6th Grade Reading

6th Grade Reading focuses on developing critical reading skills, comprehension strategies, and a love for literature through diverse texts.

Advanced Topics

Analyzing Author’s Purpose and Point of View

Why Did the Author Write This?

Authors write for different reasons: to inform, entertain, persuade, or explain. Understanding the author's purpose helps you understand the text better.

The author's point of view is their opinion or perspective on the topic. Clues about point of view can be found in word choice and the information included or left out.

Types of Purpose

  • Inform: Give facts or information
  • Entertain: Tell a story to amuse you
  • Persuade: Try to change your mind
  • Explain: Show how or why something happens

How to Spot Point of View

  • Look for opinion words (like “best,” “should,” or “never”).
  • Notice if the author seems to favor one side.

Knowing the purpose and point of view helps you think critically about what you read.

Examples

  • A commercial that uses lots of positive words is trying to persuade you to buy something.

  • A news article that presents only one side of a story shows the author’s point of view.

In a Nutshell

Understand why an author wrote a text and what they think about the topic.

Key Terms

Author’s Purpose
The reason why an author writes something.
Point of View
The author’s opinion or perspective.