Reading with Critical Comprehension

Recognizing the Author’s Purpose and Tone

An author always has a reason or purpose for writing a passage. Some passages explicitly state their purposes. Other passages leave it for the reader to guess or infer the purpose. The good reader should always seek the purpose of a passage because it is an excellent clue for critically understanding the writing.

When trying to determine the purpose of a passage, begin with a consideration of the topic sentences of the paragraphs. The author’s purpose is often related to the progression of the ideas. Another method of determining purpose is to take note of the language that is used. If the purpose is to explain a serious issue, the passage will be restricted to standard English. If the purpose is to entertain or satirize, then slang, jargon, and informal English may be used to produce the desired effect.

An author’s tone is the “voice” or attitude toward the subject of the passage and is often directly related to the purpose. A useful technique for determining an author's tone is to envision the sound of the author's voice as if he/she were reading the passage aloud.

Tone indicates the writer’s mood and attitude.Often an author's tone is indicated by adjectives like: cynical, depressed, sympathetic, cheerful, outraged, positive, angry, sarcastic, prayerful, ironic, solemn, vindictive, intense, excited.

To better understand a passage, a reader is advised to write a sentence describing its purpose and tone. This practice will improve comprehension of the ideas and conclusions of a passage.

For the five paragraphs shown as a passage above, describe the author's purpose and tone. Click the "Next" button below when the task is completed.