WRITING TIPS LESSON
APTS Lesson: Purpose
When we discuss purpose we want to be as specific as we are about audience. We start by asking, what is the document's primary aim? Of course our purpose as writers has a lot to do with this, but our purpose can be different than the document's aim.
The four aims of a document are to inform, to persuade, to be beautiful, and to express according to the noted rhetoric, James L. Kinneavy (Kinneavy 1971). Some people change the wording of his "to be beautiful" category. You may wish to call this aim to entertain or to exist for its own sake. These four aims are connected to another term, genre.
By genre, we mean type of writing. For example, you know that a grocery list is a different type of writing than the company's annual stockholder's report. Genre gives us a shorter word than the expression, types of writing.
Now we put purpose (aim) and genre together. This chart should help you see that when we know the purpose of a document, we also know a good deal about the genre. We also can tell from the genre what is the document's primary purpose.
The four aims of a document are to inform, to persuade, to be beautiful, and to express according to the noted rhetoric, James L. Kinneavy (Kinneavy 1971). Some people change the wording of his "to be beautiful" category. You may wish to call this aim to entertain or to exist for its own sake. These four aims are connected to another term, genre.
By genre, we mean type of writing. For example, you know that a grocery list is a different type of writing than the company's annual stockholder's report. Genre gives us a shorter word than the expression, types of writing.
Now we put purpose (aim) and genre together. This chart should help you see that when we know the purpose of a document, we also know a good deal about the genre. We also can tell from the genre what is the document's primary purpose.
to inform |
to persuade |
to entertain |
to express |
| shopping list |
letter-to-editor |
poem |
diary |
| database |
proposal |
short story |
constitution |
| style guide |
advertisement |
novel |
code of ethics |
Obviously the aims of a document may overlap. And we must keep in mind that to persuade and to inform are a greater or lesser part of every document. However, every document's primary aim and genre are linked
For example, when Sara Lynn's boss asks for a report intended for the CEO on employee absenteeism, sick-call-ins, sick leaves, and vacation days, Sara Lynn does not know all she needs for writing the report. She can gather the data and put it into a table (to inform), but unless she has more of an idea of purpose, she cannot write effectively. What she would include in a results report of the company's recent campaign to increase productivity will be wildly different than what she would include in a proposal to initiate a campaign to increase productivity. The data table stays the same and the audience is the same, but the other content, style, and tone of the text will vary as much by purpose as my audience-example of a college student soliciting $20 from parents or roommate.
Reference
Kinneavy, J. L. (1971). A Theory of Discourse. New York, W. W. Norton.
For example, when Sara Lynn's boss asks for a report intended for the CEO on employee absenteeism, sick-call-ins, sick leaves, and vacation days, Sara Lynn does not know all she needs for writing the report. She can gather the data and put it into a table (to inform), but unless she has more of an idea of purpose, she cannot write effectively. What she would include in a results report of the company's recent campaign to increase productivity will be wildly different than what she would include in a proposal to initiate a campaign to increase productivity. The data table stays the same and the audience is the same, but the other content, style, and tone of the text will vary as much by purpose as my audience-example of a college student soliciting $20 from parents or roommate.
Reference
Kinneavy, J. L. (1971). A Theory of Discourse. New York, W. W. Norton.
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Copyright Ida L. Rodgers, 2004
Updated January 16, 2012
Updated January 16, 2012