Created By The Knight Times Newspaper

The author’s purpose is the main reason why the story or article was written. Is the purpose to persuade, inform, or entertain? If readers changed the way they thought about a topic or issue, one of the author’s purposes may have been to persuade. If students learn while they are reading, one of the author’s purposes may have been to inform. If readers enjoyed what they read, one of the author’s purposes may have been to entertain.

It’s the author’s goal to persuade the reader to agree with the author’s opinion. Even though the author shares his opinion, he may provide facts or examples to support the opinion. Examples: advertisements, commercials, newspaper editorials, etc. Clues: Specific audience, opinion, supporting reasons

It’s the author’s goal to enlighten the reader with topics that are usually real or contain facts. Facts are used to teach, not to persuade. Examples: textbooks, cookbooks, newspapers, encyclopedias, etc. Clues: Who, Where, When, What, Why, How?

It is the author’s goal to tell a story or describe real or imaginary characters, places, and events. Examples: Poems, stories, plays, comic strips, entertainment articles, etc. Clues: Characters, setting, problem, events, solution

 1. While reading, ask yourself, “Why did the author write this?”  2. Think about the type of writing – ex. editorial articles and advertisements try to persuade.  3. Look for other clues – for example, opinion may be to persuade, facts may be to inform, etc.

The perspective from which a speaker or writer recounts a narrative or presents information. Depending on the topic, purpose, and audience, writers of nonfiction may rely on the first-person point of view (I, we), the second-person (you, your), or the third-person (he, she, it, they).

In the newspaper, you will find an author’s point-of-view in entertainment articles and editorial/opinion articles. The point-of-view presented in these types of news articles is often termed as bias, which in this case is the informed opinion of the author based on the information they have gathered on the topic.