Author’s Purpose & Audience and Research Requirements Preparation for the Lord of the Flies Assessment Paper

Author’s Purpose & Audience

Writer’s Notebook Activity 1 Think about the last movie you rented or saw at the theater. Who so you think the intended audience was for this film? Why? What do you think was the purpose or point of the movie? How do you know?

The first time you approach a work, think about the Purpose &Audience! An author’s purpose is his/her main reason for writing. Why was this written? Audience: An author’s audience is the particular group of readers/viewers that the writer is addressing. Think: For whom is this written?

Identifying Purpose 3 broad purposes: To inform To persuade To entertain

To inform If the author’s purpose is to inform, you will learn something from the selection. Information pieces sometime use one or more of the following: Facts Details/Instructions Places Events People Example: Steinbeck wrote Of Mice and Men in 1937 and the Pulitzer Prize winning novel Grapes of Wrath in 1939.

To Persuade If the author’s purpose is to persuade, the author wants you to believe his/her position. Persuasive pieces are usually non-fiction. Although there are facts, it contains the author’s opinions. With persuasive pieces, it is clear on the author’s P.O.V. (if he/she is FOR or AGAINST it). Example: Creative Media’s brand new Futuro mp3 player is far superior to any mp3 plaver on the market, including the Ipod. We promise you will be more than satisfied with its appearance, functionality, and performance.

To Entertain If the author’s purpose is to entertain, one goal may be to tell a story or to describe characters, places or events (real or imaginary). Examples of entertaining texts include: plays, poems, stories, jokes, or even comic strips. Example: Marcus was beyond upset. His sister had made the honor roll again and he hadn’t. This meant she would be hanging out with her friends all weekend while he studied. Just thinking about it was enough to make him kick his dresser in anger.

Determine the author’s purpose Use the information on the bottle to determine the author’s purpose. A. To Inform B. To Entertain C. To Persuade Image: http://fcit.usf.edu/FCAT/strategies/ap/activity5.htm

Can you identify the author’s purpose? The correct answer is A, to inform. The label contained information and instructions on how to use the medicine. Image: http://fcit.usf.edu/FCAT/strategies/ap/activity5.htm

Can you identify the author’s purpose? Inform Entertain Persuade His face appeared in the window. She knew he had been the cause of her waking at 3 a.m. Was she seeing things? Was his face real? She tried to lie still and decide what to do. Just then, the window shattered. She flew across the room to the hallway and straight into her mother’s room. Image: http://z.about.com/d/banking/1/0/r/scary_eyes.jpg

Can you identify the author’s purpose? The correct answer is to entertain. The author tried to capture a suspenseful mood in the story. The story is probably fiction.

Can you identify the author’s purpose? It is recommended that parents read to their children everyday, starting as early as six months of age. When you read with your children, you are starting them off in life as a life-long reader and learner. It is never too late to pick up a book and read; people in their eighties have learned how to read and discovered the pleasure of reading. Turn off the television and read a book!

Can you identify the author’s purpose? You can tell the author wrote this passage to A. Inform B. Entertain C. Persuade Image: http://gordonsbabyzone.com/library/fotolia_1218051.jpg

Can you identify the author’s purpose? The correct answer is C, to persuade. This is an emotional appeal to do the right thing: READ! Also, the last sentence tells you encourages you to do something: “Turn off the television” Image: http://www.stargazette.com/blogs/genx/scanandplan/uploaded_images/noTV-797953.jpg

Read the selection carefully. What are the steps to determining the author’s purpose and point of view? Read the selection carefully. Determine if the selection is fiction or nonfiction. Image: http://fcit.usf.edu/FCAT/references/strategies/ap2.htm Possible Activity: This strategy teaches students how to identify the author's purpose or point of view. 1. The teacher introduces the four main purposes an author may use. Give plenty of examples of each type, and practice identifying which ones belong under which heading. 2. The teacher places students into cooperative groups of four. Give each group a copy of the daily newspaper. Have students search through and cut out articles, advertisements, etc., and identify the author's purpose. Follow-up with a class discussion where articles are shared and the justification of an author's purpose is explained. Reference Adapted from Florida Department of Education materials.

What is Fiction? A fiction piece is from the author’s imagination and is not based on facts. Fiction pieces will be stories. The purpose of fiction is to entertain the reader. Fiction creates a mood, a feeling you get from reading the selection. The mood could be happy, sad, scary, angry, peaceful, etc…

What is Non-fiction? Non-fiction pieces are based on facts and author’s opinions about a subject. Non-fiction pieces could be biographies, articles from textbooks, newspaper and magazine articles. The purpose of non-fiction writing is to inform and sometimes to persuade.

Identifying Audience The audience an author is addressing should be reflected in almost every aspect of a text’s appearance and language. Examples: Structure Formality

Identifying Audience What are some other ways the audience of a piece might be reflected? Diction Content or Subject Matter Length

Writer’s Notebook Activity 2 Watch the following video and determine the following: What is the intended purpose of each of these videos? How do you know? Who is the intended audience? How do you know? http://youtu.be/dzykVhaEOPg

Writer’s Notebook Activity 3 Draw a line to separate the page into two sections. In the top section: Write about a time when you had the most fun you’ve ever had with one of your friends. Write as if you were describing it to another peer. Be sure to think about your purpose, your audience, and how you’ll reflect that in you writing.

Writer’s Notebook Activity 3 In the bottom section: Write about the same event, but this time as if you were telling a parent, guardian, or other adult. Be sure to think about the different ways that you can change what you’ve already written to reflect a different purpose and audience

Research Tools and Requirements

Primary & Secondary Sources – What makes a source reliable?

Primary Source a letter, journal, interview, speeches, photos, paintings, etc. Primary sources are created by someone who is the “first person”; these documents can also be called “original source documents. The author or creator is presenting original materials as a result of discovery or to share new information or opinions. Primary documents have not been filtered through interpretation or evaluation by others. In order to get a complete picture of an event or era, it is necessary to consult multiple--and often contradictory--sources.

Secondary Sources These materials are written with the benefit of hindsight – materials that filter primary sources through interpretation or evaluation. Books commenting on a historical incident in history are secondary sources. Political cartoons can be tricky because they can be considered either primary or secondary.

Note: One is not more reliable than the other. Valuable information can be gleaned from both types of documents. A primary document can tell you about the original author’s perspective; a secondary document can tell you how the primary document was received during a specific time period or by a specific audience.

Other Questions about PS & SS Other questions must be answered to give you much more information about the document and it’s value. Who created it? Who is the author? When was it created? When was it published? Where was it published? Who is publishing it? Is there anything we know about the author that is pertinent to our evaluation?

OPVL= EVALUATING A SOURCE Origin Purpose Value Limitation

O- ORIGIN: Origin is where the source comes from: author/artist, date it was written/finished, which country the author/artist was born in, where the source was actually produced, in which media (newspaper, book, letter,etc) it is presented. Where did the source come from? Who did it come from? When did it come from?

P- PURPOSE: Purpose is where you have to put yourself in the author/artist's shoes. What do you think they were trying to communicate to readers? What ideas/feelings were they trying to express/evoke? (The purpose is especially important when it comes to pieces of propaganda as sources), What are the ramifications of the origins? In terms of the historical context of the source, what does it mean?

V- VALUE: Value is how valuable this source is. Basically it's linked to the amount of bias in the source: the more bias = the less valuable (usually). Primary sources are obviously more valuable than secondary/tertiary ones. Oh and obviously if you're doing something on Hitler's feelings towards Jews, a diary entry from him would be more valuable than a historian's account of how he felt. With the origin and purpose in mind, what value does this source have? (Bias does not make a source worthless!!!) What does it show about the society? What does it show about the type of thinking at that time?

L- LIMITATION: Limitations is also linked to bias, each source will be at least a little biased and thus they are limited by that. If the source has been translated from the original (e.g. Hitler's diary entry was translated into English by a historian and you're using the historian's book as a source) then the language difference will be another source of inaccuracy and a limitation. Despite the value, what pitfalls in the origin and purpose cause this source to not be valuable? Is it damaged? Was it mistranslated? Was it “corrupted” since it was altered for a specific audience only?

Sample “OPVL” Paragraph The origin of this source is a journal that was written by _________ in ________in _______. Its purpose was to _________________ so ______________. A value of this is that it gives the perspective of ________________. However, a limitation is that _______________, making __________________________. Just try to structure your source analysis with these points in a logical sequence; each one should build on top of previous points.

TIPS: Bias does not make a source worthless. Try to give a balanced discussion of value and limitations (don’t spend a page on value and a sentence on limitations). In regards to origin, make sure you research the who or what organization is responsible for publication. Do not disregard a source because it is “merely” propaganda or advertising. Try to develop a purpose which relates to the origins of the source. Keep in mind different historical interpretations of the source. Is the source primary, secondary, etc.? A historical artifact and an encyclopedia article are very different.

Work Referenced/Used Author purpose and audience: Source Reliability: http://ctle.hccs.edu/gcpass/prepreading/prepreading_topic6.htm http://www.slideshare.net/katrinaboone/purpose-and-audience-powerpoint http://static.schoolrack.com/files/5255/81722/Authors_Purpose.ppt Anti-Drug PSA-Popular – YouTube Video http://youtu.be/dzykVhaEOPg Source Reliability: http://www.sanjuan.edu/webpages/abearson/file_viewer.cfm?secFile=557 http://www.minnesotahumanities.org/Resources/A%20Guide%20for%20Using%20Primary%20Source%20Documents.pdf