Review: Did the Author Achieve the Purpose?

Evaluate how effectively an author's choices accomplish the purpose of a text.

The final step in analyzing author's purpose is evaluation: judging how well the author's choices work. First, state the purpose precisely. Next, examine the main tools: structure, evidence, word choice, tone, and techniques such as hooks, repetition, or counterclaims. Then decide whether each tool helps or hurts, and why.

Consider this original letter to a school principal: it opens with an anecdote about students waiting in a crowded hallway, presents a survey of 200 students showing most are late to class because of congestion, proposes staggered passing times, and addresses the concern that schedules would be confusing by suggesting a two-week trial. Its tone is respectful. Evaluation: the anecdote makes the problem vivid, the survey gives credible evidence, and the trial answers an obvious objection.

One weakness: it doesn't explain how teachers would adjust. Overall, the letter is likely effective. A balanced evaluation notes both strengths and weaknesses and supports each judgment with specific evidence from the text.

• 1State the purpose, then examine the author's tools
• 2Judge whether each choice helps or hurts the purpose
• 3Give a balanced evaluation with evidence