How do you identify an author's purpose and point of view, and explain how specific craft choices, word choice, tone, and rhetorical technique, advance that purpose?
Author's purpose, craft, and point of view: identifying whether an author writes to inform, persuade, entertain, or explain, recognizing the author's point of view or bias, and explaining how craft choices such as word choice, tone, and rhetorical technique advance the purpose, on Virginia EOC Reading nonfiction passages.
How to analyze author's purpose and craft on the Virginia EOC Reading test: identifying purpose (inform, persuade, entertain, explain), recognizing point of view and bias, and explaining how word choice, tone, and technique advance the purpose. Tested with multiple choice and effect items.
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What this skill is asking
Every nonfiction author writes for a purpose and from a point of view, and makes craft choices to advance them. The Virginia EOC Reading test asks you to identify the purpose (to inform, persuade, entertain, or explain), recognize the author's stance or bias, and explain how specific choices, word choice, tone, and rhetorical technique, serve that purpose. The skill is reading nonfiction as a designed argument or explanation, not just a set of facts. The EOC tests this with multiple-choice questions ("what is the author's purpose", "what does this word choice reveal") and with effect questions about a technique such as a rhetorical question. This page covers identifying purpose and point of view, reading diction and tone for stance, and explaining how craft choices create their effects.
Purpose and point of view
Start by asking what the author is doing and where they stand.
You read purpose and point of view largely from the language. Neutral, measured, balanced wording suggests an informative purpose. Loaded, emotionally charged wording suggests persuasion and reveals a stance. The EOC often supplies a sentence with pointed diction and asks what it reveals; the answer follows from the connotations of the words, an author who calls a plan "reckless" and "poisoning" is not neutral.
Craft choices that serve the purpose
This is the same "choice has an effect" reasoning used across the Reading test. A rhetorical question in a persuasive piece presses urgency; the same device in a reflective essay might invite the reader to ponder. The effect depends on the purpose the choice serves. Distractors on these items often state a real feature but misdescribe its effect, or claim neutrality where the language is clearly slanted, so test each option against the author's evident aim.
A routine for purpose and craft questions
Try this
Q1. What are the four common author's purposes? [Recall]
- Cue. To inform (give facts), to persuade (change a view or move to action), to entertain (amuse or move), and to explain (make a process or idea clear). A persuasive purpose usually comes with a clear point of view.
Q2. An author describes a politician's plan as "bold and visionary". What does this word choice reveal, and how does it serve the purpose? [Short explanation]
- Cue. The positive diction ("bold", "visionary") reveals an approving point of view and a persuasive purpose in favor of the plan. The favorable connotations push the reader to view the plan positively, advancing the author's aim of winning support.
Exam-style practice questions
Practice questions written in the style of VDOE exam questions on this dot point, with worked answer explainers. The year tag is the paper they imitate, not the source.
EOC Reading (nonfiction, style)1 marksAn author describes a proposed factory using words such as 'reckless', 'poisoning', and 'irreversible damage'. What does this word choice reveal about the author's purpose and point of view? (1) The author is neutral and only informing. (2) The author opposes the factory and is writing to persuade against it. (3) The author supports the factory. (4) The author is writing to entertain.Show worked answer →
Answer: (2). Loaded, negative diction ("reckless", "poisoning", "irreversible damage") signals a persuasive purpose and a point of view against the factory. Word choice carries the author's stance.
Why not the others: (1) neutral informing would use measured, balanced language, not loaded words; (3) the diction is hostile, not supportive; (4) the aim is to influence opinion, not amuse. Read purpose and point of view from the connotations of the language.
EOC Reading (nonfiction, effect style)1 marksAn author writing to persuade asks, 'How many more seasons must pass before we act?' What is the effect of this rhetorical question? (1) It genuinely seeks an answer from the reader. (2) It presses the reader to feel the urgency of acting now. (3) It changes the topic. (4) It provides statistical evidence.Show worked answer →
Answer: (2). A rhetorical question is asked for effect, not for a literal answer. Here it presses urgency, prompting the reader to feel that delay is unacceptable, which serves the persuasive purpose.
Why not the others: (1) a rhetorical question does not expect a reply; (3) it sharpens the topic rather than changing it; (4) it is not evidence. Explain a craft choice by the effect it creates in service of the author's purpose.
Related dot points
- Determining the main idea of a nonfiction text: stating the central idea as a complete sentence rather than a topic, distinguishing the main idea from supporting details, recognizing explicit thesis statements and implied main ideas, and summarizing a passage without copying lines, on the Virginia EOC Reading test.
How to find the central idea of a nonfiction passage on the Virginia EOC Reading test: stating it as a full sentence not a topic, telling main idea from supporting detail, recognizing explicit and implied main ideas, and summarizing accurately. Tested with multiple choice, hot text, and summary items.
- Making inferences and drawing conclusions: combining stated details with reasoning to reach a conclusion the text supports but does not state directly, distinguishing a supported inference from a guess or an overreach, and identifying the textual evidence that best supports a conclusion, on Virginia EOC Reading literary and nonfiction passages.
How to make inferences on the Virginia EOC Reading test: combining stated details with reasoning to reach a supported conclusion, telling an inference apart from a guess or overreach, and choosing the evidence that best supports it. Tested with multiple choice and paired evidence items.
- Text structure and organizational patterns: recognizing common nonfiction structures (chronological or sequence, cause and effect, compare and contrast, problem and solution, description, order of importance), using signal words to identify them, and explaining why an author's structural choice suits the purpose, on the Virginia EOC Reading test.
How to analyze text structure on the Virginia EOC Reading test: recognizing chronological, cause-effect, compare-contrast, problem-solution, description, and order-of-importance patterns, using signal words, and explaining why a structure suits the author's purpose. Tested with multiple choice and drag-and-drop items.
- Analyzing argument and evaluating evidence: identifying an author's claim, the reasons given, and the evidence offered, distinguishing fact from opinion, judging whether evidence is relevant and sufficient, and recognizing common faulty reasoning, on Virginia EOC Reading argumentative and informational passages.
How to analyze argument on the Virginia EOC Reading test: identifying the claim, reasons, and evidence, telling fact from opinion, judging whether evidence is relevant and sufficient, and spotting faulty reasoning. Tested with multiple choice, hot text, and evidence items.
- Figurative language and literary devices: identifying metaphor, simile, personification, hyperbole, imagery, symbolism, and irony, and explaining the effect each device creates (not just naming it), across literary passages and poems on the Virginia EOC Reading test.
How to analyze figurative language on the Virginia EOC Reading test: identifying metaphor, simile, personification, hyperbole, imagery, symbolism, and irony, and explaining the effect of each rather than just naming it. Tested with multiple choice, hot text, and effect items across prose and poetry.
Sources & how we know this
- 2017 English Standards of Learning — VDOE (2017)
- SOL Practice Items (All Subjects) — VDOE (2025)