Author’s Purpose
and
Setting
R7.A.1.6.2
IDENTIFY EXAMPLES OF TEXT THAT SUPPORT ITS
PURPOSE
R7.B.1.1.1
INTERPRET RELATIONSHIPS AMONG CHARACTERS,
SETTING, PLOT, AND THEME IN FICTION AND/OR
NONFICTION
Author’s Purpose His or her main reason for writing
Skills and Strategies you will learn:
 To recognize details that indicate the author’s
purpose
 To use background information to determine the
author’s purpose
Using the Skills and Strategies
 In this part you will learn to recognize the author’s
purpose (or reason for writing). The author’s
purpose influences what the author says and how he
or she says it. You will practice using text clues and
background knowledge to determine the author’s
reasons for writing.
Some examples of clues to help you
determine the author’s purpose
Author’s Purpose
Clues
To persuade
Strong language, favors
one side of an issue
To entertain
To inform
Silly, humorous,
suspenseful, exciting
details
Facts and details
To reflect on an
experience
Descriptions,
comments by the writer
Word
Definition
Example Sentence
previous
Occurring before in
time or order
The author’s previous
works were more
persuasive.
recall
To call back; remember
Can you recall the story
details?
background A person’s experience
or knowledge
The author’s background
influences the setting of the
story.
establish
Determine; make sure
of
Knowing the author’s
background helped
establish the author’s
purpose
prior
Coming before in time;
earlier
Prior to reading the story,
we learned about the
author.
Reading Skill – Author’s Purpose
 Fiction writers may write for a variety of purposes.
They may wish to entertain, to teach, to call to
action, or to reflect on experiences. Recognizing
details that indicate the author’s purpose can give
you a rich understanding of a text. As you read, use a
chart like the one shown to note details from the
story that fit the different possible purposes of the
author.
Entertain
Teach
Reflect
Funny details Explanations Details that
or details that
create a mood
create interest
Literary Analysis - Setting
 The setting of a story is the time and place of the
action. In this example, the details in italics help
establish the story’s setting:
As night fell, the hungry raccoons roamed the forest for food.
 In some stories, setting is just a backdrop. The
same story events could take place in a completely
different setting
 In other stories, setting is very important. It
develops a specific atmosphere or mood in the
story. The setting may even relate directly to the
story’s central conflict or problem.
All Summer in a Day
BY: RAY BRADBURY
Background
 Venus: “All Summer in a Day” is set on Venus,
the second planet from the sun. Today, we
know that Venus has a surface temperature of
almost 900 degrees Fahrenheit. In 1950, when
Ray Bradbury wrote this story, some scientists
believed that the clouds of Venus concealed a
watery world. That information may have led
Bradbury to create a setting of soggy jungles
and constant rain.
Venus
 Venus is roughly equal in size to Earth. For this
reason, it is sometimes called “Earth’s Twin.”
Its climate and atmosphere, however, are
unlike Earth’s, and it is unable to sustain life.
The atmosphere is primarily carbon dioxide –
the gas human beings exhale – and the
atmospheric pressure is about ninety times
greater than that of Earth. The clouds are
around Venus that scientists one thought to be
rain clouds are actually clouds of sulfuric acid.
Ray Bradbury
 As a boy, Ray Bradbury loved magicians, circuses, and
science-fiction stories. He began writing his own
imaginative tales and by the age of seventeen had his first
story published in a magazine called Imagination!
 In 1950, Bradbury won fame for his book of sciencefiction stories called The Martian Chronicles. One story
describes how a group of Earthlings struggle on the rainy
world of Venus. Bradbury began to wonder how a child
might react to the sun’s brief appearance on Venus. Four
years later, he answered his own question by writing “All
Summer in a Day.”
Fast Facts about Ray Bradbury
 Many of Bradbury’s stories have been
adapted for the television series The
Twilight Zone
 He has served as a consultant to the
Disney Company, the New York World’s
Fair, and a number of architects.
Vocabulary
 Slackening – easing; becoming less active
 Vital – extremely important or necessary
 Tumultuously – Noisily and violent
 Resilient – Springing back into shape