1. What is the Author’s Purpose?
Inform
Entertain
Persuade
Test Yourself

2. Everyone has a purpose for doing something.
You drink because
you are thirsty.
You sleep because
you are tired.

3. When an author writes a story they write it for a reason.

4. Your job is figure out that reason.

5. When an Author Wants to Entertain…
To entertain is to tell a funny story or to tell what a person or place is like in an interesting or funny way. You usually read something entertaining for fun.
Examples of entertaining books/stories:
Charlotte’s Web
Holes
Cinderella
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6. When an Author Wants to Inform…
To inform is to teach a lesson or to show how to make something. You usually read something informational to learn more about a certain subject.
Examples of informational books/text:
Non-fiction books
News stories in a newspaper or magazine
Encyclopedias and other reference books
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7. When an Author Wants to Persuade…
The author is trying to make the reader agree with something important. The author wants to persuade you to see their point of view.
Examples of persuasive writing:
Editorials in a newspaper/magazine
speeches
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8. Now it’s Your Turn!
Directions: Read each selection and choose whether it is entertaining, informational, or persuasive.
1. Recess is definitely too short. In order to do better in regular classes, there should be at least one hour recess twice a day.
entertain inform persuade
2. Toads and frogs are amphibians. New York has 25 species and subspecies (or geographic races) of toads and frogs.
3. Once upon a time, there lived a crazy teacher. She never assigned homework and had field trips every day.
Don’t Forget!

9. AUTHOR’S PURPOSE Ask yourself these questions?
What was the author’s most likely reason for writing this selection?
to persuade
to inform
to entertain
Next Slide

10. What was the Author’s Point?
Did the author try to make me laugh? Entertain
   Did the author want to tell me a story? Entertain
   Did the author try to amuse me? Entertain
Next Slide

11. What was the Author’s Point?
Did the author give me facts? Inform
   Did the author try to teach me something? Inform
   Did the author try to convince me? Persuade
   Did the author want to change my opinion? Persuade
Next Slide

12. Knowing the Author's Purpose
prepare your mind for the type of information in the reading
make the article easier to summarize
make it easier for you to discriminate between the article's main idea and important details
Will: