Author's viewpoint

Author's Viewpoint

By Beverley Cornish

An author's viewpoint is his/her attitude, thoughts, feelings and beliefs about the subject. The words chosen tell the reader exactly what the author’s viewpoint is: positive, negative or neutral.

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​The beautiful uniforms make the students look so studious and ready for a great day of learning.

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Pleasant words that carry happy connotations suggest a point of view that is supportive or in agreement with the topic. That is a positive viewpoint.

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​Author's viewpoint example:

Positive​

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​​No one would condemn themselves to wearing those drab look-alike outfits.

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​Words that have overtones of sadness, hatred, disapproval, or displeasure all tell that the writer is not in agreement with or not supporting the view. That is a negative viewpoint.

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​Author's viewpoint example:

Negative​

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​​The blue shirts with the khaki pants indicate that the students all attend St. Patrick’s High School.

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Neutral words show that the author neither supports nor disagrees with the topic. They are a mere description of what can be seen or what happened. The author has a neutral viewpoint.​

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​Author's viewpoint example:

Neutral​

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Let's Practice

Multiple Choice

What is the author's viewpoint in the passage below?

I wonder who made gym class mandatory?  He was a great guy!  It is a welcome break from sitting in chairs.  In a recent poll, gym class was the favorite subject of elementary students.  I wish there was gym class more often!

• positive

• negative

• neutral

Multiple Choice

Read the passage below. How dies the author feel about money?

The key to saving money is to determine your disposable income. Once you know your disposable income, the rest will fall into place. Your disposable income is the amount of money you have left over after paying for necessities like bills, rent, and food. In other words, disposable income is the money that you are free to spend on unnecessary things like movies or music. See if you can guess how much disposable income you have every month. Then, do the math and see if your guess is accurate. You might be surprised to find that your disposable income is larger than you think. In order to save money, you simply have to keep track of your disposable income and limit the amount that you spend each month. For example, by opting to go to one less movie or concert each month, you can quickly meet your savings goals and have enough money to purchase that big-ticket item or put a deposit on a home! Try it for three months and watch your savings grow. You can do this!

• Life is short, spend money!

• People should save money.

• Saving money is a fun thing to do.

• It is impossible to save money.

Multiple Choice

Read the passage. What is the author's viewpoint on camping?

 Camping is a valuable form of recreation. It allows people to escape their busy lives and enjoy the peace of nature. Camping also brings people into direct contact with the raw elements. Thousands of years ago, our ancestors had to build their own shelters, hunt for their own food, and build their own fires. Though today we have supermarkets and modern homes with kitchen appliances, it is important to remember that this was not always the case. Preparing a meal from scratch and eating it outdoors brings a feeling of satisfaction that cannot be gained from modern technology.

• He thinks camping is a great way to reconnect with nature.

• He believes camping is a waste of time.

• He thinks camping is great, but only if there is a supermarket nearby.

• He considers camping to be one of the drawbacks to supermarkets.