Reading Comprehension Study Guide for the HESI Exam

Author’s Purpose

Author’s purpose can be difficult to figure out. It differs from a main idea in that it is the driving force behind the main idea rather than the primary focus itself. An author’s purpose may be found by asking the questions “why” and “how.” Why is the author composing this piece?

Discovering why the work is being written and how it is written will identify the purpose of the piece. For instance, an author is writing a piece to inform his audience using persuasive language. This answers the why (to inform) and how (to persuade). From there, you can determine that the author’s purpose is to sway the audience to a certain way of thinking.

Audience

The audience is the group or person for whom the writing is meant. The audience can greatly impact how someone writes and the writing’s overall tone. This is similar to how we speak. For instance, do you talk to your friends the same way you do to your grandparents? Ask yourself the question, “Would you write the same way in a letter to a senator as in a text to your mom?”

Different audiences require different levels of professionalism and academia in writing. An audience may also determine whether the purpose of the text is informational, entertaining, or persuasive.

Writer’s Goal

The writer’s goal is the same as their purpose. To discover this, ask yourself the question, “What is the author trying to accomplish by writing this piece?”

When you are reading a book for pleasure, the author’s purpose is most likely to entertain the reader, whether it be through mystery, romance, or thrill. However, when it comes to these exams, the purpose is usually to either inform or persuade the audience.

Inform

A piece with the goal of informing is trying to teach the reader something, without convincing or arguing.

For instance, if an author wrote about the lives of apes in West Africa, they may provide facts, statistics, or anecdotes, but they are not writing in order to convince the reader of anything; they are simply teaching the reader about apes.

Persuade

A piece with the goal of persuasion is meant to convince the reader of something. The author is making an argument, using evidence to support their case.

When it comes to persuasion, an author may argue that the number of apes is declining, and it is important that we as humans decrease our waste to help their ecosystems. They are trying to sway the audience’s opinion on their topic.

Author’s Tone

The tone of a piece is the attitude with which the piece is treated. How is the author going about it? Tone encompasses a wide range of descriptors, ranging from broad to incredibly detailed and from formal to informal. Tone is extremely important in deciphering the why and how of a piece because it lends insight into the author’s frame of mind.

Taking a work at face value, for instance, might not enable you to recognize an author’s ironic tone, and, consequently, the work may be misunderstood or misinterpreted. To determine tone, ask yourself how the piece is being treated. What kind of language is being used? Is it funny, serious, or dramatic? What is the topic of the piece? Each of these questions, working together, will reveal the tone of a work.

Word Use and Connotation

The reader can derive more from words used than their dictionary meaning, or denotation. The particular words used contribute significantly to the tone, or attitude, of a text. For instance, just as authors use different words for different audiences, they also use different words to create a different tone. Whether it be positive, negative, ironic, or humorous, the author’s choice of words has a significant effect.

Positive and Negative Connotation

One way in which an author illustrates tone is through connotation, otherwise known as the way in which a word is perceived by the reader. This is the emotional response that is paired with any word.

A word with a positive connotation illustrates a positive bias. So, the word childlike is a fairly neutral word, but youthful has quite a positive connotation, making someone think of the bright side of childhood.

On the other hand, a negative connotation creates a negative reaction from the reader and could show a negative bias. For instance, the same neutral word childlike could be replaced by immature, a word with a negative connotation.

These connotations can illustrate the author’s true feelings, even if they are trying to make it seem neutral and unbiased.

Point of View

Point of view can also greatly affect an author’s tone and bias. This is not the point of view related to perspective, such as first or second person. This point of view refers to the author’s background and relationship to the subject.

If an author has a personal connection to the subject, their tone may be different than someone who is writing about something they have no feelings or emotion toward. Similarly, a professor who specializes in a subject would write about a topic in a different way than someone who knows nothing about it. Look for hints like connotation, personal anecdotes, and details the author may share about themselves to pinpoint whether their tone is being affected by their point of view.

Attitude

Attitude is the most obvious way an author illustrates tone. Some authors try to conceal their opinion or bias and keep their piece neutral, while others are clear about their intentions and feelings regarding their subject.

For instance, an author who is making an argument and has the purpose of persuading their audience may freely express their personal opinions, use first-person pronouns, and choose words with influential connotations.