 Objective:
Authors have a point to make in their writing. They have
a purpose for their writing. And they write to a certain audience.
These elements of an author's voice determine the way a
passage makes you feel and the ideas it gives you. Analyzing
the author's purpose gives you a major key to becoming an
effective reader. When you know where the author is coming
from, you can then compare your own ideas or gain a new perspective.
This lesson will help you figure out the author's purpose
and evaluate the intended audience for the writing.
-
Review the meaning of tone and
persuasive devices
- Identify strategies to help you determine author's
purpose in a literary passage
-
Practice analyzing writing for
author's tone and viewpoint
- Practice analyzing writing for author's purpose
- Practice identifying persuasive strategies
- Score and evaluate
your answers.
Vocabulary:
These words will be used in this lesson. They might be quite
familiar to you, or you might want some review. For review,
just click the Helpful Tools button and open Vocabulary.
- Purpose (why write?)
- Audience (write to whom?)
- Tone (what attitude revealed?)
- Persuasive Devices (just do it because . . . )
Tips and Tools:
What does it mean to talk about the author's purpose?
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The author's purpose answers the question .
. .Why?
Why is the author
writing this particular story, essay, poem?
Maybe . . . to entertain, to inform, to persuade,
to discourage, to explain, to describe, to demonstrate.
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About audience:
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Writers ask:
Who am I writing to? What response do I want them to have
to my writing? Joy, indignation, anger, shame, pride, sorrow,
understanding, empathy, fear, satisfaction, contentment, compassion,
conviction, determination? Do I want to fire them up for action?
Do I want to inspire them?
Readers ask:
Who is the author writing to? Me or another group of people?
What response do they expect from their readers or from me?
Should I laugh, cry, scream in terror or anger, jump up to
fight for a cause, giggle, shudder, be convinced or not, swell
with pride or warm with compassion?
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Tone? What is it? How do I recognize author's tone?
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Speakers
use voice and facial expressions to indicate tone. You can
tell if a speaker is determined, light-hearted, or angry.
Writers choose their words and details to create that tone
of voice.
Ask:
What
is the attitude of the writer? How does he feel about his
subject?
Tone
= words
chosen to convey attitude
or feeling toward
the subject
(angry, emotional, joyous,
scientific, disgusted, elated, sorrowful and on and on and
on . . .)
Example:
A
writer describes a girl as shrimpy. The reader understands
the writer's negative attitude toward the girl's height. However,
if the writer calls her petite, the reader picks up an approving
tone.
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How do I describe author's tone or attitude?
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It's just a matter of words, words and more words. Here are
some tools:
- Vocabulary
of Attitudes: Great resource to print and keep in your
notebook. This link has a million or more words to define
attitudes of:
| thinking |
pleasure |
pain |
passion |
| friendliness |
unfriendliness |
comedy |
animation |
| apathy |
self-importance |
timidity |
|
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Don't believe everything you hear!
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Recognizing persuasion
- Authors use persuasive techniques to convince their
audience to join their side. They may want you to
adopt an opinion or belief, to buy a product, to join a
group, to change your life, your job, your car, your friends,
your hair color.
- Persuasive writing can be about an important idea,
such as Dr. Martin Luther King's "I Have a Dream"
speech, inspiring his audience to join in Civil Rights action
for equality for all.
- It can also be superficial, such as advertising
persuading you to buy a certain hair product because a superstar
does, implying you'll be just as cool as they are if you
do.
- Watch for these persuasive devices:
- snob appeal: appealing to social or intellectual pretensions
- endorsement: basing an argument on what a famous person
says
- name calling: attacking a person rather than an issue
- bandwagon: urging people to do something because everyone
is doing it.
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In the next section, you'll see some examples of how the Tips
and Tools will help you identify and analyze author's
purpose and tone in narrative passages.
Example
1 >>
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