it should be implemented
- Write a book review encouraging someone to read it.
Related topics
Diary Writing
A diary writing is a type of writing in which a person records an account of their day. We keep track of important and significant days, as well as our personal feelings. As a result, it is a personal document. Diary writing can be based on anything. It can be based on an experience, a […]
Read More >>Proper and Common Nouns
They name any person, place, thing, or an idea. Common nouns are capitalized only when they come at the beginning of a sentence. Otherwise they are not capitalized. Common Nouns A quick recap Examples of common nouns People: include men, women, children, police officers, criminals, butchers, bakers, neighbours, friends, and foes as well as judges, […]
Read More >>Contractions With Not
What is a contraction? A contraction is one word made up of two words. We do this to make things short and trim. The first word usually stays the same. I will à I’ll (the first word remained the same) And in some cases, both the first word and the second word lose letters. Shall […]
Read More >>Identify Prepositions
A word that shows the connection between a thing or a pronoun and different words in a sentence is called a preposition. They occur before a noun or a pronoun. For example: There is a kitten in the basket. Some common prepositions in English are in, on, at, up, down, under, over, above, below, across, […]
Read More >>Other topics

Comments: