This class lecture is to help students understand why author's write and how to understand the techniques being presented to them.

1. Why is the author writing this passage? By Christopher K. Shumaker The Author’s Purpose

2. Three Reasons for Writing 1. INFORM

3. Three Reasons for Writing PERSUADE The author is trying to make you believe whatever they are talking about Key words: SHOULD, MUST, OUGHT TO HAVE

4. Three Reasons for Writing 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 The taboo marriage between cousins is outdated and should be discarded. 6.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 right?” He said, “All right. They’re going to name a new disease after you.”

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?” 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?” 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 “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

12. The Author’s Purpose But to become a parent—certainly the hardest and most important job anyone ever does, if it’s done right—you don’t have to do anything but produce a baby. This state of affairs reflects some awfully messed-up priorities. I am sick of seeing, almost every day, another tragic news story about a helpless infant battered, starved, or otherwise mistreated by ignorant parents. At the very minimum, middle-school and high-school students should be required to take classes in parenting and child care. A pregnant couple should be required to show they have a plan to care for and raise their child.

13. The Author’s Purpose But to become a parent—certainly the hardest and most important job anyone ever does, if it’s done right—you don’t have to do anything but produce a baby. This state of affairs reflects some awfully messed-up priorities. I am sick of seeing, almost every day, another tragic news story about a helpless infant battered, starved, or otherwise mistreated by ignorant parents. At the very minimum, middle-school and high-school students should be required to take classes in parenting and child care. A pregnant couple should be required to show they have a plan to care for and raise their child. 1. The primary purpose of this paragraph is to A. Inform B. Persuade C. Entertain

14. The Author’s Purpose But to become a parent—certainly the hardest and most important job anyone ever does, if it’s done right—you don’t have to do anything but produce a baby. This state of affairs reflects some awfully messed-up priorities. I am sick of seeing, almost every day, another tragic news story about a helpless infant battered, starved, or otherwise mistreated by ignorant parents. At the very minimum, middle-school and high-school students should be required to take classes in parenting and child care. A pregnant couple should be required to show they have a plan to care for and raise their child. 1. The primary purpose of this paragraph is to A. Inform B. Persuade C. Entertain

15. 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.

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

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