Kolby's Case Study

Introduction – 45 to 60 seconds

Audio

Kolby is determined to convince his parents to change his weekday curfew from 6:30pm to 8:00pm.

If he gets his wish, he will be able to join a sports club that meets daily throughout the week.

In order to provide a convincing argument, Kolby wrote down a list of reasons why joining the club would help him excel in athletics.

He also wrote down how responsible he’s been when it comes to keeping up with his chores and helping out around the house.

Kolby is hoping that his persuasive letter will convince his parents to side with him and allow him to join the sports club.

Usually, when we write, it is for a reason. In Kolby’s case, he is writing to persuade his parents to change his curfew.

Other reasons why authors write is to inform or entertain. The acronym P.I.E. is a good way to remember this.

Next time you read a text, think about the author’s purpose and try to identify the reason why the author wrote the text.

Build on Introduction – 25 to 35 seconds

Keisha is an aspiring writer. Ever since she was in preschool, she loved to tell stories.

One day Keisha shared one of her made up stories with her grandfather, who enjoyed it so much he told her that she should write them down.

Keisha spent that summer writing down all of her humorous stories and sharing them with friends. The primary purpose of Keisha’s writing is to entertain others.

There are three reasons why authors write. It is usually to persuade, inform, or entertain. These reasons can be remembered by using the acronym P.I.E.

Build on Clip B – 25 to 35 seconds

Audio

Keisha discovered that one of her stories is far more popular than the others. It is a story about a girl overcoming the bullies at her school.

At first the girl was saddened by the harsh words of her bullies, but that sadness didn’t last

long.
Soon that sadness turned to anger and the girl launched a school wide anti-bullying campaign.
This story is told from the perspective of the girl being bullied, but it can also be told from the bully’s perspective as well.
The perspective from which a story is told is known as the author’s point of view. Point of view can alter how you perceive the events in the story.

Build on Clip C – 25 to 35 seconds
Audio
Keisha’s first version of the story about the girl being bullied at school was told from the perspective of the girl. It was written in first person point of view.
She wanted to tell the same story and include the thoughts of the bullies as well. She wrote a revised version of the story in third person point of view.
When you shift point of view, you shift the viewpoint from which the story is being told.

First person, second person, and third person, are the three main point of views.
If you choose to write in the third person point of view, you can talk about a topic from an outsider’s point of view. This can be great for many different types of writing!

Remediation for Clip A – 25 to 35 seconds
Audio
Nadine is taking a test on identifying the author’s purpose to entertain. She has three items to choose from.
The first item is a pop culture magazine. This magazine features articles about the lives of movie and music stars.
The second item is the local newspaper. It is filled with articles regarding recent events that occurred in town.
The last item is a letter to voters urging them to vote for a specific presidential candidate in the upcoming election.
As Nadine looked for the author’s purpose she tried to determine why the author would write each one of these texts.

She chose the magazine as having the purpose of entertainment.

Remediation for Clip B – 25 to 35 seconds
Audio
Tony is making study notes for his upcoming English exam. The exam is about finding the author’s purpose for writing a text.
In his notes he likes to include drawings to help him remember concepts. Sometimes he include song lyrics as well.
When it came to finding the author’s purpose, he drew a picture of a slice of pie.
He knew that author’s usually write to persuade, inform, or entertain. By using the acronym P.I.E. he could easily remember this concept.

Remediation for Clip C – 25 to 35 seconds
Audio
Hillary enjoys reading and writing. Just for fun she likes retelling dramatic stories from a differing point of view.
For example, she altered a story about a girl who didn’t get along with her mother. The story was originally told from the first person perspective of the daughter.
She changed it to third person to include the thoughts and feelings of the mother as well.
By shifting the perspective, readers are able to empathize with both characters.

Remediation for Clip D – 25 to 35 seconds
Audio
Margaret is taking a creative writing course and she has just received her first assignment.
For homework, she is to write a story about an embarrassing event. The story should include multiple perspectives, and engage the reader.
Before she began writing she had to decide whether she would write from the first, second, or third person point of view.
After some thought, she decided that writing from the third person point of view would enable her to include multiple perspective, and she started writing.