MODULE ONE-GATHERING

& PROCESSING
INFORMATION

WRITER’S CRAFT
 What is Writer’s Craft?
• Writer’s craft is the art of writing . It is the
writer’s intentional use of the following to
create an effect on the reader:
Figurative language/literary devices
Imagery/details
Word choice/diction
dialogue
 Writer’s craft cont’d
Sentence structure
Text structure/organisational patterns
Craft also encompasses Author’s :
Purpose
Point of view
Tone
Mood
Attitude
Audience
Author’s Purpose
and
Point of View
 What are our learning goals?
• To understand and
identify the different
purposes of texts.
• To distinguish
between non-fiction
and fiction.
• To understand how the
author’s point of view
affects the text.
 What is the purpose?
• Did you know that
everything you read
has a purpose?
• When an author writes
something (book,
magazine, textbook,
newspaper article),
he/she chooses his/her
words for a purpose.
 What is the purpose?
• The author’s purpose
is the main reason that
he/she has for writing
the selection.
• The author’s purpose
will be to:
– Entertain
– Inform
– Persuade
 What is the author’s
point of view?
• When an author writes
to entertain,
persuade, or inform,
he/she will have
his/her point of view
on the subject.
• Point of view is an
author’s opinion about
the subject.
 How does the author’s purpose &
author’s point of view go together?
• Author’s purpose and
point of view go together.
• The author will want you
to see the topic from
his/her point of view or
through his/her eyes.
• For some issues, you will
be able to tell if the author
is FOR or AGAINST
something.
 I know the purpose!
• When you are able to
recognize the author’s
purpose, you will have
a better understanding
of the selection.
• Also, the purpose will
determine how you
read a selection.
Can a selection have two purposes?
• Some selections will
have two purposes.
• For example, if the
article is about eating
healthy, it will try to
persuade you to eat
your vegetables as
well as, inform you
about the different
types of food groups.
 Author’s Purpose: Inform
• If the author’s purpose is
to inform, you will learn
something from the
selection.
• Information pieces
sometime use one or more
of the following:
– Facts
– Details/Instructions
– Places
– Events
– People
 Author’s Purpose: Persuade
• If the author’s purpose is
to persuade, the author
will want you to believe
his/her position.
• Persuasive pieces are
usually non-fiction.
• Although there are facts, it
contains the author’s
opinions.
• With persuasive pieces, it
is clear on the author’s
point of view (if he/she is
FOR or AGAINST it).
 Author’s Purpose: Entertain
• If the author’s purpose is
to entertain, one goal
may be to tell a story or to
describe characters, places
or events (real or
imaginary).
• Examples of entertaining
texts include: plays,
poems, stories, jokes, or
even comic strips..
Determine the author’s purpose
• Use the information
on the bottle to
determine the author’s
purpose.
– A. To Inform
– B. To Entertain
– C. To Persuade
Can you identify the author’s
purpose?
• The correct answer is
A, to inform.
• The label contained
information and
instructions on how to
use the medicine.
 Can you identify the author’s
purpose? Inform
Entertain
Persuade

• His face appeared in the window. She knew he had

been the cause of her waking at 3 a.m. Was she
seeing things? Was his face real? She tried to lie
still and decide what to do. Just then, the window
shattered. She flew across the room to the hallway
and straight into her mother’s room.
 Can you identify the author’s
purpose?
• The correct answer is
to entertain.
• The author tried to
capture a suspenseful
mood in the story.
• The story is probably
fiction.
 Can you identify the author’s
purpose?
• It is recommended that parents read to their
children everyday, starting as early as six
months of age. When you read with your
children, you are starting them off in life as
a life-long reader and learner. It is never too
late to pick up a book and read; people in
their eighties have learned how to read and
discovered the pleasure of reading. Turn off
the television and read a book!
 Can you identify the author’s
purpose?
• You can tell the
author wrote this
passage to
• A. Inform
• B. Entertain
• C. Persuade
 Can you identify the author’s
purpose?
• The correct answer is
C, to persuade.
• This is an emotional
appeal to do the right
thing: READ!
• Also, the last sentence
tells you encourages
you to do something:
“Turn off the
television”
What are the steps to determining the
author’s purpose and point of view?
1. Read the
selection
carefully.
2. Determine if the
selection is
fiction or
nonfiction.
 What is Fiction?
• A fiction piece is from the author’s
imagination and is not based on facts.
• Fiction pieces will be stories.
• The purpose of fiction is to entertain the
reader.
• Fiction creates a mood, a feeling you get
from reading the selection. The mood could
be happy, sad, scary, angry, peaceful, etc…
 What is Non-fiction?
• Non-fiction pieces are based on facts and
author’s opinions about a subject.
• Non-fiction pieces could be biographies,
articles from textbooks, newspaper and
magazine articles.
• The purpose of non-fiction writing is to
inform and sometimes to persuade.
 Click the following link:
http://www.eyewitnesstohistory.com/pfpla
gue.htm
• Answer these questions about the Black Death from the reading using a sheet of
paper.
1. Read the first 4 paragraphs –
Based on your reading, what was the Black Death?
2. Read the “Signs of Impending Death” section
–based on your reading, what are the symptoms?
3.Read the “Varying Reactions to Disaster” section. Based on your reading, what are
three different ways people tried to avoid the Black Death?
4. Read the “Breakdown of Social Order” section
–based on your reading, how did the Black Death begin to break down the social order?
5. Read the “Mass Burials” section
–based on your reading, describe the different ways the dead were buried?

Now, use these answers to write your paragraph using the writing frame on the next
slide…
 Using this “writing frame” will help you
frame your answer to all of these
questions into one paragraph:
In the primary source document “___________________________”,
written by ___________, it describes
___________________________________________. The Black
Death was _____________. According to the description in the
Decameron, the symptoms were
_____________________________. Three different ways people
tried to avoid the Black Death
were___________________________________________________
______________________________________________. The Black
Death began to break down the social order by
_____________________________________. The dead were buried
_______________________________________________________
__________.
 Other purposes:
• to praise or motivate; to analyse
• to encourage ; to clarify
• To express anger or disgust
• To evoke sympathy
• To argue, agree or disagree
• To present a point of view
• To recommend
• To explain or describe
• (What other purposes are there?)
 The Writer’s Tone
• This refers to the manner or way something
is said; that is the language or speech acts or
utterances, choice of words both verbal and
written.
• It is not what you say, it is how you say it.
• The writer’s tone will often dictate the
writer’s attitude to the subject being dealt
with.
 Tone cont’d

• Tone is determined by the audience (the

person to whom you speak or write), the
purpose or intention of the language chosen
and the context or situation.
 Words to describe Tone
• Harsh sarcastic friendly ironical
• Hostile firm mocking sincere
• Biased optimistic detached angry
• Bitter amused persuasive gentle
• Formal informal compassionate
• Indignant sympathetic cynical
• Objective confident threatening
• (How many more words for tone are there?)
 Mood

• Mood can be described as the pervasive

feeling or emotional atmosphere created by
the writer’s choice of words and images.
 Words to describe Mood
• Happy lively angry ecstatic
• Reflective pensive solemn
• Calmserious light-hearted
• Melancholy serious excited pitiful
• Peaceful anxious pleasant
• (Find other words to describe mood)
 Writer’s Attitude
• Attitude refers to the way a writer feels
about something. The attitude may be
positive, negative or neutral. Choice of
words will reveal whether or not a writer
likes or dislikes a certain a certain situation
or if he is neutral.
 Words to describe Attitude
• Positive negative neutral
• Sincere biased unbiased
• Humble pessimistic indifferent
• Realistic fearful objective
• sympathetic subjective anxious
(Add more words which describe attitude)
 Audience
• Audience refers to whom you speak or
write. Every writer writes for a particular
audience or a specific group of people.
• For example a speech or piece of writing
could be directed at students, teachers,
consumers, medical doctors, pregnant
women, technicians etc.
This Photo by Unknown Author is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND

• Depending on the subject, the audience can

be a general one.
• ( What other audiences do you know?)