The chart that follows provides key questions you can ask to understand the basics about the text you just read. It also gives examples from the passage to show you how to listen. Look back at the passage and ask the key questions to identify the purpose, audience, perspective, and tone of the text. Click on the arrows in each cell in the examples column to see what the text should be saying to you.
Key questions
Example
Purpose
Why did the author write the text?
What kind of text (genre) is the text?
Does the author talk about his/her feelings or experiences?
Does the author try to convince the reader of something?
Does the piece tell a story using emotion or humor?
Does the author attempt to teach the reader something about the subject?
The author's purposes are to express and entertain.
The reader knows the purpose is expressive because of the use of the first person pronouns: I, we, us.
The reader knows the purpose is to entertain because the passage is telling a story which elicits emotion, enjoyment and wonder.
Audience
Is the text addressing a particular person or group of people?
Is the subject of the text of interest to a particular group?
Is the language specific to a particular group?
What groups might a text apply to? Consider: age, gender, race, religious or political affiliation, socio-economic class, professional group, and level of education.
The audience is general, and perhaps the author wrote for himself as well.
Because the text is from a journal, the reader can assume that the writer was writing in part for himself and his family and friends.
In addition, however, the text provides a unique account of an historical event—the explorer's first encounter with Native Americans—so the audience is also considered general.
Perspective (point of view)
What pronouns are used in the text?
Note: To be third person point of view, the text cannot use first or second person pronouns.
The perspective or point of view is first person, containing the writer's personal experiences and emotional reactions.
Tone
What is the author's attitude toward the subject?
Do the word and phrase choices have negative or positive connotations?
What emotions might the author have experienced while he/she was writing the piece?
The tone of this passage might be described as full of wonder or deep contentment. The words "very friendly," "remarkable," "pleased," "they observed the profoundest silence," "politeness," and "entertained" reflect the peaceful nature of the encounter. And the story about mutual appreciation of each other's music is told with great enjoyment and awe.
