Reading/Writing: Author's Purpose

All writers have a purpose. While writers are motivated to write for different reasons, they often have a specific purpose for their writing.

The three purposes are:
- to entertain
- to persuade
- to inform

Today, in class, we read two pieces. We read a news article from NY Times about cheerleading injuries, and we read another short story from Sandra Cisneros.

The NY Times article was written to INFORM readers about the risks of cheerleading, especially for girls. The short story was written in a different way; it had more colorful language and evoked specific sentiments. The author wrote the piece to ENTERTAIN her readers, and she engaged our senses by painting a picture with her writing.

When writers write to persuade readers, they often present information to their readers to try to convince their readers to believe what they want their readers to believe. In that light, they try to present that information in an entertaining way. For example, advertisements are often considered writing pieces that try to persuade readers to buy a specific product.

For example, if you were running for a position like president, how will you try to campaign?
You would probably present information to your readers/voters about how wonderful you are, and you will use that information to show how amazing of a leader you’ll be. In other words, you are using the information to persuade others to vote for you.