Understanding Your Purpose
- 1. Why You Will Write
- 2. Three levels of purpose: General Purpose Specific Purpose Personal Purpose
- 4. Know Your General Purpose To inform (provide information about issue/topic) To educate (broaden someone’s knowledge/expertise) To entertain (provide fun or amusement) To inspire (positively influence or motivate others) To persuade (argue that a certain action should be taken)
- 5. What is the general purpose?
- 6. What is the general purpose? Former U.S. Vice President Al Gore’s efforts to educate the public about the severity of the climate crisis. Gore says, "I've been trying to tell this story for a long time and I feel as if I've failed to get the message across."
- 7. What is the general purpose? Super Size Me is a 2004 documentary film directed by and starring Morgan Spurlock, an American independent filmmaker. Spurlock's film follows a 30-day time period (February to beginning of March 2003) during which he limits himself to only eat McDonald's food. The film documents this lifestyle's drastic effects on Spurlock's physical and psychological well-being, and explores the fast food industry's corporate influence, including how it encourages poor nutrition for its own profit.
- 8. What is the general purpose? Hoosiers is a 1986 sports film about a small-town Indiana high school basketball team that wins the state championship.
- 9. What are the general purposes? A nurse writing a memo to a doctor about a patient’s condition A student writing an e-mail to a friend explaining why she should go to college A cancer survivor writing a story about surviving the illness to give other patients hope A blogger describing a humorous experience he had A scholar explaining the causes of the “black death” that killed millions in the Middle Ages
- 11. Know Your Specific Purpose Once you have identified your general purpose, you need to select the specific information or ideas you want to communicate to your audience. Identifying your specific purpose will help you include only the information necessary to achieve your purpose.
- 12. Practice identifying your specific purpose In pairs, with your teacher’s assistance brainstorm your specific purpose from your journals or other writings.
- 14. Know Your Personal Purpose When you have a required writing assignment , ask yourself: Why is this writing project important for me, the writer? How can I benefit from doing this assignment?
- 15. Some ideas “ I will write the best essay I have ever written.” “ I will be excited about learning something new and becoming a more knowledgeable person.” “ I will keep an open mind and try to learn something new about myself.” “ I will take pride in my work.” “ I will think of myself as the person responsible for my success; I am in charge.” “ I will show my teacher how much I have improved.”