What is an author's purpose, and how can you determine it from the text?

• A. The author's purpose is to inform, entertain, persuade, or explain; determine it by examining tone, evidence, and how the text invites a response.
• B. The author's purpose is to maximize word count.
• C. The author's purpose is to hide meaning.
• D. The author's purpose is determined by the reader's mood.

Answer: (A)

Author's purpose is the reason a writer creates a text: to inform, entertain, persuade, or explain. To figure out which one fits, look for clues in how the author builds the piece. The tone helps you sense the writer’s attitude—whether it’s serious, playful, urgent, or neutral. The kinds of details and evidence chosen (facts and definitions to inform or explain; stories or humor to entertain; reasons, evidence, and calls to action to persuade) reveal the aim. Also notice how the text invites a response from you—does it make you think, feel a certain way, or take action? Those cues show the purpose in action.

In this question, the answer matches the idea that authors write for these broad purposes and that you can determine which one by examining tone, evidence, and how the text prompts a response. The other options miss the mark because word count isn’t the author’s aim, hiding meaning isn’t the typical purpose, and the reader’s mood doesn’t determine what the author intends.