2.  Message/Moral  Purpose  Theme  Bias  Tone  Credibility

3. Message/Moral  What is the author trying to say or teach you?  Example: Morgan Spurlock’s Supersize Me  Example: The Boy Who Cried Wolf

4. Purpose  Why did the writer write this story?  What’s his reason for writing this story?  What is the author trying to do with his writing?  What impact is he trying to have on the world?  Example: Supersize Me

5. Theme  What idea or human issue does the writer repeat or focus on? Reoccurring idea or issue.  Universal human issue  Love, Family, Revolution, Utopia, human nature, hero’s quest, revenge, good v. evil, creation v. evolution, freedom of speech, etc.

6. Tone  The feeling or attitude of the author  Example: Michael Moore’s Capitalism  Example: Al Gore’s An Inconvenient Truth

7. Bias/Perspective  A point of view or attitude from the author that might affect the his/her writing (message, theme, focus)  Example: Michael Moore’s Sicko  Only One side of the story, debate, or discussion

8. Credibility  What makes this person an expert? What makes this author worth listening to?  Education?  Experience?  Research?  Expert support?

9. Comprehension Check  How is tone different from mood?  How is message different from theme?  How is message different from purpose?

10. Application  Watch these clips and identify the author’s message, purpose, theme, tone, and bias.  Be sure to have specific reasons and examples to support your answer.  Bowling for Columbine Brief History of the USABrief History of the USA  Wonderful World U.S. History Wonderful World U.S. History  Moore interviews Charlton Heston Moore interviews Charlton Heston  SuperSizeMe SuperSizeMe