How to Identify the Writer's Purpose for KS3 English

Every piece of writing has a purpose — the reason the writer made it. At KS3, English tasks increasingly ask you to move beyond what a text says and explain why it was written and how the writer achieves their aim. Identifying purpose accurately is the foundation of both language analysis and non-fiction writing.

What are the main types of writer's purpose?

Writers rarely have a single, simple purpose. Most non-fiction texts combine several. However, there are four main purposes that appear across KS3 and GCSE texts:

To inform: the writer wants to give the reader factual knowledge. News reports, encyclopaedia entries, and travel guides are primarily informative.

To persuade: the writer wants to change the reader's opinion or move them to action. Speeches, opinion columns, and campaign materials persuade.

To entertain: the writer wants the reader to enjoy the experience of reading. Narrative non-fiction, humorous essays, and personal memoirs often entertain.

To argue: the writer presents a case and supports it with reasoning and evidence. A letter to a newspaper or a formal essay argues.

Most sophisticated texts blend these. A charity fundraising letter informs (about the cause), persuades (to donate), and may entertain (through a compelling personal story). Your task is to identify the dominant purpose and then explain how the text achieves it.

What is the DAFOREST toolkit?

DAFOREST is a mnemonic for common language techniques used in non-fiction writing, particularly in texts that aim to persuade, argue, or inform. Each letter stands for a technique:

Letter | Technique | What it does
D | Direct Address | Speaks to the reader as "you", creating personal engagement
A | Alliteration | Repeats consonant sounds for emphasis and memorability
F | Facts | Provides verifiable information to build credibility
O | Opinions | States the writer's view to establish a position
R | Repetition | Repeats a key word or phrase to reinforce a message
E | Emotive Language | Uses words that trigger an emotional response in the reader
S | Statistics | Uses numerical data to support a claim
T | Triples (Rule of Three) | Groups ideas in threes for rhythm and persuasive force

DAFOREST is a useful scanning tool — it tells you what is in a text. But it is only a starting point. The analytical step is connecting each technique to the writer's purpose: why does this writer use direct address here, and what effect does it have on this specific reader?

How do you identify purpose from a non-fiction text?

When you first read an unfamiliar non-fiction text, ask these five questions in order:

What type of text is this? (newspaper article, letter, speech, blog, advertisement) — form often implies purpose.

Who is the intended audience? Knowing who the writer is speaking to reveals what they want from that reader.

What is the writer's tone? Angry, concerned, humorous, formal? Tone signals intent.

What techniques are present? Use DAFOREST to scan quickly.

What does the writer want the reader to do, feel, or think by the end? This is the purpose.

These questions take only a few minutes in an exam but anchor all your subsequent analysis. A writer who uses emotive language about children's poverty is almost certainly trying to persuade the reader to feel moral outrage — knowing that frames everything else you notice.

How do purpose, audience, and form work together?

Purpose, audience, and form are inseparable. Skilled writers choose:

Form to suit the context (a formal letter for a serious complaint; a blog post for a personal opinion)

Register and tone to suit the audience (informal and inclusive for young readers; authoritative and technical for a professional audience)

Techniques to serve the purpose (statistics for credibility when informing; emotive language for impact when persuading)

When you analyse a text, always consider all three together. A political speech uses direct address ("we", "you") to create a sense of shared purpose with a crowd; a medical information leaflet avoids emotive language and uses facts and statistics to build trust. Each choice is purposeful.

How to write about writer's purpose in an analytical paragraph

Avoid the weakest response: "The writer uses emotive language to make the reader feel emotional." This is circular — it says nothing about purpose or effect.

A stronger approach names the technique, connects it to purpose, and specifies the effect on this particular audience:

Worked example: The writer uses the statistic "one in four children in the UK lives in poverty" to establish credibility with an audience who may be sceptical. By grounding the argument in verifiable data, the writer shifts from personal opinion to observable fact, making it harder for the reader to dismiss the claim. The purpose here is to persuade through reason before appealing to emotion — a deliberate sequencing that makes the emotional language in the following paragraph land harder.

Notice that this paragraph names the technique (statistic), explains what it does (builds credibility), specifies the audience's likely response (reduces scepticism), and identifies the purpose (persuade through reason first).

Frequently asked questions

What is the difference between purpose and effect?

Purpose is the writer's intention — what they set out to achieve. Effect is what actually happens in the reader. These usually align, but they are not identical. A persuasive essay intends to convince; a reader who finds it unconvincing has not been affected as the writer intended. In your analysis, write about both: "The writer intends to persuade the reader to... and achieves this by..."

How do I write about purpose if the text has more than one?

Acknowledge both purposes and explain how they work together. "The text primarily aims to persuade the reader to support animal welfare legislation, but it also entertains through humorous anecdotes, which makes the serious argument more palatable to a general audience." Identifying a blended purpose and explaining the interaction earns more marks than treating purpose as always singular.

Is DAFOREST only for KS3?

DAFOREST is most commonly taught at KS3 to build a vocabulary for language analysis. At GCSE, you are expected to go beyond labelling DAFOREST techniques and analyse how specific language choices interact with purpose and audience. The framework is a scaffold to remove once you are confident, not a permanent structure.

Can fiction texts have a purpose beyond telling a story?

Yes. Most literary fiction has purposes beyond entertainment. A novel may aim to challenge a social assumption, to build empathy for a marginalised group, or to explore a philosophical idea. These broader purposes are most visible in the themes a writer returns to repeatedly, the character outcomes they choose, and the emotions they generate in the reader at the climax or resolution.

Professor Quill teaches you to read between the lines rather than giving you conclusions ready-made. Visit aitutors.me.