The document discusses the three main reasons authors write things: to inform, persuade, or entertain. It then provides examples of paragraphs and asks the reader to identify the primary purpose of each paragraph - whether it aims to inform, persuade, or entertain.

1. The Author’s Intention

2. Three Reasons for Writing
1. INFORM

3. Three Reasons for Writing
2. PERSUADE
The author is trying to make you
believe whatever they are talking about

4. Three Reasons for Writing
3. ENTERTAIN

5. Inform? Persuade? Entertain?
1. The average American carries $8,562 in credit-card
debt.
2. High school should require students to take a
course in money management.
3. The pigeon is one of the few birds that drinks by
suction, rather than by tipping its head back to let
gravity do the work.
4. Cleaning the house is such a waste of time; a year
later, you just have to do it again.
5. The taboo marriage between cousins is outdated
and should be discarded.
6. My doctor told me he had good news and bad
news. I said, “Doc, only tell me the good news, all

6. READ THIS
I wake up and bounce out of bed in a pleasant mood
and then notice that I can see my breath. There is
frost on the bathroom mirror and a thin sheet of ice
in the toilet. So I trot downstairs and turn up the
thermostat. I like the house to be cozy, as if we had
a blazing fire in each room, but I am married to
Nanook of the North, who feels a person of character
can put on a warm sweater and be comfortable at 58
degrees.
The furnace rumbles in the basement, and I make
coffee and fetch the paper. Then she appears in the
kitchen in her woolens and says, “The thermostat
was set at 85. Do we have elderly people coming for
breakfast?”

7. The Author’s Purpose?????
I wake up and bounce out of bed in a pleasant mood and then
notice that I can see my breath. There is frost on the bathroom
mirror and a thin sheet of ice in the toilet. So I trot downstairs and
turn up the thermostat. I like the house to be cozy, as if we had a
blazing fire in each room, but I am married to Nanook of the North,
who feels a person of character can put on a warm sweater and be
comfortable at 58 degrees.
The furnace rumbles in the basement, and I make coffee and fetch
the paper. Then she appears in the kitchen in her woolens and
says, “The thermostat was set at 85. Do we have elderly people
coming for breakfast?”
1. The primary purpose of this paragraph is to
A. Inform
B. Persuade
C. Entertain

8. The Author’s Purpose?????
I wake up and bounce out of bed in a pleasant mood and then
notice that I can see my breath. There is frost on the bathroom
mirror and a thin sheet of ice in the toilet. So I trot downstairs and
turn up the thermostat. I like the house to be cozy, as if we had a
blazing fire in each room, but I am married to Nanook of the North,
who feels a person of character can put on a warm sweater and be
comfortable at 58 degrees.
The furnace rumbles in the basement, and I make coffee and fetch
the paper. Then she appears in the kitchen in her woolens and
says, “The thermostat was set at 85. Do we have elderly people
coming for breakfast?”
1. The primary purpose of this paragraph is to
A. Inform
B. Persuade
C. Entertain

9. The Author’s Purpose
“Identity theft” sounds like something out of a
futuristic movie, but it’s very much a problem in
the here and now. Identity theft is committed by
a person who has gained access to make
purchases or conduct illegal activity. With the
increasing popularity of credit cards and,
especially, the rising number of people making
purchases over the Internet, identify theft is
becoming much more common.

10. The Author’s Purpose
“Identity theft” sounds like something out of a
futuristic movie, but it’s very much a problem in
the here and now. Identity theft is committed by
a person who has gained access to make
purchases or conduct illegal activity. With the
increasing popularity of credit cards and,
especially, the rising number of people making
purchases over the Internet, identify theft is
becoming much more common.
1. The primary purpose of this paragraph is to
A. Inform B. Persuade C. Entertain

11. The Author’s Purpose
1. Inform
The author is trying to just state
things as they are. In other words,
the author is just stating facts about
something.

12. The Author’s Purpose
2. Persuade
The author is trying to convince you
to believe whatever it is they are
talking about.

13. The Author’s Purpose
3. Entertain
 The author is simply writing for your
pleasure and just telling a story.