IXL | Identify the author's purpose and message

Read the text.

If you could walk inside a beehive, you'd see the little hexagonal cells that form its waxy walls. But bees don't actually carve these hexagons. They start by creating wax from special organs in their bodies. Then, their body heat melts the wax, allowing the bees to shape it into circles.

Then, something amazing happens. As the temperature cools, the circles harden into perfect hexagons! Scientists aren't sure whether the hexagons form naturally or if bees influence the final shape. This process uses very little wax to create a strong honeycomb. And the final product has lots of room to store honey.

Bees are talented engineers that can solve tricky construction problems without tools.

What is the author's purpose and main message in this text?

The author wants to inform readers about how bees build honeycombs using wax and heat.

The author wants to entertain readers with a description of the inside of a beehive.

The author wants to entertain readers with details about the daily lives of bees.

The author wants to inform readers about the ways that bees are unique from other insects.

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Learn with an example

question

Read the text.

After being away for a week, Sage was excited to return to the school garden. She'd been named Head Gardener and had worked hard to keep everything healthy and green. But as soon as she walked up to the wooden fence, she knew something was wrong.

The gate creaked open, sounding like something out of a haunted house.

Sage felt her knees buckle. Tomato vines drooped sadly, rose petals were crisp and dry, and the overgrown lettuce towered over some of the bushes!

Sage gathered her classmates and explained the importance of regular watering and fertilizing. Some plants also needed cutting back. They worked together all week during lunch and recess. Soon, the garden was healthy and blooming again, and Sage couldn't wait to see what they'd grow next!

What is the author's purpose and main message in this text?

The author wants to inform readers how schools can start a vegetable and flower garden.

The author wants to inform readers about ways to take responsibility and show leadership through gardening.

The author wants to entertain readers with a story about how working together can fix a problem.

The author wants to entertain readers with a story about how being a leader at school means making good choices.

key idea

Authors write for different

purposes,

or reasons. The most common purposes are to inform, to persuade, or to entertain.

To inform: An author gives facts or information about a topic.

Example: Most of the Earth's surface is covered by water. Oceans take up around seventy percent of the planet's surface.
These sentences teach readers factual information about the Earth.

To persuade: An author tries to convince readers to believe or do something.

Example: Basketball is the most exciting sport to watch because of the fast action and talented players.
This sentence tries to convince readers that basketball is exciting.

To entertain: An author tells a story to capture the reader's interest or imagination.

Example: Maria held her breath as she twisted the key into the dusty trunk and slowly opened it.
This sentence tells a story. The purpose is to interest the reader or capture their attention.

The author's main message is the key idea or point the author wants readers to understand.

For example, if a text tries to persuade readers to adopt dogs, the message might be that dogs make great

pets.

solution

Think about these details in the text:

After a week away, Sage feels disappointed to see that the school garden is starting to wither.
Sage teaches her classmates that they need to regularly water, fertilize, and cut back the plants in the garden.
Sage and her class work together to rebuild the garden.

These details tell an exciting fiction story about fixing a garden, so you can infer that the author's purpose is to entertain the reader.

Taken together, these details suggest that the author's main message is that working together can fix a problem.

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D.New!Identify the author's purpose and message

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