Author’s purpose and tone

What you will be able to do

• Sort any passage into one of three purposes: to inform, to persuade, or to entertain.
• Name the tone of a passage from its word choice, not from a guess at the topic.
• Tell a neutral, informative passage apart from a biased, persuasive one using connotation.

What the lesson concludes

• Purpose is what the writer wants the passage to do; tone is how the writer feels about the topic while doing it.
• Persuasive writing leans on words with strong positive or negative connotation, while informative writing sticks to neutral, measurable language.
• A single loaded word, such as calling a new form a burden rather than a step, is often the clearest clue to both purpose and tone.
• Tone words describe an attitude (formal, alarmed, reassuring), never a topic, so match your answer choice to a feeling.