How to Recognise Purpose

Learn how to recognise purpose                      

 

To work out the purpose of a text, you look at its:

• form and source

• content (sentence structure, style and vocabulary)

• format (the way a text is presented and structured).

Form and source

When you read a text the first thing you notice is its form. For example, is it a book, a leaflet, a web page?

The source of a text (where it comes from) also gives you clues about purpose. For example, the purpose of a government leaflet is to inform whereas a leaflet from your local supermarket will be trying to persuade you to buy products.

To decide on the purpose of a text, think what the writer is trying to do. What is the aim of the text? Look at the table below to see some examples of common purposes of texts.

Content

The source and form (page 2) give you quick clues about the purpose of a text, but you will also need to look closely at the language the writer uses. This means reading a text in detail and looking at the choice of vocabulary (words and phrases), style, and sentence structure.

Look at the table to see just a few examples of how a writer might choose different language for different purposes.