* Identifying the author’s source, viewpoint, and purpose will help you to determine if what you are reading is reliable (trustworthy) and whether you should believe it or not.

* The author’s purpose is why the author is writing. * Author’s write for three main purposes: * Persuade * Inform * Entertain/Describe Inform Entertain/Describe Persuade

* When an author writes to persuade, he or she is trying to convince someone to do something, buy something, or think or act a certain way. * Examples: * Advertisements * Infomercials Inform Entertain/Describe Persuade

* When an author writes to inform, he or she is providing basic information about a person, place, thing, idea, or concept. * Examples: * Brochures * Textbooks Inform Entertain/Describe Persuade

* When an author writes to entertain or describe, he or she is giving details and descriptions. * Examples: * Books * Articles * Essays Inform Entertain/ Describe Persuade

* The author is the source. * Source can also refer to where the information is presented. (Internet, Books, Magazine, etc) * Ask yourself: * Who is writing it? * Where did I find the information? * Is the information from that specific source reliable?

A source can be biased or unbiased. * Biased refers to the author stating only his/her viewpoint (one sided). * Unbiased refers to the author stating both sides of the story, without showing preference to one specific side.

* The author’s viewpoint is how he/she feels about the subject. * The author can have a subjective viewpoint or an objective viewpoint. * Subjective-the author states his/her opinion * Objective-the author strictly contains the facts

* The author’s viewpoint can be conveyed using his/her point-of-view. * 1 st Person-The narrator is the one telling the story. The narrator also takes part in the action of the story. (I, we, us, me, my) * 3 rd Person Limited-The narrator does not take part in the story and limits us to only seeing one character’s thoughts or feelings. * 3 rd Person Omniscient-The narrator does not take part in the action of the story. The narrator is “all knowing” and shows us all of the characters thoughts or feelings.

* Read the examples below and label either persuade (P), inform (I), entertain/describe (E/D) * 1. A one page printout showing how to put together a coffee table that came in a box * 2. A speech in which a student promises daily pizza rations if he is elected class president * 3. A picture book about a dog that gets lost on a family vacation and has to find his way home

* Read the examples below and label who the source is. * 1. James and the Giant Peach by Roald Dahl “Until he was four years old, James Henry Trotter had had a happy life. He lived peacefully with his mother and father in a beautiful house beside the sea. There were always plenty of other children for him to play with, and there was a sandy beach for him to run about on.” * 2. “Abraham Lincoln is universally regarded as one of the greatest men ever to occupy the presidency. Yet through much of his administration, this lank and humble Illinois lawyer seemed destined for a less exalted historical judgment. Entrusted with guiding the nation through a civil war brought on by his own election to the White House on the antislavery Republican ticket, he was beset from the start with criticism from all sides.” Smithsonian Institution

* Read the examples below and label either 1 st person, 3 rd person limited, or 3 rd person omniscient. * 1. To Kill a Mocking Bird by Harper Lee “We lived on the main residential street in town—Atticus, Jem and I, plus Calpurnia our cook. Jem and I found our father satisfactory: he played with us, read to us, and treated us with courteous detachment…” * 2. Alice's Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll, John Tenniel “Alice was beginning to get very tired of sitting by her sister on the bank, and of having nothing to do: once or twice she had peeped into the book her sister was reading, but it had no pictures or conversations in it, ‘and what is the use of a book,’ thought Alice, ‘without pictures or conversations?’” * 3. Rikki-Tikki-Tavi by Rudyard Kipling “Rikki-tikki heard them going up the path from the stables, and he raced for the end of the melon patch near the wall. ‘I was not a day too soon,’ he said; for he could see the baby cobras curled up inside the skin, and he knew that the minute they were hatched they could kill a man or mongoose. He bit off the tops of the eggs as fast as he could, taking care to crush the young cobras. Nagaina spun clear round, forgetting everything for the sake of her eggs. She saw she had lost her chance of killing Teddy, and the last egg lay between Rikki-tikki’s paws.”