What is the author’s purpose?

• All authors have a reason, or purpose, for writing. The details and information that they present demonstrate their purpose.

• Ask yourself, “What does the author want me to learn or think as a result of reading or viewing their work?”

Four Main Purposes

• To persuade• To entertain• To inform• To describe

• A piece of writing can have more than one purpose

Name the author’s purpose:

• A comic book

• A weather report

• An editorial article

• The sports section of the newspaper

Name the author’s purpose:•A comic book

•A weather report

•An editorial article

•The sports section of the newspaper

Name the author’s purpose:

•A comic book

•A weather report

•An editorial article

•The sports section of the newspaper

Answer:

In an editorial, the author writes an article to express his/her opinion on a subject. The author’s purpose in writing an editorial is to persuade the audience to agree with his/her opinion.

Name the author’s purpose

• A comic book

• A weather report

• An editorial article

• The sports section of the newspaper

What is the author’s purpose?What is the author’s purpose?A Tabloid Newspaper WriterA Tabloid Newspaper Writer

Answer:

What is the author’s purpose?What is the author’s purpose?A propaganda poster:A propaganda poster:

“The Eternal Jew”

Answer:

Night by Elie Wiesel •A memoir based on Wiesel’s experience during the Holocaust and having lost his faith in God and humanity.

•Elie Wiesel describes living in the ghetto, surviving the concentration camps, and finally being liberated.

•His purpose: to inform and to describe.