Snap Language

Interpreting What You Read | Part 2

Previously, you saw the importance to advance beyond simply understanding words and sentences in a paragraph. You learned that writers use transition words to show the relationships between ideas and that they often use figures of speech to express their ideas clearly. It is up to you, the reader, to identify these elements of writing so that you can interpret what the writer wants to coummunicate.

Other parts of the message are important for readers to interpret are

• the author’s purpose,
• the author’s point of view, and
• the author’s tone.

Understanding the author’s purpose for writing a passage, point of view, and tone will help you get deeper into the writer’s thinking and, therefore, understand what you read more deeply.

The Author’s Purpose

When you write, you have a purpose in mind. That purpose is not always stated directly in the passage, but it is important for you, the reader, to read closely to identify the writer’s purpose so you can interpret the message.

Here, you will learn to identify when the author’s purpose is to inform, persuade, entertain, and share insights or feelings; which publications are likely to have each purpose; and what you should do as the reader to interpret the writer’s message written for each of these purposes.

Activity

The Author’s Point of View

In this section, you will learn how to interpret the author’s point of view. Writers’ viewpoints color their perceptions and affect what they say and how they say it. Understanding the author’s viewpoint helps you evaluate the information the writers present and question what the author may be choosing to include or exclude from the passage.

Activity

The Author’s Tone

How writers state something (that is, the tone they use when stating it), often tells you more about the information than what is actually being presented.

Writers have their own points of view and feelings toward the topics they write about. Through word choice, they can use words that convey the tone that expresses their ideas exactly. In this section, you will learn about the author’s tone in writing, which you must detect and interpret to improve your reading comprehension.

Activity