Author’s Purpose
Modes of Writing
Three Reasons for Writing
1. To Inform (Expository)
2. To Persuade (Persuasive)
3. Entertain (Narrative or Poetry)
Writing to Inform
Often called expository writing.
Expository writing shows or explains facts.
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Examples:
Biography of Barack Obama
News report about a shooting
Note to a friend
Essay about “killer bees”
Remember: Expository = Expose
Writing to Persuade
Attempts to influence the reader.
Usually makes an argument.
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Examples:
Political speeches
Advertisements
A cover letter for your resume
An essay urging readers to recycle
Writing to Entertain
Narratives: stories.
Have a beginning, middle, and end
A story may have a lesson, but the
author’s main purpose is to entertain.
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Examples of Writing to Entertain
Harry Potter books
Poems about love
Narrative essay about the big game
Script for a TV show
Is it a story, poem, or drama (script)?
Yes
No
Does the text make arguments?
Yes
No
Does the text give facts?
Yes
Entertain
Persuade
No
Inform
Start
Over
Review
• Informative or expository writing
provides factual information about a topic.
• Persuasive writing expresses an opinion
(may use facts to support).
• All narratives are written to entertain, but
so is poetry.
Practice
You will be graded on participation
and completion, not on accuracy.
1. On a separate sheet of paper, number
one through ten.
2. I will describe a piece of writing.
3. You will write the author’s purpose: to
inform, persuade, or entertain.
1
The story of a teenage boy learning to
understand and live with his father, who is
an alcoholic Vietnam war veteran.
2
A list of the 25 richest athletes in the world.
3
An article arguing why Michael Jordan is
the greatest basketball player ever.
4
An “X-men” comic book.
5
The story about a young girl with low selfesteem learning to love herself.
6
A National Geographic article about the
eating and breeding habits of the
endangered bald eagle.
7
A website saying that a new shopping mall
should not be built because it threatens an
endangered bald eagle’s home. The
website also lists other reasons why the
mall should not be built.
8
A poem about bald eagles.
9
A magazine ad telling you to buy Nike
Hyperdunk shoes because you’ll jump
higher.
10
A sign saying, “Rest Stop Five Miles Ahead.”
Answers
1. Entertain
2. Inform
3. Persuade
4. Entertain
5. Entertain
6. Inform
7. Persuade
8. Entertain
9. Persuade
10. Inform
Author’s Purpose Activity
• Read each of the 10 descriptions and
decide whether the author’s purpose is:
– Expository/Informative
– Entertainment
– Persuasive
– Be sure to explain your answer.
– 20 Points Formative Assessment
Bell Work:
• What are the 3 reasons for writing?
Three Reasons for Writing
1. To Inform (Expository)
2. To Persuade (Persuasive)
3. Entertain (Narrative or Poetry)
Narrative Perspective
Author’s Point of View
Dialogue and Narration
• Dialogue = when characters speak.
• Narration = when the narrator speaks.
• “Quotation marks” separate narration
from dialogue.
Example
“Help” my cousin Jack said.
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Identifying Narrative Perspective
It's about the narrator (who tells the story)
We're not looking at dialogue.
We don't care what characters say.
Only the narrator's voice matters.
Pronoun Case
We are trying to figure out the narrator's
view point on the story.
Perspectives and Signal Words
First-Person
I, me, my, mine, we, us,
ours,
Second-Person you, your
Third-Person
he, she, her, they, them
(also character's names)
Secret
“I am in the room”
I = 1st Person
“You come in the room.”
You = 2nd Person
“Then he or she came in the room.”
He or She = 3rd Person
First-Person
Narrator is a part of the story (character).
Often uses I or we.
Example
I went home. Tim came over. I couldn't play.
Second-Person
Usually for instructions
Uses “You”; from “your” perspective.
Examples
First, gather your materials. Add 1 cup sugar
to flour.
Third-Person
• Narrator usually isn’t involved.
• Tells other's stories.
• Lots of “He,” “She,” & character names.
Three Types of Third-Person Narration
Does the narrator tell…
Thoughts and Feelings of Characters?
Third-Person Omniscient
Narrator is all knowing.
Narrator tells thoughts and feelings of
more than one character.
Omni = All
Scient = Knowing
Example
Tim was mad at Shay. He blamed her.
Shay knew Tim would be mad, but she
wanted to live her life.
Third-Person Limited
Narrator is limited to one character.
Tells thoughts & feelings of one character
Example
Tim was mad at Shay. He blamed her.
Shay just left without saying anything.
She left a note and then left him.
Third-Person Objective
Narrator does not reveal any character’s
thoughts or feelings.
Only character’s dialogue and actions
are narrated.
Example
Tim slammed the door. He walked
upstairs & read a note from Shay. He
kicked her trash can & started crying.
Tips on Identifying
• Check 1st or 2nd-person before worrying
about objective, limited, or omniscient.
• Ask, “Who’s story is the narrator telling:
his, mine, or someone else’s?”
• Focus on narration not dialogue.
Practice
1. Read the following passages.
2. Determine the narrator’s perspective.
3. Write down your answer.
1
When I was four months old, my
mother died suddenly and my father was
left to look after me all by himself… I had
no brothers or sisters. So through
boyhood, from the age of four months
onward, there was just us two, my father
and me. We lived in an old gypsy caravan
behind a filling station”
2
The huge man dropped his blankets and
flung himself down and drank from the surface
of the green pool. The small man stepped
behind him. "Lennie!" he said sharply.
"Lennie, for God" sakes don’t drink so much."
Lennie continued to snort into the pool. The
small man leaned over and shook him by the
shoulder. "Lennie you gonna be sick like you
was last night." Lennie dipped his whole head
under, hat and all… "Tha’s good," he said.
"You drink some, George." He smiled happily
3
Foresight in Relationships
The previous night, make your plans for
the next day and write them down… If you
attend an exclusive Samurai’s party and feel
timid, you cannot do your part in making it a
successful party. You had first better
prepare by convincing yourself that you will
have a grand time. And you should feel
grateful for the invitation.
4
Harold Davis took a deep breath and
slowly started to peel the gauze from the
wound on his grandmother’s leg. “Hold on,
Grandma. I’m almost done,” He said quietly.
“Don’t worry, baby. It doesn’t hurt too much,”
she quietly replied. “Just take your time.”
Harold glanced up at his grandmother lying
on the couch. He could tell she was in pain
from the way she gripped the cushions, but
still she managed to smile back at him.
5
They were standing under a tree, each
with an arm round the other's neck, and
Alice knew which was which in a moment,
because one of them had "DUM"
embroidered on his collar, and the other
"DEE." "I suppose they've each got
"TWEEDLE" round at the back of the collar,"
she said to herself. They stood so still that
she quite forgot they were alive, and she
was just looking round to see if the word
"TWEEDLE" was written at the back of each
collar, when she was startled by a voice
coming from the one marked "DUM."
Answers
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
First-Person
Third-Person Objective
Second-Person
Third-Person Limited
Third-Person Limited
Audience, & Medium
Audience – Who are you
communicating with?
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Students
Parents
Community
Age Group
Area of Study
– English/Language Arts
– Social Studies
– Mathematics
– Science
Medium
• The means of transmitting information
between a speaker or writer (the sender)
and an audience (the receiver).
– Written
– Political Cartoon
– Painting
– Oral Speech
– Carving/statue
Questions we must ask in
analyzing a historical document :
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Who wrote the document?
Who was the intended audience?
What was the story line?
Why was the document written?
What type of document was it, or what was its purpose?
What were the basic assumptions made by the author?
Can I believe this document?
What can I learn about the society that produced this
document?
What does this document mean to me?