Author's Purpose - with Kaplan

[jpveedubs]

I've taught many lessons in the past about "author's purpose", which I've classically done with "inform", "persuade", and "entertain". Looking at Kaplan's ACT test prep material, however, they list "explore", "contrast", "analyze", and "compare/contrast".

I know how I would explain "contrast" and "compare/contrast" (although who knows why those are listed separately) to students, but "explore" and "analyze" seem to be far more broad terms than the others. How might you best describe these terms as "author's purpose", without sounding just-as-general?

[Charles Darnay]

explore and analyze build on each other. Explore is the "what"- what from the text strike you as (x), or what in the text can point to the author's purpose? Analyze is the "how" - how does that piece of text help us understand author's purpose.

This second model, when compared to your first, takes the approach that we cannot know for certain an author's approach, and far more important than the certainty is the reader's ability to extrapolate based on the only material he has: the text.