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Think ‘TAP’ when looking at a non-fiction text:

• text type
• audience
• purpose

A writer has an aim when writing a text - they want to have an effect on their reader.

A text can have many purposes. Some examples are to:

• entertain – to amuse the reader or make them enjoy reading the text
• persuade – to influence the viewpoint of the reader - these texts may be biased
• advise – to help people decide what to do - these texts may give ideas and options
• analyse – to break down something to help people to understand it better
• argue – to make the case for something - these texts may be one-sided
• describe – to give precise details about a person, place, object or experience
• explain – to make clear ‘how’ and ‘why’ something works or happens in a certain way
• inform – to tell a reader about something they don’t know, or add to their knowledge
• instruct – to tell a reader how to do something, ordered step-by-step

Texts can have more than one purpose, eg a writer could entertain and inform, or they could inform and persuade the reader.

Some types of non-fiction text have a specific purpose. For example, travel writing describes a journey or a place, and can be intended to persuade. This purpose can be explicit - stated directly, eg “You must visit Florida!” or can be implicit - suggested but not said openly, eg “Florida is a wonderful place to visit!”

When you read a non-fiction text, you can tell its purpose by looking at:

• Its content – who would be interested?
• Its tone – is it serious or light-hearted?
• Its structure – what are the order of events? Does the writer use headings, subheadings or pose questions to the reader?
• Its language – is the language formal or informal?