Whole Earth Curriculum WEC

Lesson 08 — Author's Purpose and Point of View

Learners learn to identify an author's purpose (to persuade, inform, or entertain) and point of view (whose eyes the reader sees through). They examine short texts through a two-part lens — "Why did the author write this?" and "Whose point of view is it, and whose voice is missing?" — and compare two points of view on one event.

D04 P3: Intellectual & Cognitive Awareness D04.S2 50 minutes Draft

Objectives

Essential question

Why did the author write this, and from whose point of view?

purposepoint of viewpersuadeinformentertainauthor

Materials

Standard materials

Low-tech / no-cost

Enriched / lab & device

Works in different contexts

A figure holding a pen stands beside three labeled doors. The first door reads "to inform" and shows a simple fact sheet. The second reads "to persuade" and shows a poster with a raised hand. The third reads "to entertain" and shows a small open book. Above, a question reads "Why did the author write this?" and below, a lens shape is labeled "whose point of view?" Labels and shapes, not color alone, carry the meaning so it prints clearly in grayscale.
A figure holding a pen stands beside three labeled doors. The first door reads "to inform" and shows a simple fact sheet. The second reads "to persuade" and shows a poster with a raised hand. The third reads "to entertain" and shows a small open book. Above, a question reads "Why did the author write this?" and below, a lens shape is labeled "whose point of view?" Labels and shapes, not color alone, carry the meaning so it prints clearly in grayscale.

Lesson 8 — Author’s Purpose and Point of View

Summary

Learners learn to identify an author’s purpose (to persuade, inform, or entertain) and point of view (whose eyes the reader sees through). They examine short texts through a two-part lens — “Why did the author write this?” and “Whose point of view is it, and whose voice is missing?” — and compare two points of view on one event.

Objectives

  • Identify an author’s purpose and point of view. (D04.S2.05.02)

Connection

A seller at the market tells you the fruit is the finest anywhere; a sign lists the prices; a grandmother tells a funny story about the same market. Three texts, one place, three purposes — one wants to persuade you, one to inform you, one to entertain you — and each comes from a different point of view. The seller sees the market one way, the sign sees numbers, the grandmother sees a story. Reading well means asking two questions: why did this person write this? and through whose eyes am I seeing it?

Materials

  • Purpose poster
  • Point-of-view lens card
  • Short texts to examine

Preparation

  • Print or draw the purpose poster (three doors: persuade / inform / entertain).
  • Copy the point-of-view lens card for each pair.
  • Gather a few short texts with different purposes and points of view (an ad, a fact sheet, a story, a letter).

Facilitator note

This lesson is written to the learner (“you”). The ideas to land are that every text has a purpose and a point of view, and that a thoughtful reader asks after both. The egalitarian lens matters here: the question “whose voice is missing?” is a habit of mind that notices who is left out — the worker, the child, the other side. Keep it gentle and curious, not accusatory; a text that leaves a voice out is not evil, just incomplete. Where possible, use texts from many cultures and both oral and written traditions. See docs/facilitation.md on inquiry over creed.

Procedure

  1. Gather (5 min). Last lesson you told facts from opinions. Today you ask about the person behind the words: why did the author write this, and whose point of view is it?
  2. Meet purpose (10 min). Look at the poster. Authors usually write to do one of three things: persuade (change your mind or your action), inform (teach you facts), or entertain (give you a story or a laugh). The ad persuades; the fact sheet informs; the grandmother’s story entertains.
  3. Meet point of view (10 min). Now the lens card: “Whose eyes do we see through?” The seller sees the market as a living; the sign sees prices; the grandmother sees a memory. And ask the second question: “Whose voice is missing?” Who else is at that market that none of these three shows us?
  4. Examine texts (15 min). With your group, read each short text. For each one, answer: what is its purpose (persuade, inform, entertain)? What is its point of view? Whose voice is missing?
  5. Close (5 min). You are not a sponge that soaks up words — you are a reader who asks why, and through whose eyes. That question is the beginning of thinking for yourself.

Differentiation

  • Support: Use texts with a single, obvious purpose and a clearly named speaker; provide the three purpose labels as a visual to point to.
  • Extension: Take one event and write two short versions from two different points of view, noticing what each chooses to tell and leave out.

Assessment

  • Formative (observation/peer): Can the learner name a text’s purpose and point of view, and notice whose voice is missing?
  • Self-check: The learner asks, “Could I say why this was written and through whose eyes — and name one voice it leaves out?”

Home connection

Ask about a sign, ad, or story you meet today: why was it written, and whose point of view does it show? Share your answer with someone.

Resources

  • Author’s purpose and point of view are standard comprehension targets (see Duke & Pearson’s synthesis and the IES practice guides). The question “whose voice is missing?” reflects the curriculum’s egalitarian and global lenses (docs/philosophy.md §4).