Lesson 10: Author’s Purpose and Influence

1. Lesson 10: Author’s Purpose and Influence Competency Goal 2.01, 3.01, and 4.01

2. Analyze Argument Attitude Author’s purpose Bias Conclusion Consequence Counter-argument Effectiveness Fact/Opinion Issue Mood/Tone Negative Neutral Positive Propaganda Underlying assumption EOG Vocabulary

3. The writer behind the writing: • Everything ever written was written by a person. To understand a piece of writing, a reader must understand some things about the person who wrote it. To do this, a reader must be able to spot clues about this mysterious someone, this “author” person behind the writing.

4. Tip #1: An author’s tone can be positive, negative, or neutral. • Positive tone: shows good feelings about the topic. It might show happiness, pride, delight, enthusiasm, humor, love, romance, joy, or a number of other positive emotions. • The tone could be extremely positive or only slight positive, depending on the diction (word choice).

5. Negative tone: communicates bad feelings about the topic. It might show sadness, anger, cynicism, bitterness, weariness, hate, disgust, or a number of other negative emotions. • Diction determines this.

6. Neutral tone: is neither positive nor negative. If an author has no opinion (or doesn’t want to show one), he or she will avoid choosing words that express any feeling at all. • Words used to describe this tone include fair, straightforward, neutral, impartial, detached, and noncommittal.

7. Read Selections 1, 2, &3 • What is the tone of each selection: • Positive • Negative • Neutral • Slightly positive • Slightly negative

8. Tip #2: Tone is a hint about the author’s attitude. • Attitude and tone (just like mood) are closely related. • Author’s tone hints at the attitude toward the subject being dealt with in a selection [either approval or disapproval]. • Attitude: Slightly bored, somewhat opposed, somewhat approving, very approving, and any other adjective that could describe an attitude.

9. Tip #3: Pay close attention to the mood the author creates. • Mood is the general atmosphere the author creates. • Think of mood as the feeling the writer leaves with you. These can be cheerful, spooky, suspicious, serious, etc.

10. Tip #4: Put it all together to determine the author’s purpose. • Writing to Inform: this involves the sharing of information without offering their opinions. They may explain, describe, give facts, or otherwise inform you about a topic. • If there are two sides to an issue, authors represent both sides equally. • Examples: newspaper and nonfiction articles in magazines

11. Writing to Entertain: this occurs when the author is seeking to amuse you with a funny story or essay, or frighten you with a scary tale. • Example: short stories, novels, humorous essays, or poems.

12. Writing to Teach: writing that is designed to teach or instruct. • Examples: school textbooks, workbooks, “how-to” books and magazines, recipes, and instructions

13. Writing to Persuade: when an author wants to persuade you or try to convince you of something. • Examples: Editorials, letters to the editor, and movie, book, and music reviews.

14. Writing to Express: when an author wants to express their thoughts and feelings onto paper. • Example: journal entries

15. Tip #5: Consider the social context and personal history of the author. • Every piece of writing is influenced by our society. • Because of this, Bias, having a prejudice, or a tendency to see certain issues from only one perspective, can play a huge role in an author’s purpose.

16. Tip #6: Know the difference between facts and opinions. • Facts are statements that can be checked in other sources to find out whether they are accurate. • Opinions tell someone’s feelings or views about a topic.

17. Practice!! • NC’s state vegetable is the sweet potato. • NC harvested more than 4 billion pounds of sweet potatoes in 1989. • Now, that’s a lot of sweet potato pie! • UNC Chapel Hill is the oldest state university in the US. • NC’s Outer Banks has some of the most beautiful beaches in the country

18. Tip #7: Propaganda appeals to your emotions, not logic. • Propaganda is communication that tries to persuade by appealing mainly to emotions. • Celebrity endorsements are a form of propaganda; so are messages that cite “scientific facts” without providing anything to back them up.

19. When reading a nonfiction selection, look for ways a writer tries to sway your opinion. Note the following techniques: • Bandwagon effect: “everybody’s doing it, so should you!” • Name-calling: “Mayor _________ is a dirty crook!” • Stereotyping: “The younger generation is lazy, self-centered, and disrespectful.” (This came out of the book—I don’t believe this!!! )

20. Snobbery: “Enjoy the finer things in life—Drive a Lexus” • “Ordinary folks”: “We’re good ole country folk . . . we don’t need no city folk tellin us how to run things.” • Glittering generalities: “Try new Glow toothpaste for a razzle-dazzle smile!”

21. Testimonial: “If Miss NC uses Shine Shampoo, you should too!” • Guilt by association: “I saw Jackson hanging out with those Carter boys who are always causing trouble. He’s probably a troublemaker, too.”