Title: Author's purpose example and practice
Course: Reading Summer School

Think about why the author would write each of the following paragraphs about opossums. Note how you decided the purpose:

Example 1

The common opossum is the only kind of opossum found in the United States. The female opossum has a pouch in her abdomen to carry her young. Because of this pouch, opossums are classified as marsupials. Opossums have a strange habit of pretending to be dead when they are in danger.

Example 2

One evening I went into my chicken coop to collect eggs. I heard a very strange hissing sound and found what looked like a very large rat. I screamed and my husband came running. He said the animal was an opossum and that opossums ate eggs and chickens to he removed the opossum, thinking he had killed it. Later that evening was I surprised when I went to dump trash in my dumpster and found that the opossum had come back to life.

Example 1 would fit in a text book because it conveys facts. Therefore, it is written to information or instruct the reader.

Example 2 is written using expressive language and conveys a funny and surprising story. For that reason, this text is written to entertain or share a personal experience.

Read the following paragraphs. Tell the author's purpose for writing each paragraph and how you arrived at that decision. Use explanations similar to the example. You can also return to the author's purpose explanation for help in listing reasons.

Paragraph 1

The fire crackled musically. From it swelled light smoke. Overhead the foliage moved softly. The leaves, with their faces turned toward the blaze, were colored shifting hues of silver, often edged with red. Far off to the right, through a window in the forest, could be seen a handful of stars lying, like glittering pebbles, on the black level of the night.

Paragraph 2

Columbus' own successful voyage in 1492 prompted a papal decision dividing the globe between rivals Spain and Portugal. The Portuguese protested that the pope's line left them too little Atlantic sea room for their voyages to India. The line was shifted 270 leagues westward in 1494 by the Treaty of Tordesillas. Thus, wittingly or not, the Portuguese gained Brazil and gave their language to more than half the people of South America.