How do you determine an author's purpose and audience in informational texts?

• A. Look for thesis statements, tone, evidence, and the intended reader; consider publication venue and language
• B. The author's purpose is always to entertain
• C. Guess based on title only
• D. Audience does not matter

Answer: (C)

Understanding an author's purpose and audience in informational texts comes from analyzing how the piece is built and who it’s meant to reach. Look for a thesis or main claim that shows what the author wants you to understand or do; notice the tone—whether it’s neutral, instructional, or persuasive; examine the evidence and how it’s used to support a point; identify the intended reader the text seems to address; and consider the publication venue and language, which often reveal level of formality, jargon, or accessibility. Put together these clues to determine both why the author wrote the piece (to inform, explain, compare, or persuade) and who the intended audience is. This approach uses actual text and context rather than surface cues.

Titles alone don’t reliably reveal purpose, entertainment isn’t typically the aim of informational writing, and audience does matter because language and detail are chosen with readers in mind.