1. Claim, purpose, and informational texts

2. What is a claim? Claim: The main argument of a piece of writing. Defines the goals of the writing and is supported by evidence, quotations, argumentation, expert opinion, statistics, and telling details. Must be argumentative. When you make a claim, you are arguing for a certain interpretation or understanding of your subject. Specific. It makes a focused argument It is NOT an opinion!!! Let’s practice- what’s the author’s claim here: Read “Right Size, Right Goals…” http://www.nytimes.com/roomfordebate/2014/08/03/ can-fast-food-redeem-itself http://www.nytimes.com/roomfordebate/2014/08/03/ can-fast-food-redeem-itself

3. What is author’s purpose? An author’s purpose is the reason an author decides to write about a specific topic. Then, once a topic is selected, the author must decide whether his purpose for writing is to inform, persuade, entertain, or explain his ideas to the reader. Let’s practice (next slide)

4. Author’s Purpose Most raisins sold in America are grown in the San Joaquin Valley in California. Vines are planted in straight rows and tied to posts and wires. After about three years, the vines produce grapes that can be eaten or turned into raisins. During the harvest, cutters use a special tool to cut bunches of grapes from the vine. After they are cut, the grapes are placed on special paper trays. They are left in the sun for up to three weeks. When the raisins are dry, they are carefully bundled and examined by sorters. Then, they are packaged in boxes and sent out to stores. The author wrote this passage in order to – A) persuade the reader to eat more raisins B) inform the reader about how raisins are produced C) instruct the reader how to make homegrown raisins D) entertain the reader with a story about raisin farmers

5. Informational text features Authors include text features to help the reader better understand what they have read. Text features provide information that may not be written in the text itself. Text features can be found in textbooks, magazine articles, newspapers, reports, web pages, and other forms of nonfiction text.

6. Informational text features Non-fiction differs from fiction in a number of ways but one major way is the text features (see handout) that help the reader to better understand the text in a variety of ways  Print Features- TOC, glossary, preface, index, appendix…  Illustrations- photos, drawings, magnifications….  Organizational Aids- bold print, bullets, captions, sidebars…  Graphic Aids- diagrams, maps, figures, time-lines….