Which Two Factors Combine to Form an Author's Purpose for Writing a Text?
An author's purpose is formed by combining audience (who the writing is for) with message (what the author wants to communicate). Together, audience and message determine why the text was written—whether to persuade, inform, entertain, or describe.
The answer: audience and message
An author's purpose is the reason a writer creates a text, and it emerges from two ingredients working together: the audience (the specific readers the author is writing for) and the message (the idea, information, or feeling the author wants to get across). Neither factor alone is enough. A message with no audience in mind is unfocused, and an audience with no message is just a reader waiting for something to read. When you combine who the writing targets with what it is trying to say, the why—the purpose—falls into place.
Think of it as a simple equation: Audience + Message = Purpose. A scientist writing data for fellow researchers (audience) who wants to share experimental results (message) lands on the purpose to inform. A columnist writing for undecided voters (audience) who wants them to support a policy (message) lands on to persuade. Same writer, different audience or message, different purpose.
The four purposes: PIE'D
Most author's purposes fall into four categories, easily remembered as PIE'D:
- P — Persuade: convince the reader to agree, act, or change a belief (editorials, advertisements, opinion essays).
- I — Inform: teach or explain facts (textbooks, news reports, how-to guides).
- E — Entertain: amuse, move, or engage the reader (novels, short stories, poems).
- D — Describe: paint a vivid picture of a person, place, or thing (travel writing, character sketches).
Matching audience and message to one of these tells you the purpose. A recipe (message: steps to cook) written for home cooks (audience) is clearly to inform. A ghost story (message: a scary tale) written for readers seeking a thrill (audience) is to entertain.
Why other pairings are wrong
Students often confuse author's purpose with related but distinct concepts:
- Tone and mood describe the feeling of a text, not the reason it was written. A sarcastic tone can serve a persuasive purpose, but tone is a tool, not the purpose itself.
- Main idea and purpose are not the same. The main idea is what the text says; the purpose is why it says it. A text's main idea might be "exercise improves memory," while its purpose is to inform or persuade you to work out.
- Genre and structure (essay, poem, report) shape a text but do not, by themselves, form the purpose. Many genres can serve several purposes.
So when a question asks which two factors combine to form purpose, pairings like "tone and genre" or "main idea and structure" miss the point. Purpose is born where the writer's intended audience meets the writer's intended message—and that intersection is what you analyze to decide whether the author meant to persuade, inform, entertain, or describe.
| Undecided voters | Support this policy | Persuade |
| Students in a science class | Explain the water cycle | Inform |
| Readers seeking a thrill | Tell a suspenseful story | Entertain |
| Travel-magazine readers | Capture the feel of a city | Describe |
| Shoppers browsing online | Buy this product now | Persuade |
Frequently asked
What are the four main types of author's purpose?
The four main purposes are persuade, inform, entertain, and describe—remembered with the acronym PIE'D. Persuasive writing changes minds, informative writing explains facts, entertaining writing engages emotions, and descriptive writing creates vivid imagery.
How do you identify an author's purpose in a text?
Ask who the author is writing for (audience) and what they want to say (message). Then look at word choice, structure, and evidence: facts suggest informing, opinions and calls to action suggest persuading, and vivid or emotional language suggests entertaining or describing.
What is the difference between author's purpose and main idea?
The main idea is what a text is about—the central point being made. The author's purpose is why the text was written. A text's main idea might be that recycling helps the planet, while its purpose is to persuade readers to recycle.
Why does audience matter to an author's purpose?
The audience shapes how a message is delivered and what the author hopes to achieve. Writing for experts, children, or skeptics changes the vocabulary, tone, and goal—so the same message can produce different purposes depending on who is meant to read it.
What does PIE stand for in author's purpose?
PIE stands for Persuade, Inform, and Entertain—the three classic author's purposes. Many teachers extend it to PIE'D by adding Describe, giving four categories that cover nearly every reason an author writes a text.