November 2026 - Finding the Author's Purpose Study Guide for nursing students in
Every passage is written to inform, to persuade, to entertain or to instruct. Identify which by asking what the author wanted the reader to do or feel by the last line — and remember that persuasive writing often sounds factual, which is what the question is testing.
Reading guide
Craft and structure
· 9 scored questions
5 min read
Practice As You Read
Try 4 short questions throughout this guide. Check each answer to learn from the explanation.
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The four purposes
A passage may do more than one of these, but one dominates, and that is what the question wants.
Purpose
The author wants you to
Marks of it
Inform
Know something
Neutral wording, balanced coverage, definitions, figures without a case attached
Persuade
Agree, or act
Opinion words, one-sided evidence, should and must, an opposing view raised only to dismiss it
Entertain
Enjoy the reading
Narrative, description, humour, a character or scene
Instruct
Do something
Second person, imperatives, numbered steps, a warning
Telling persuasion from information
This is the distinction the exam actually tests, because persuasive writing on a serious subject reads like reporting. Two checks separate them reliably.
First, coverage: does the passage present the strongest version of any competing view, or does it raise one only to knock it down? Second, load: are the facts chosen because they are representative, or because they support a case? An informative passage about a treatment will report what it cannot do; a persuasive one mentions that only if it has an answer ready.
Purpose is not tone and it is not subject. A passage can be angry in tone and informative in purpose, or cheerful in tone and persuasive in purpose. Ask what the author wanted from you, not how the author sounded.
Question 1 of 4
Reading Passage
Hospitals have spent two decades installing alcohol gel dispensers at every bedside, and compliance still hovers around sixty per cent. The reason is not ignorance. Staff know the rule; they are interrupted, rushed, and holding equipment in both hands. Anyone serious about infection control should therefore stop funding another poster campaign and start funding the thing that has been shown to work: enough staff on each shift that a nurse can put something down, clean their hands, and pick it up again. Awareness has never been the bottleneck.
What is the author's primary purpose in this passage?
Choose one answer, then check it.
View the Answer and Explanation
Correct answer: B. To persuade readers that staffing, not awareness, is the answer to poor hand hygiene
The passage names a preferred course of action, tells readers what to stop funding and what to fund instead, and closes by dismissing the rival explanation — that is an argument. It explains a little on the way, but explanation is in service of the case; there is no story and no procedure to follow.
Reading the structure for purpose
Ends with a call to action or a should — persuasive, almost without exception.
Ends with a summary of what is known — informative.
Ends with the outcome of a story — entertaining.
Ends with a caution or a final step — instructional.
Raises an objection and answers it — persuasive. Informative writing states positions; it does not defeat them.
Question 2 of 4
Reading Passage
Hospitals have spent two decades installing alcohol gel dispensers at every bedside, and compliance still hovers around sixty per cent. The reason is not ignorance. Staff know the rule; they are interrupted, rushed, and holding equipment in both hands. Anyone serious about infection control should therefore stop funding another poster campaign and start funding the thing that has been shown to work: enough staff on each shift that a nurse can put something down, clean their hands, and pick it up again. Awareness has never been the bottleneck.
Which feature of the passage most clearly marks it as persuasive rather than informative?
Choose one answer, then check it.
View the Answer and Explanation
Correct answer: B. It uses the phrase "anyone serious about infection control should".
That phrase pairs a should with a suggestion that disagreeing is unserious, which is advocacy rather than reporting. The figure, the working conditions and the timeline are all facts that an informative passage could carry equally well; what makes this persuasive is what the author does with them.
Terms to know
Purpose
Why the author wrote: to inform, persuade, entertain or instruct.
Expository writing
Writing that explains or informs.
Persuasive writing
Writing that argues for a position or a course of action.
Narrative writing
Writing that tells a story, usually to entertain.
Technical writing
Writing that instructs — procedures, manuals, protocols.
Call to action
A closing statement urging the reader to do something. A strong marker of persuasion.
What the TEAS asks most
The same core ideas appear in different wording. If you can answer these without stopping to think, you have what this section requires.
What is the author's primary purpose?
The dominant one. Ask what the author wanted from the reader by the end.
Why did the author include this paragraph?
A purpose question at paragraph level: it usually supplies evidence, raises a counter-argument, or provides context.
The passage is best described as …
Match the passage to a genre — an argument, an explanation, a set of instructions, a story.
Question 3 of 4
Reading Passage
Hospitals have spent two decades installing alcohol gel dispensers at every bedside, and compliance still hovers around sixty per cent. The reason is not ignorance. Staff know the rule; they are interrupted, rushed, and holding equipment in both hands. Anyone serious about infection control should therefore stop funding another poster campaign and start funding the thing that has been shown to work: enough staff on each shift that a nurse can put something down, clean their hands, and pick it up again. Awareness has never been the bottleneck.
Why does the author include the sentence "The reason is not ignorance"?
Choose one answer, then check it.
View the Answer and Explanation
Correct answer: B. To rule out the explanation the author's recommendation competes with
Ruling out ignorance clears the way for the staffing argument, and the closing line repeats the move — raising a rival explanation in order to defeat it is a persuasive structure. It offers no history and no definition, and it is not primarily a defence of staff even though it happens to be sympathetic to them.
Key points
The four purposes are to inform, persuade, entertain and instruct.
Persuasion often sounds factual. Check whether opposing views are given fairly.
One-sided evidence and a closing should are the clearest persuasive markers.
Purpose is separate from tone and from subject matter.
The final sentence is the single most informative line for purpose.
Question 4 of 4
Reading Passage
Hospitals have spent two decades installing alcohol gel dispensers at every bedside, and compliance still hovers around sixty per cent. The reason is not ignorance. Staff know the rule; they are interrupted, rushed, and holding equipment in both hands. Anyone serious about infection control should therefore stop funding another poster campaign and start funding the thing that has been shown to work: enough staff on each shift that a nurse can put something down, clean their hands, and pick it up again. Awareness has never been the bottleneck.
A second passage on the same subject reports compliance figures from four countries, lists the reasons staff give for missed opportunities, and ends by noting which questions remain unresolved. What is its primary purpose?
Choose one answer, then check it.
View the Answer and Explanation
Correct answer: A. To inform
Balanced coverage and a closing acknowledgement of open questions are the signature of informative writing — a persuasive passage closes by pressing its case, not by conceding uncertainty. Nothing here tells a story or issues steps to follow.
TEAS · Finding the author's purpose
Knowledge Check Results
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