Author's Purpose & POV RI.6.6

One of the great things about playing cards is the wide variety of games you can play. Some of the games are complicated, while others are extremely easy. When playing with children, the easiest games work best, and one of the easiest games is called Persian Pasha.Persian Pasha can be played by as few as two people. The person dealing the cards gives each player one card until all the cards run out. Leaving the cards face down on the table, the players then turn over their cards one at a time. When both players turn over the same card at the same time, they have a tie. The players then turn over their next cards, and whoever has the highest card wins all the cards that have been turned over. The players continue doing this until one of them is out of cards. The player who has all the cards is the winner.

What is the main purpose of this article?

• To instruct the reader in how to play Persian Pasha

• To persuade the reader to think card games are fun

• To explain to the reader why Persian Pasha is popular

• To inform the reader about the history of card games

Today, it is easy for a person to go to a store and buy anything he or she needs. Because of this, a person is unlikely to know what something he or she uses every day is made out of or to understand how it works. Hair gel is a good example of this.Few people know that the main ingredient in hair gel is a plastic called PVP. PVP is a special kind of plastic that dissolves in water. When a person puts hair gel in his or her hair, the PVP coats each hair, and then dries. Once it is dry, it becomes so stiff that it keeps hair in place. PVP dissolves in water, which means that a person can easily wash it out of his or her hair at the end of the day.

Choose the sentence that best describes the purpose of this passage.

• To inform the reader about the ways in which plastic is used

• To persuade the reader to use hair gel more often

• To explain what hair gel is made out of and how it works

There are book clubs for professional women, former Navy officers, mature science-fiction readers, and countless others. There aren’t many book clubs for kids like you who enjoy reading, however.Most book clubs are geared towards adults, despite the facts that kids like you read, and are required to read as part of their schoolwork. This is odd because a young person like you can benefit greatly from being in a book club. Book clubs get together to discuss a book’s story, characters, and meaning. This allows club members to develop a better understanding of what they read.If you would like to get a better understanding of what you read, you can start your own book club. Pick a book and find some friends who want to read it. Once everybody has read it, get together to talk about it. You’ll not only learn more about the book, but you’ll learn more about your friends and yourself.

Choose the phrase that best describes the purpose of this passage.

• To instruct the reader in starting a book club

• To persuade the reader to start a book club

• To inform the reader about different book clubs

• To describe to the reader how book clubs work

The number of letters sent each year has dropped more than 30% since 1998. That’s around the time that email first became popular. More people using emails means fewer people using post offices. As a result, post offices make less money. The United States Postal Service has closed post offices, replaced workers with machines, and has made mail routes simpler in order to cut costs. It still loses billions of dollars each year.The post office is run by the government. It should make money the way the government does, through taxes. Taxes are the fees that people pay to support government projects like highway building, elections, and schools. Americans should pay a postal tax. These tax dollars will pay all of the USPS’s costs for a year. Americans who pay the tax should be allowed to send letters and packages for free. This will allow the USPS to work the way it should, with more post offices, fewer machines, and better routes. It will also encourage people to send letters and packages through the post office, which means more business for the USPS.

Choose the sentence that best describes what the author thinks about email.

• The author thinks that many people choose sending emails over sending letters.

• The author thinks that the USPS should find a way to make money from email.

• The author thinks that email is used by people who have never used the USPS.

The number of letters sent each year has dropped more than 30% since 1998. That’s around the time that email first became popular. More people using emails means fewer people using post offices. As a result, post offices make less money. The United States Postal Service has closed post offices, replaced workers with machines, and has made mail routes simpler in order to cut costs. It still loses billions of dollars each year.The post office is run by the government. It should make money the way the government does, through taxes. Taxes are the fees that people pay to support government projects like highway building, elections, and schools. Americans should pay a postal tax. These tax dollars will pay all of the USPS’s costs for a year. Americans who pay the tax should be allowed to send letters and packages for free. This will allow the USPS to work the way it should, with more post offices, fewer machines, and better routes. It will also encourage people to send letters and packages through the post office, which means more business for the USPS.

How does the author present his or her viewpoint in the text?

• By explaining the different problems caused by electronic communication

• By describing the USPS’s problems and suggesting a way to fix them

• By arguing for an increase in the use of electronic mail sorting machines

The number of letters sent each year has dropped more than 30% since 1998. That’s around the time that email first became popular. More people using emails means fewer people using post offices. As a result, post offices make less money. The United States Postal Service has closed post offices, replaced workers with machines, and has made mail routes simpler in order to cut costs. It still loses billions of dollars each year. The post office is run by the government. It should make money the way the government does, through taxes. Taxes are the fees that people pay to support government projects like highway building, elections, and schools. Americans should pay a postal tax. These tax dollars will pay all of the USPS’s costs for a year. Americans who pay the tax should be allowed to send letters and packages for free. This will allow the USPS to work the way it should, with more post offices, fewer machines, and better routes. It will also encourage people to send letters and packages through the post office, which means more business for the USPS.

What is the author’s viewpoint on the United States Postal Service?

• The USPS loses money each year because of the way it is run by the government.

• The USPS will continue losing its old customers for many years to come.

• The USPS would work better if more of its costs were paid for with tax dollars.

Many people pick at scabs countless times even though they’ve been told not to do so. It’s difficult to keep yourself from picking, but scabs are there for a reason. They are there to prevent bacteria from entering your body.When you pick a scab, you reopen the wound, exposing it to bacteria that can cause infections. Once your wound is infected, you can get really sick. Picking a scab isn’t worth that kind of trouble.Also, even if it doesn’t get infected, a scab that is picked at takes longer to heal and is more likely to scar. Avoiding those problems is a good reason not to pick at a scab, too. Next time you’ve got a cut or a scrape, leave it alone. Being hurt is bad enough, and picking at the scab can only make it worse.

The reader can tell the author wrote this passage to persuade the reader because

• it gives reasons for not picking at scabs.

• it describes the people who pick at scabs.

• the author has written it in first-person.

• the author lists many facts about scabs.

What is the author's point of view?

• What an author thinks, feels, or believes about a topic.

• The author's opinion about the topic.

• The main reason the author writes the text.

• When the author clearly favors one side over the other.

What is the author's purpose?

• What an author thinks, feels, or believes about a topic.

• The author's opinion about the topic.

• The main reason the author writes the text.

• When the author clearly favors one side over the other.

What is informational text?

• Text that the author writes in order to teach the reader something.

• Text that the author writes in order to get the reader to support their position.

• Text that the author writes in order to provide the reader with step-by-step method or process.

• Text the author writes in order to entertain and engage the reader.