Understanding

Academic Text
“ “Reading is a means of thinking
with another person’s mind;
it forces you to stretch your mind.”

— Charles Scribner, Jr.

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 Knowing the author’s purpose and
perspective in writing is one way of
understanding the context of the academic
text. 3
 Author’s
1 Purpose
What motivated the author to produce their work?
What is their intent?
What do they hope to achieve?
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Different Types of Author’s Purpose

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 TO PERSUADE

DEFINITION:
It aims to convince the reader of the merits of a certain point of view.
The author attempts to persuade the reader to agree with this point of
view and/or subsequently take a particular course of action.

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 TO PERSUADE
EXAMPLE:
It is most commonly the motivation behind essays, advertisements, and
political writing such as speeches and propaganda.

HOW TO IDENTIFY:
Readers should ask themselves if they feel the writer is trying to get
them to believe something or take a specific action. Tactics and
strategies used in persuasive writing include repetition, various types of
supporting evidence, hyperbole, attacking opposing viewpoints,
forceful phrases, emotive imagery and photographs.
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 TO INFORM

DEFINITION:
They wish to enlighten their readership about a real-world topic. Often,
They will do this by providing lots of facts. Informational texts are
geared toward imparting information to the reader with the purpose of
educating them on a given topic.
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 TO INFORM
EXAMPLE:
It is most commonly the motivation behind essays, advertisements, and
political writing such as speeches and propaganda.
HOW TO IDENTIFY:
In the process of informing the reader, the author will make use of facts
and this is one surefire way to spot the intent to inform.

The main difference between the two different ways facts are employed
is that, when the intention is to inform, facts are presented only to teach
the reader. When the author’s purpose is to persuade, they will
commonly mask their opinions amid the facts. 9
 TO ENTERTAIN

DEFINITION:
When an author’s chief purpose is to entertain the reader they will
endeavor to keep things as interesting as possible. Things happen in
books that are written to entertain, whether in the form of an action-
packed plot, inventive characterizations, or sharp dialogue.
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 TO ENTERTAIN
EXAMPLE:
A great deal of fiction is written with the aim of entertaining, especially
genre fiction. For example: science fiction, romance, and fantasy.

HOW TO IDENTIFY:
They may employ cliffhangers at the end of a chapter, for example.
They may weave humor into their story, or even have characters tell
jokes. In the case of a thriller, an action-packed scene may follow an
action-packed scene as the drama builds to a crescendo. Think of the
melodrama of a soap opera here, rather than the subtle touch of an art
house masterpiece. 11
 TO EXPLAIN

DEFINITION:
When writers write to explain, they want to tell the reader how to do
something or reveal to them how something works. This type of
writing is about communicating a method or a process.

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 TO EXPLAIN
EXAMPLE:
Writing with the purpose of explaining can be found in instructions,
step-by-step guides, procedural outlines, and recipes.

HOW TO IDENTIFY:
Often you will find this type of writing organized into bulleted or
numbered points. As it focuses on telling the reader how to do
something, often lots of imperatives will be used within the writing.
Diagrams and illustrations are often used to reinforce the text
explanations too.
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 TO DESCRIBE

DEFINITION:
Often writers will use words to describe something in more detail than
be conveyed in a photograph alone. After all, they say ‘a picture paints a
thousand words and text can help get us beyond the one-dimensional
appearance of things.
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 TO DESCRIBE
EXAMPLE:
Often found in short stories, novels and other forms of fiction where
the writer wishes to paint a picture in the reader’s imagination

HOW TO IDENTIFY:
In the case of fiction writing which describes, the reader will notice the
writer using lots of sensory details in the text. Our senses are how we
perceive the world and, to describe their imaginary world, writers will
draw heavily on language that appeals to these senses. In both fiction
and nonfiction, readers will notice the writer will rely heavily on
adjectives in their writing. 15
 Author’s
Perspective &
2 Point of View
The angle in which the text is written-
this reveals the author's personal
opinion, personal beliefs, personal
perspective and the author's personal
point of view.
 AUTHOR’S
POINT OF VIEW
Singular Plural

First Person I, me (my, mine) we, us (our, ours)

Second Person you (your, yours) you (your, yours)

they, them
(their, theirs)
she, her they, them
Third Person (her, hers) (their, theirs)
he, him (his)
it (its)
one (one’s)

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 First Person POV
First-person point of view is used to write
stories/narratives or examples about personal experiences
from your own life

Note: Academic writing often requires us to avoid first-person point of

view in favor of third-person point of view, which can be more objective
and convincing. Often, students will say, “I think the author is very
convincing.” Taking out I makes a stronger statement or claim: “The
author is very convincing.”

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 Second Person POV
Second-person point of view, which directly
addresses the reader, works well for giving advice or
explaining how to do something.

Note: Academic writing generally avoids second-person point of view in

favor of third-person point of view. Second person can be too casual for
formal writing, and it can also alienate the reader if the reader does not
identify with the idea.

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 Third Person POV
Third-person point of view identifies people by
proper noun (a given name such as Jean Piaget) or noun
(such as teachers, students, players, or doctors) and uses the
pronouns they, she, and he. Third person also includes the
use of one, everyone, and anyone. Most formal, academic
writing uses the third person.

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 Third Person POV
Note: In the past, if you wanted to refer to one unnamed person, you
used the masculine pronoun:

If a person is strong, he will stand up for himself.

Today, you should avoid the automatic use of the masculine pronoun
because it is considered sexist language.

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 Third Person POV
Note: Also avoid perpetuating gender stereotypes by assigning a
particular gendered pronoun:

A doctor should listen to his patients.

A nurse should listen to her patients.

These examples make assumptions that doctors are men and nurses are
women, which is a sexist stereotype.

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 Third Person POV
Note: Instead, use the pronouns they or them to refer to a person
whose gender is undisclosed or irrelevant to the context of the usage:

If a person is strong, they will stand up for themselves when they

believe in something.

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Author’s Perspective
“author’s attitude towards the topic”

The author's perspective is what the situation looks

like from where the author is standing. To
understand the author's perspective or point of
view means that you have to look through the eyes
of the writer.

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 Author’s Perspective
⊹ When considering the Author’s Perspective, one should look
carefully for text evidences; i.e., the reason/s that the author
gives to support the way they feel about the topic.

Content Structure Word Choice

What does the text say? How is the text What specific words did the
What information is there? organized? author use?
⊹ Key Details ⊹ Text Features ⊹ Strong or Weak Verbs
⊹ Signposts ⊹ Text Structure ⊹ Types of Describing Words
⊹ Tone of the Words
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Guide Questions to help
you Understand the
Author’s Perspective:
• What opinions or belief statements are evident in
the article?
• Why do you think the author has this particular
opinion or point of view?
• What background information about the author
does the reader have that may help understand the
writer’s perspective?
• Would another author have a different perspective
depending on his/her background experiences?
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A person who seeks
wisdom 27