Text purpose

Comprehension Toolkit

Text purpose 1

Comprehension Toolkit

Text purpose 1

Comprehension means understanding.

The answers to some questions are easy to find,

while the answers to others are more difficult to work out.

The best way to understand a text is to ask yourself questions

as you read it.

Comprehension Toolkit

Text purpose 1

Why does a writer write?A writer’s purpose might be to:

entertain persuadeinform debate an issueinstruct sympathise

warn or advise describeextend an invitation

do several things at once!

Comprehension Toolkit

Text purpose 1

Although any text can be entertaining, depending on the reader’s interests, texts that

are specifically written to entertain are:narratives recounts

scriptspoems

They are usually funny, exciting or interesting in some way.

Comprehension Toolkit

Text purpose 1

This is an extract from a poem by Lewis Carroll. Its main purpose is to entertain.

“You are old, Father William,” the young man said,“And your hair has become very white;And yet you incessantly stand on your head —Do you think, at your age, it is right?”

“In my youth,” Father William replied to his son,“I feared it might injure the brain; But, now that I'm perfectly sure I have none, Why, I do it again and again.”

Comprehension Toolkit

Text purpose 1

Texts that inform, or give information, include:

In these texts you can expect to find:

reports signs and labels websitesnewspaper articles handouts and flyers

• precise nouns• factual adjectives

• sequencing of information and events• lists and tables.

• adverbials of time and place• mainly statements

Comprehension Toolkit

Text purpose 1

This is an extract from a report on kookaburras. Its main purpose is to inform.

Which words are precise nouns?

Kookaburras are carnivorous. In the wild they eat lizards, snakes, insects, mice and small birds.

Which words are factual adjectives?Which phrase is an adverbial of place?

Comprehension Toolkit

Text purpose 1

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