• When studying Author’s Purpose, you are determining the author’s intent for creating a piece of writing.

• Authors write with the intent to:

• Persuade

• Inform

• Entertain

P

I

E

• Persuasive Writing expresses an opinion and attempts to convince the reader that the opinion is correct or tries to get you to do something.

– Ex. • An advertisement in a magazine to get • readers to buy a new video game

• Informative writing provides the reader with information about a specific topic.

• An author may give you facts or true information about a subject.

–Ex.• A biography about the life of Gary Paulsen

•Many authors write to entertain, creating descriptive writing such as poetry, or narrative writing such as stories.

-Ex. • A story about a family of vampires • fighting with a pack of werewolves

Example #1 - PERSUADE:Every person understands religion slightly differently, and my

interpretation of Hindu gods is this. There are many gods who represent different areas of life. For example, there is a well-known goddess called Lakshmi, who is the Goddess of wealth. If you have her image in your home and pray to it for wealth, you most likely will become wealthy. It worked for me; I bought a sticker of the beautiful Lakshmi, a goddess which I knew nothing about, and my wealth instantly boosted. This is because gods listen to your needs when you pray to them. I think everyone should pray to a Hindu god every day.

I bought a sticker of Buddha, which is again believed by Hindus to be the incarnation of one aspect of God. When I got into my meditative position and fixed my gaze at this sticker with a candle lit next to it, I very quickly got into a deep meditation, which showed me that Buddha can be an excellent meditation teacher, and again proved to me that Hindu gods are indeed powerful and valid. You should consider praying to Buddha, too. As you can see, Hindu gods have amazing powers and everyone should have one in their home!

Example #1 - PERSUADE:Every person understands religion slightly differently, and my

interpretation of Hindu gods is this. There are many gods who represent different areas of life. For example, there is a well-known goddess called Lakshmi, who is the Goddess of wealth. If you have her image in your home and pray to it for wealth, you most likely will become wealthy. It worked for me; I bought a sticker of the beautiful Lakshmi, a goddess which I knew nothing about, and my wealth instantly boosted. This is because gods listen to your needs when you pray to them. I think everyone should pray to a Hindu god every day.

I bought a sticker of Buddha, which is again believed by Hindus to be the incarnation of one aspect of God. When I got into my meditative position and fixed my gaze at this sticker with a candle lit next to it, I very quickly got into a deep meditation, which showed me that Buddha can be an excellent meditation teacher, and again proved to me that Hindu gods are indeed powerful and valid. You should consider praying to Buddha, too. Hindu gods have amazing powers and everyone should have one in their home!

Example #2 - INFORM:

Hinduism is the world’s third most popular religion. The religion of Hinduism originated in Northern India, near the Indus River approximately 4,000 years ago. It was the religion of an ancient people known as the Aryans ("noble people") whose philosophy, religion, and customs are recorded in their sacred texts known as the Vedas. These texts were initially handed down by word of mouth from teacher to student. It was not until much later that they were actually written down. Archeological evidence from the Indus Valley civilization of northwestern India helps to establish Hinduism as the world's oldest living religion. Today, Hinduism is practiced by more than 80% of India's population and there are almost one billion people practicing Hinduism all over the world.

Example #2 - INFORM:

Hinduism is the world’s third most popular religion. The religion of Hinduism originated in Northern India, near the Indus River approximately 4,000 years ago. It was the religion of an ancient people known as the Aryans ("noble people") whose philosophy, religion, and customs are recorded in their sacred texts known as the Vedas. These texts were initially handed down by word of mouth from teacher to student. It was not until much later that they were actually written down. Archeological evidence from the Indus Valley civilization of northwestern India helps to establish Hinduism as the world's oldest living religion. Today, Hinduism is practiced by more than 80% of India's population and there are almost one billion people practicing Hinduism all over the world.

Example #3 - ENTERTAIN:

3,500 years ago, a little girl named Puja lived on the banks of the Ganges River in a small town in northern India. Her parents were farmers, and they were waiting patiently for the monsoon rains to come. With each passing day, the ground became dryer and dryer. Food was running out, and Puja’s family couldn’t wait much longer for the rain to come or their family would starve or be forced to move. Puja did all she could to help her family. She prayed day and night to Annapurna, the Hindu goddess of the harvest, that the rains would soon come so her family wouldn’t have to move. Much to her delight, the next morning, Puja awoke to the glorious sounds of the heavy rains beating down like a drum on the roof of her home, and she knew everything would be alright. *Challenge* What figurative language device is being used in the last sentence?

•If the author is telling a story, his purpose is probably to _____________.

•If the author is giving opinions and trying to convince, his purpose is probably to _____________.

•If the author is telling facts, his purpose is probably to _____________.

inform

entertain

persuade