PURPOSE AND TONE 29.2.12

Purpose  

Many reasons can motivate a writer to write. The writer’s reasons can range from the need to take a stand on a hotly debated issue to the desire to entertain an audience with an amusing story. In general, the author's purpose falls into one of three general categories:

To inform. When setting out to inform, a writer gives information about a topic. Authors use facts to teach or explain the main idea to readers. Most textbook passages are written to inform.

The following topic sentences reflect the writer’s desire to inform:

-Lou Gehrig’s disease causes the body to shut down while the mind remains sharp and clear.

Preparing garden beds for spring planting requires several steps.

To persuade. A writer who sets out to persuade tries to convince the reader to agree with his or her view on the topic. Authors combine facts with emotional appeals to sway the reader. Politicians and advertisers often write and speak to persuade.

The following topic sentences reflect the writer’s desire to persuade:

Someone you know or love will die from Lou Gehrig’s disease unless a cure is found, so make a generous donation to the Lou Gehrig’s Disease Foundation.

Chemicals that control weeds in gardens, such as dioxin, should be banned from use because they are human health hazards.

To entertain. A writer whose purpose is to entertain sets out to amuse the audience. Authors appeal to the reader’s senses, emotions, and imagination. Both fiction and nonfiction writers seek to entertain.

 The following topic sentences reflect the writer’s desire to entertain:

It is pleasant even to be ill when you know that there are people who are looking forward to your convalescence as to a holiday.

Tone

Tone is the emotion or mood of the author’s written voice. Purpose and tone are so closely related that they work together. Purpose and tone are established with word choice. To identify tone and purpose, you need to build on several skills you have already studied: vocabulary, inference, and main ideas.

      An author chooses the words that make an impact on the reader, words that will help the author convey the intended purpose .Sometimes an author wants to appeal to reason and just gives facts and factual explanations. At other times, an author wants to appeal to emotions and stir the reader to feel deeply.

      Tone clues the reader to the author’s primary purpose. The main purpose of textbooks is to share reliable information; therefore, textbooks strive for an objective tone. An objective tone usually presents facts and reasonable, un-biased explanations. Adjectives such as matter-of-fact and factual describe this neutral tone. A subjective tone allows a writer to share his or her personal worldview through fiction and personal essays. The subjective or emotional tone words describe senses, feelings, personal experiences, judgments, biases, or opinions. Study the following list of basic tone words.