1. All you need to know about Author’s Purpose, Position
and Point of View
in a nonfiction text
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2. What will we learn today?
We will learn how to identify the author’s purpose for writing different texts.
We will learn that one author’s position can differ from another.
We will learn how the
author’s point of view
affects the text.
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3. What is Author’s Purpose? The author’s purpose is the
PIE
Persuade
Inform
Entertain
Everything you read has a purpose.
When authors write books, magazines, newspapers, on-line articles, even commercials,
they choose their words for a purpose.
The author’s purpose is the
reason for writing the text:
to Persuade, Inform, or Entertain.
Image: fcit.usf.edu/fcat/strategies/i/24055.gif

4. Author’s Purpose to persuade
When the author’s purpose is to persuade, the author wants the reader to side with his or her position.
A persuasive text contains facts and the author’s opinion.
Image: celebrity read poster
With persuasive texts, the author’s position
is for or against the issue or topic.

5. Author’s Purpose to inform
If the author’s purpose is to inform, the reader learns something from the text.
Informational texts often include:
 Facts  Details  Instructions
 Descriptions  Explanations
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6. Can you identify the author’s purpose?
YES! The correct
answer is to inform.
Image:
The label contains information and instructions on how to use the medicine.

7. Author’s Purpose to entertain
If the author’s purpose is to
entertain, an author writes
to interest the reader.
Not all entertaining texts are funny.
Chasing Lincoln’s Killer was
written for entertainment,
but the story is serious.
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8. Can a text have 2 purposes?
YES! Some texts will
have two purposes.
For example, if an article
is about eating healthy, it
will try to persuade you
to eat your vegetables
and inform you about the different types
of food groups.
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9. Can a text have 2 purposes?
Some texts do
have two purposes.
For example, if a story tells how
a teen learned to deal with
moving to a new school, the
text would inform and entertain
the reader.
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10. Can a text have 2 purposes?
Inform? Entertain? Persuade?
offers many on-line articles on topics that concern teens.
This text persuades the reader to “plan your goal” and informs the reader about how to create a personal action plan.

11. Authors’ Positions on Italian Food
An author’s position on a topic refers to
what the author thinks about the topic,
his or her perspective on the subject.
Authors’ Positions on Italian Food
One author may write about the many types of pasta and cheeses available in Italian food. This author’s position is that Italian food offers many delicious choices.
Another author may write that pasta has too many carbs and cheese includes too many fat calories. This author’s position is that Italian food is fattening.

12. An author’s Point of View in nonfiction
Authors want their readers to see
the topic from their point of view,
through their eyes, from their outlook.
In nonfiction, point of view is the perspective the author is writing from.
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13. An author’s Point of View in nonfiction
Depending on the topic and purpose, nonfiction writers write in different points of view.
An author’s Point of View in nonfiction
First Person - (I, we)
Examples - autobiographies,
memoirs, speeches
Second Person - (you, your)
Examples – instructions,
recipes, advice
Third Person - (he, she, it, they
Examples – news articles, encyclopedias

14. Author’s Purpose Position, and Point of View
Let’s review:
What is Author’s Purpose?
What are the 3 reasons authors write a text?
What does the term author’s position mean?
For a nonfiction text, what is Point of View?
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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.

15. Now you understand Author’s Purpose Author’s Position and Point of View
Let’s read!