- [Instructor] Today we're going to talk
about Author's Purpose.
While you watch the video, you can use the worksheet
to take notes and practice what you learn.
Before we talk about author's purpose,
we need to talk about authors
and types of writing that they do.
The first type of author
that we'll name today is a biographer.
A biographer writes a biography.
A biography is the story of a person's life.
Here's an example.
This is a biography about the scientist Albert Einstein.
You can see at the bottom the biographer is Walter Isaacson.
The next type of author
that we'll talk about today is a journalist.
A journalist writes a newspaper article,
which is a news story.
Here's an example.
You see the newspaper, it's called The Huntsville Times.
The news story or article is called Man Enters Space.
A journalist wrote this article
and the other articles in this newspaper.
A novelist writes a novel, a long story in a book.
Here's an example.
To Kill a Mockingbird is a novel written
by the novelist Harper Lee.
A playwright writes a drama or play,
which is a story for theater.
A very famous example of a play is Romeo and Juliet.
This was written by the playwright named Shakespeare.
A poet writes poetry or poems,
which are lines with special sounds like rhyme.
Rhyme is only one of the special sounds
that a poem can have.
One example of a well-known poet is Dr. Seuss.
Dr. Seuss wrote children's poetry.
Here are four lines from one of his poems.
Today you are you,
that is truer than true.
There is no one alive
who is youer than you.
Do you see how these lines are different
from lines from a biography or a newspaper article?
They have rhythm, they rhyme,
and they have special sounds
that other types of writing don't have.
We'll talk more about poetry in another video.
And finally, a script writer writes a script
or a screenplay.
This is a story for TV or movies.
One example of a movie
that started with a script is called Finding Nemo.
Before Finding Nemo became a movie that we can watch,
it was a script on paper
that was written by a script writer.
Now let's practice naming authors.
Instructions: tell the author who does each type of writing.
Number one, the front page story of the newspaper.
Number two, a play performed in a New York City theater.
Number three, a story
about a futuristic war started on Earth.
Number four, the famous novel called War and Peace.
Number five, modern poetry in lines that do not rhyme.
Number six, a scary movie.
Number seven, a television documentary about panda bears.
Number eight, a book about the life of Albert Einstein.
Number nine, an article about a recent event in your city.
And number 10, a movie about a real period in history.
Pause the video while you work.
Are you ready to check your answers?
Let's check them now.
Number one is a journalist.
Number two is a playwright.
Number three is a novelist.
Number four is also a novelist.
Number five is a poet.
Six is a script writer.
Seven is also a script writer.
Eight is a biographer.
Nine is a journalist.
And 10 is a script writer.
Author's Purpose: Definition.
Now that we've talked about different types of authors
and materials they write,
we can talk about the definition of author's purpose.
So what is author's purpose?
Well, purpose means goal, and author's means writer's.
So an author's purpose is the writer's goal
or reason to write.
Author's Purpose: Big Three.
Authors write for three main purposes.
One is to entertain.
To entertain means to interest or amuse readers.
Another author's purpose is to inform.
This means to teach or give information to readers.
And finally, authors write to persuade
or influence or convince readers of an idea.
Author's Purpose and Examples.
Now we'll discuss examples of writing
that fit each author's purpose we discussed.
So when an author writes to entertain readers,
examples of writing he or she might do
include a romance novel, a comic book or a TV script.
Of course there are many more examples of writing
that entertain readers.
These are only three examples.
For the purpose of to inform readers,
examples of writing include
textbooks, newspapers and magazines.
Again, these are only three examples.
There are many more types of writing that inform readers.
And finally, examples of writing
that persuade readers include a political speech,
an essay or an advertisement that sells product.
Now let's practice.
Author's Purpose: Practice.
Instructions: tell the purpose
as entertain, inform or persuade.
Number one, a textbook about biology.
So does a textbook about biology entertain,
inform or persuade readers?
Write the answer in the blank.
We'll check your answers in a minute.
Number two, a comedy television show.
Three, a political candidate television commercial.
Number four, Shakespeare's play Romeo and Juliet.
Number five, a poster advertising a new movie.
Number six, a recipe for baking a delicious cake.
Number seven, a letter to a manager asking to change a rule.
Number eight, an ad in a magazine of a new brand of shoes.
Number nine, a book of modern poetry.
And number 10, a movie about a real period in history.
Pause the video while you write your answers.
Are you ready to check your answers?
Let's check now.
Number one, the answer is inform,
because a textbook about biology
or most other topics informs readers.
It teaches them about the topic.
Number two, a comedy television show,
that entertains, because comedy is funny.
It entertains viewers or readers of the script.
Number three, persuade, because a political candidate
and a television commercial usually want
to persuade the audience.
Number four, Shakespeare's play Romeo and Juliet,
this entertains.
Most plays and dramas are written to entertain.
Number five, a poster advertising a new movie
persuades audiences or readers to watch the movie.
Number six, a recipe for baking a delicious cake informs
or teaches readers how to bake the cake.
Number seven, a letter to a manager asking to change a rule
persuades the manager to change the rule.
Number eight, the answer is persuades
because an ad in a magazine,
whether the ad is for brand new shoes or any other product,
ads persuade readers to buy the product.
Number nine, a book of modern poetry entertains.
Usually poetry is written to entertain readers.
Number 10, a movie about a real period in history
primarily entertains.
It might also teach viewers, but the main reason
for movies is to entertain the audience.
Author's Purpose: the End.
Our author's purpose practice for today is complete.
I hope this video helped you understand
what author's purpose means and how to identify
three important author's purposes in writing.
Thank you for watching.