Author's Purpose and Perspective

Before you analyze what an author is saying, you must ask why they are saying it. The author's purpose is the primary reason why a writer creates a specific piece of text.

In broad terms, every piece of writing is an attempt to interact with the reader's mind. We can categorize these interactions into four distinct purposes.

1. To Inform

When the goal is purely educational or instructional, an author writes to inform in order to share facts, explain a topic, or provide instructions. You read this type of writing every day in your prerequisite science classes.

Informative writing strips away the author's ego. It typically relies on objective language, statistics, and verifiable evidence rather than feelings or opinions. Because its goal is clarity and factual transfer, common examples of informative writing include academic textbooks, encyclopedias, and instruction manuals (such as the step-by-step guide for programming an IV pump).

Source: Baxter Colleague CX infusion pump by BrokenSphere, CC BY-SA 3.0.

2. To Persuade

Sometimes, an author wants to change your behavior or shift your worldview. An author writes to persuade in order to convince the reader to adopt a specific belief or take a particular action.

To achieve this, the writer cannot rely on dry facts alone. Persuasive writing frequently utilizes subjective language, emotional appeals, and logical arguments. The author is actively trying to pull you to their side. Think of a pharmaceutical company trying to sell a medical device, or a hospital administrator arguing for a change in staffing ratios. Common examples of persuasive writing include newspaper editorials, product advertisements, and political speeches.

3. To Entertain

Human beings are wired for narrative. An author writes to entertain in order to amuse or engage the reader through storytelling.

Unlike an instruction manual, entertaining writing often employs narrative structures, creative figurative language, and character dialogue to build an immersive world. It seeks an emotional or imaginative reaction rather than a practical one. Novels, short stories, and theatrical plays are common examples of writing intended to entertain.

4. To Express

Sometimes, the act of writing is entirely internal. An author writes to express in order to share personal feelings, intimate thoughts, or emotional experiences.

Expressive writing does not necessarily care if the reader is persuaded or informed; it simply seeks to capture the human condition from the writer's exact standpoint. Personal journals, autobiographical memoirs, and diaries are typical examples of expressive writing.

Source: The Diary of a Young Girl at the Anne Frank Zentrum by Rodrigo Galindez, CC BY 2.0.

Study Tip: If you are reading a TEAS passage and struggling to find the purpose, look at the structure. Does it have a thesis arguing a point? It's persuasive. Does it have chronological steps? It's informative. Does it read like a private reflection on a difficult shift? It's expressive.

If purpose is why the author is writing, tone is how they sound while doing it. Tone is the author's underlying attitude toward the subject matter or the reading audience.

In a clinical setting, you can often tell if a patient is anxious, hostile, or relaxed simply by the tone of their voice. In writing, you cannot hear the pitch or volume, so a reader infers an author's tone by analyzing the author's specific word choices and descriptive phrasing.

Notice how the tone serves as a direct clue to the author's primary purpose:

• A neutral and objective tone strongly suggests the author's primary purpose is to inform. Words like measured, evaluated, observed, and documented carry a clinical, detached tone.
• An urgent or highly emotional tone strongly suggests the author's primary purpose is to persuade. Words like devastating, crucial, immediate, and unacceptable carry a heavy emotional weight designed to incite action.

Every story or explanation requires a camera. Point of view refers to the narrative perspective from which a text is written. It dictates where the "camera" is placed in relation to the action.

First-Person

When the camera is inside the author's own head, you are reading in the first person. First-person point of view indicates the narrator is an active participant in the events being described.

• The Clue: First-person point of view is characterized by the use of pronouns such as I, me, my, we, and us.
• Example: "I felt a sharp pain in my abdomen right after we ate dinner."

Second-Person

When the camera points directly at you, the reader, you are reading in the second person. Second-person point of view occurs when the narrator directly addresses the reader.

• The Clue: Second-person point of view is characterized by the use of pronouns such as you and your.
• Example: "You must wash your hands with soap and water before you change the dressing." (Notice how highly effective this is for giving instructions).

Third-Person

When the camera is floating above the room, watching everything happen from a distance, you are reading in the third person. Third-person point of view indicates the narrator is an outside observer describing the events of the text.

• The Clue: Third-person point of view is characterized by the use of pronouns such as he, she, it, they, and them.
• Example: "The patient reported acute abdominal pain after she consumed her evening meal."

One of the most critical skills you will develop, both for the TEAS exam and for medical charting, is the ability to separate reality from opinion.

Objective writing is based entirely on verifiable facts and observable evidence. It is the bedrock of science. Because it relies on universal truths (like a temperature of 101.4°F or a heart rate of 88 bpm), objective writing strictly excludes the author's personal biases and emotional reactions.

Source: Clinical thermometer 38.7 by Menchi, CC BY-SA 3.0.

Conversely, subjective writing is based on personal opinions, feelings, judgments, and individual interpretations. A statement like "The patient looked miserable" is subjective. Because it is filtered through the writer's own mind, subjective writing actively reveals the author's personal biases regarding the subject matter.

Finally, we must recognize that no author writes in a vacuum. Every writer brings baggage to the blank page.

An author's perspective is the unique lens or viewpoint through which the author approaches the topic.

Think of two different professionals observing a hospital emergency room. A triage nurse sees a bottleneck caused by a lack of available inpatient beds. A hospital financial officer sees a high volume of expensive, uncompensated care. They are looking at the exact same room, but their perspectives are entirely different. Why? Because an author's personal background, culture, and life experiences directly shape the author's perspective on a topic.

Source: EdinburghRoyalInfirmary by Lisa Jarvis, CC BY-SA 2.0.

Understanding this is not just an academic exercise; it is a vital critical thinking tool. Identifying the author's perspective helps a reader recognize potential bias or hidden agendas in a text. When you read a compelling article arguing against universal healthcare, checking the author's background—are they a public health academic, or a lobbyist for private insurance?—allows you to weigh the text's credibility and spot the invisible boundaries of their argument.

When you sit down to take the TEAS, approach every reading passage like a diagnostic puzzle. Check the tone (are they calm or urgent?), note the point of view (who is holding the camera?), separate the objective facts from subjective opinions, and you will instantly uncover the author's true purpose and perspective.