Test Questions on Author's Purpose: Preparing for ELA Exams

📚 Quick Study Guide

• 🎯 Author's Purpose: The reason an author writes something. Common purposes include to persuade, inform, entertain, or explain (PIE).
• 📣 Persuade: To convince the reader to believe or do something. Look for opinions and persuasive language.
• 📰 Inform: To provide facts and information. Look for factual details and objective language.
• 🎭 Entertain: To amuse or delight the reader. Look for humor, interesting characters, and engaging storylines.
• 📖 Explain: To describe a process or provide instructions. Look for step-by-step details and clear explanations.
• 🔍 Identifying Purpose: Pay attention to the author's tone, word choice, and the overall message of the text.
• 💡 Multiple Purposes: Sometimes, an author may have more than one purpose, but usually one is dominant.

📝 Practice Quiz

1. Which of the following is NOT a common author's purpose?
   1. Entertain
   2. Persuade
   3. Confuse
   4. Inform
2. A recipe for chocolate chip cookies is most likely written to:
   1. Persuade you to buy chocolate chips.
   2. Inform you about the history of cookies.
   3. Entertain you with a funny story about baking.
   4. Explain how to make cookies.
3. An advertisement trying to get you to buy a specific brand of shoes is primarily trying to:
   1. Inform
   2. Persuade
   3. Entertain
   4. Explain
4. A news article reporting on a recent scientific discovery aims to:
   1. Entertain the reader with exciting stories.
   2. Persuade the reader to support scientific research.
   3. Inform the reader about the discovery.
   4. Explain the author's personal opinions.
5. A short story about a talking dog is most likely written to:
   1. Persuade the reader to adopt a dog.
   2. Inform the reader about dog breeds.
   3. Entertain the reader.
   4. Explain how dogs communicate.
6. A scientific paper detailing the results of an experiment primarily aims to:
   1. Persuade the reader to agree with the scientist's viewpoint.
   2. Entertain the reader with interesting anecdotes.
   3. Inform the reader about the experiment and its findings.
   4. Explain the scientist's personal life.
7. An author writing a biography about a famous historical figure is most likely trying to:
   1. Persuade the reader to admire the historical figure.
   2. Inform the reader about the person's life and accomplishments.
   3. Entertain the reader with fictional stories about the person.
   4. Explain the author's own political views.