Audience And Purpose In Writing Examples

Purpose and audience

When we talk about the purpose of a text, we are talking about what the writer wants to achieve. Writers use language and structural features to deliberately appeal to their intended audience.

Purpose

Think 'TAP' when looking at a non-fiction text:

text type
audience
purpose

A writer has an aim when writing a text - they want to have an effect on their reader.

A text can have many purposes. Some examples are to:

entertain – to amuse the reader or make them enjoy reading the text
persuade – to influence the viewpoint of the reader - these texts may be biased
advise – to help people decide what to do - these texts may give ideas and options
analyse – to break down something to help people to understand it better
argue – to make the case for something - these texts may be one-sided
describe – to give precise details about a person, place, object or experience
explain – to make clear 'how' and 'why' something works or happens in a certain way
inform – to tell a reader about something they don't know, or add to their knowledge
instruct – to tell a reader how to do something, ordered step-by-step

Grid with theatre masks, handshake, call centre woman, woman with magnifying glass, friends debating, pen, woman with open hands, newspapers and driving instructor's car depicting purposes of a text

Texts can have more than one purpose, eg a writer could entertain and inform, or they could inform and persuade the reader.

Some types of non-fiction text have a specific purpose. For example, travel writing describes a journey or a place, and can be intended to persuade. This purpose can be explicit - stated directly, eg "You must visit Florida!" or can be implicit - suggested but not said openly, eg "Florida is a wonderful place to visit!"

When you read a non-fiction text, you can tell its purpose by looking at:

Its content – Who would be interested?
Its tone – Is it serious or light-hearted?
Its structure – What does it focus on throughout?
Its language – Is the language formal or informal ?

Question

Question

What purpose(s) do each of the following texts have?

a news article
a self-help book
a letter asking for a charity donation
an autobiography
a book review
travel writing

a news article - to inform but also to persuade , if the article is showing a particular opinion towards a topic, eg animal testing
a self-help book - to advise
a letter asking for a charity donation - to persuade
an autobiography - to entertain and to inform
a book review - to analyse , inform , and advise
travel writing - to inform , persuade and entertain