This document defines and provides examples of an author's purpose, position, and point of view in nonfiction texts. It explains that an author's purpose can be to persuade, inform, or entertain readers. The author's position refers to their perspective on the topic. Point of view in nonfiction indicates whether a text is written from the first, second, or third person perspective. Examples are provided to illustrate these concepts and help readers identify them.

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All you need to know about
Author’s Purpose, Position
and Point of View
in a nonfiction text

2. What will we learn today?
We will learn how to identify the author’s
purpose for writing different texts.
We will learn that one author’s position
can differ from another.
We will learn how the
author’s point of view
affects the text.

3. The author’s purpose is the
reason for writing the text:
to Persuade, Inform, or Entertain.
What is
Author’s Purpose?
Everything you read has a purpose.
When authors write books, magazines,
newspapers, on-line articles, even commercials,
they choose their words for a purpose.
PIE
Persuade
Inform
Entertain

4. When the author’s purpose is to
persuade, the author wants the
reader to side with his or her
position.
A persuasive text contains facts
and the author’s opinion.
Author’s Purpose
to persuade
With persuasive texts, the author’s position
is for or against the issue or topic.

5. Author’s
Purpose
to inform
If the author’s purpose is to
inform, the reader learns
something from the text.
Informational texts often include:
 Facts  Details  Instructions
 Descriptions  Explanations

6. Can you identify
the author’s
purpose?
YES! The correct
answer is to inform.
The label contains information and
instructions on how to use the medicine.

7. Author’s Purpose
to entertain
If the author’s purpose is to
entertain, an author writes
to interest the reader.
Not all entertaining texts are funny.
Chasing Lincoln’s Killer was
written for entertainment,
but the story is serious.

8. Can a text have
2 purposes?
YES! Some texts will
have two purposes.
For example, if an article
is about eating healthy, it
will try to persuade you
to eat your vegetables
and inform you about the different types
of food groups.

9. Can a text have
2 purposes?
Some texts do
have two purposes.
For example, if a story tells how
a teen learned to deal with
moving to a new school, the
text would inform and entertain
the reader.

10. Inform?
Entertain?
Persuade?
www.TeenHealth.org offers many on-line
articles on topics that concern teens.
This text persuades the reader to “plan
your goal” and informs the reader about
how to create a personal action plan.
Can a text have
2 purposes?

11. Author’s Position
An author’s position on a topic refers to
what the author thinks about the topic,
his or her perspective on the subject.
Authors’ Positions on Italian Food
One author may write about the many types of pasta and
cheeses available in Italian food. This author’s position is
that Italian food offers many delicious choices.
Another author may write that pasta has too many carbs and
cheese includes too many fat calories. This author’s
position is that Italian food is fattening.

12. An author’s
Point of View
in nonfiction
Authors want their readers to see
the topic from their point of view,
through their eyes, from their outlook.
In nonfiction, point of view is the
perspective the author is writing from.

13. An author’s
Point of View
in nonfiction
First Person - (I, we)
Examples - autobiographies,
memoirs, speeches
Second Person - (you, your)
Examples – instructions,
recipes, advice
Third Person - (he, she, it, they
Examples – news articles, encyclopedias
Depending on the topic
and purpose, nonfiction
writers write in different
points of view.

14. Let’s review:
 What is Author’s Purpose?
 What are the 3 reasons authors write a text?
 What does the term author’s position mean?
 For a nonfiction text, what is Point of View?
Author’s Purpose
Position, and
Point of View

15. Now you understand
Author’s Purpose
Author’s Position
and Point of View
Let’s
read!