Recognising a writer's purpose
By Debbie Harris, Contributor

LAST WEEK, you were sensitised to the nature of combination discourse types and you should have realised that a writer chooses any combination based on what he hopes to achieve. All good writers have a purpose, and this week we want to look closer at how we can better recognise a writer's purpose.

Being able to understand a writer's purpose will greatly increase the meaning that a piece has for you. In determining the writer's purpose, you should look for:

* Any hints in the title
* Any hints in the heading or subheadings
* Any ideas/points in an introductory or concluding statement.

Sometimes in non-fiction writings, the main idea of a piece may suggest, or in some cases even, state the writer's purpose. However, because writers rarely state their purpose directly, in most cases you will need to determine a writer's unstated purpose through inference.

In addition to the writer's specific rhetorical purpose, is the particular effect that he wishes to have on the readers. Readers sometimes confuse this purpose with the effect that a passage may have. Here is an example of what I mean. An objective news account of a ghastly murder may be intended to inform readers about something that happened, but the effect on some readers may be fright and disgust in others. In this case, the writer's purpose should be thought of as what he is trying to accomplish rather than as a reader's personal reaction to the details of the writing.

The following are some examples of writings in which the writers purposes are identified for you.

When it comes to sports, I am not particularly interested. Generally speaking, I look upon them as dangerous and tiring activities performed by people with whom I share nothing in common except the right to trial by jury. It is not that I am totally indifferent to the joys of athletic effort; it is simply that my idea of what constitutes sport does not coincide with popularly held notions on the subject. There are a number of reasons for this, chief among them being that to me the outdoors is what you must pass through in order to get from your apartment to a taxicab.

­ Fran Lebowitz, Metropolitan Life

This passage is clearly meant to amuse; therefore, it is serving the purpose of entertaining you. The writer is expressing her view through humour.

In the following passage, the writers are informing you about the importance of vitamins in the healthy functioning of the human body. Firstly, they mention the necessity of vitamins, and secondly they explain why vitamins are so essential.

Vitamins and minerals are nutrients that are essential to life. They are so-called micronutrients because, in comparison with the other nutrients - carbohydrates, proteins, fats and water, we need them in relatively small amounts. Vitamins function by and large as coenzymes. Enzymes are catalysts or activators in the chemical reactions that are continually taking place in our bodies. Vitamins are a fundamental part of the enzymes, the way your muscles are a fundamental part of your arms and legs. Most people are aware that we have enzymes to help us digest our food. But enzymes do more than help us to digest our food. They are at the very foundation of all our bodily functions. Enzymes are what make things happen faster.

(Shari Liebeman & Nancy Bruning The Real Vitamin & Mineral Book)

Here is the third and final passage. Notice that the main point is an opinion and that the details are provided to present convincing support. The writer's purpose is to convince readers that affirmative programmes are absolutely necessary for minorities. Read it.

Opponents of affirmative action, including many liberals, genuinely believe in their stance's righteousness. Others want nothing more than to maintain white privilege. Both are obstacles to progress. They can't understand that setting aside a small percentage of jobs, contracts, and university admissions for minorities isn't about preferential treatment or reverse discrimination; it's about including us in a mix. For minorities the issue is not whether there should be a level playing field, but whether we'll make it to the field. Under affirmative action, if 20 per cent of a city's contracts are set aside for minority firms, 80 per cent could go to white firms. The same question could apply to job and university slots. So I ask, who's getting preferential treatment? Affirmative action has helped many minorities escape dire beginnings. But even today the vast majority remain isolated and trapped in poverty and pathological self destruction.

­ Angelo Figueroa, Must Fight Back On Affirmative Action

You will sometimes read passages that may do more than one thing and accomplish more than one purpose, but a writer usually has one dominant purpose in mind that is accomplished by whatever else may be going on in one piece.

Consider the following passage as an example of such writing and look out for a suggested response next week!

I think the most interesting change in America since 1954 is the way in which attitudes about "life station" have evolved. When I was born in 1947, the American dream was essentially defined in terms of the capacity of white males to challenge the capacity of the social and economic class into which they had been born and to participate in a fluid class structure that was based on notions of meritocracy. Women, blacks, the disabled, and gays were for all intents and purposes invisible people and were considered the exceptions to the American dream. That is no longer the case. The combined effects of the movements for civil rights, for gender equity, for freedom of choice for abortion, for disability rights, and for gay rights all have altered irrevocably the notion of station and have given new meaning and breadth to the parameters of the American dream. No longer are some Americans consigned to limitations on the basis of the circumstances of birth; today the notion of meritocracy is more inclusive than it was in 1954. This development has far-ranging consequences, reflected in the work force and otherwise, but it may well represent the most fundamental redefinition of American life of this century.

­ Carol Moseley-Braun, How Have We Changed

Here is the suggested response to last week's assignment (i.e. Vacationing by Maya Angelou):

The writer's main point in the piece Vacationing is that resting after working is something human beings deserve and often do get but even as they engage in this activity, they occupy some or even most of their holiday by working. The discourse of this prose is artistic in nature. The writer seeks to convince us that we rarely ever do rest while we are vacationing; instead we work, unaware that we are working. She executes this task of persuasion by
presenting her opinion couched in much emotional appeal - this is psychological persuasion and it is the primary mode of this discourse. A story is told of a personal experience the writer has while holidaying in Mexico. Not only does this provide entertainment for the reader, but also and even more importantly, it expresses an example to support and emphasise her main point. This technique of using narration is effective in achieving the writer's purpose. Indeed, we are more convinced when the persuader can provide first hand experience. Narration is performing a secondary function and therefore is deemed to be the secondary mode of discourse.

The writer has aimed her piece at a general audience. This is evidenced by the simple common everyday words/phrases such as "... if we snag on a nail" and the conversational tone employed by her suggested in "I am not suggesting..." and "No, I am merely observing..." By referring to God and activities common to man, such as the right to vote, "hold political office" and "compete for a $10 million lottery prize" the writer creates an informal atmosphere thereby appealing to a general audience. In addition, mention of "blood", which is also common to all humanity is used by the writer to achieve this purpose.

The most striking device used by the writer is irony. The irony is two-fold. The first instance of irony is in the point made that we work to survive and earn a vacation and yet when we do, we spend it working. The second instance is that the main point made by the writer and emphasised by her story is ironical itself for while on vacation she laughs at others who appear to be wasting their holidays yet she rushed to (her) room, unpacked (her) yellow pads, pen, dictionary and thesaurus all her tools for her craft and spent three days of her vacation writing the essay.