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.
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