author's purpose strand teks talk image

Knowledge and Skills Statement

Author's purpose and craft: listening, speaking, reading, writing, and thinking using multiple texts. The student uses critical inquiry to analyze the authors' choices and how they influence and communicate meaning within a variety of texts. The student analyzes and applies author's craft purposefully in order to develop his or her own products and performances.

Provide students with a text written by Dr. Seuss and have students identify and discuss the distinctive language used in the text that contributes to voice.

Further Explanation

This assessment example requires students to identify and discuss how the use of language in a Dr. Seuss book contributes to voice (the distinct personality of a writing). The writing of Dr. Seuss has a recognizable, distinct personality that is evident to readers. His signature style of writing using rhythm, rhyme, and the creation of his own words provides rich examples of writing that sounds unique, makes readers feel silly, and comes alive. All of these elements contribute to voice.

Voice refers to the distinctive way in which a writer expresses ideas with respect to style, form, content, or purpose. Students are expected to examine (orally or in writing) how an author uses language to help create the voice of a written work. For example, an author’s use of literary devices, such as hyperbole or rhyme, determines the voice conveyed in a piece of writing. An example of this distinctive feature would be the rhythmic, whimsical voice of Dr. Seuss.