Should I Join TikTok? (And Real-Life Examples of How to Identify Author's Purpose)

I am the only person in the world who is not on TikTok. Or at least it feels like it. And sometimes I wonder if I’m missing out.

So I’ve been researching whether TikTok is worth my time. And all of my reading has had a surprising benefit (you know, beyond introducing me to hypnotic food videos): it’s a real-life study in author’s purpose.

What is Author’s Purpose?

Author’s purpose is simply the author’s reason for writing a text. It is commonly divided into three categories: persuade, inform, and entertain. They spell out the tasty acronym PIE.

Texts that persuade try to convince the reader of something. Opinion pieces, editorials, reviews, and advertisements are all persuasive texts.

Texts that inform give the reader information. Common examples include news articles, how-to articles, and most textbooks.

Texts that entertain simply want the reader to enjoy reading. Novels and comic books fit in this category.

Author’s Purpose Examples in Real Life

While I’m solving the mystery of whether I should join TikTok, the types of articles I read also fit into these three categories.

Take “TikTok tops Google as the most visited site on the Internet.” From the title, we might already suspect that this article is going to inform— it’s giving us evidence of TikTok’s popularity but not trying to convince us of anything. As we read further into the article, the informing continues. We learn about the founding of TikTok, its ranking compared to other websites and social media apps, and some of its criticisms. But even though the article mentions those potential downsides, it does not try to convince us to act in a particular way.

Contrast that with the article titled “TikTok is the best place on the Internet. We should all delete it.” This article is very clearly meant to persuade. If you click through the article, you’ll notice that the author walks through multiple arguments for why TikTok is not great, primarily because of its potential privacy concerns and censorship. Even the title alone could definitely have clued us in to the author’s persuasive purpose.

Then there are those resources that don’t make me feel like I’m researching because they’re just plain fun to read (er, watch). Watching the bones/no bones dog? Or Ryan Reynolds and Will Ferrell’s Grace Kelly duet? Or weirdly mesmerizing rug cleaning videos? Definitely meant to entertain (and they’re succeeding).  

How to Identify Author’s Purpose on the SSAT Reading Section

Now here’s how this knowledge translates to the SSAT.

After you finish reading a text, jot down the main idea using our formula “topic + so what.” (Review that here if you’re unfamiliar.) You should do this for every passage, whether you encounter an author’s purpose question or not!

Then move on to the questions. When you see an author’s purpose question, decide whether the text you just read is persuading, informing, or entertaining. Do this before you even read the answer choices! You’ll keep yourself from getting distracted by answers that sound impressive but aren’t correct.

Now finally, check out the answer choices. The first word in the answer choice will likely be a verb. Is it a synonym for persuade, inform, or entertain? If the first word is not in the same category as the passage, eliminate it. Then use your “topic + so what” to verify that the rest of the answer is correct.

Author’s Purpose Practice

Let’s try it out!

Check out “Is TikTok safe? Here’s what you need to know.” 

Once you’re done reading, let’s identify the main idea. This article seems to explore different perspectives on the possible security risks of TikTok. So our topic + so what might be something like TikTok’s security risks + mostly aren’t worrisome.

What is the purpose?

Now, let’s determine the purpose. Is this persuading, informing, or entertaining?

We can rule out entertaining right away—people likely aren’t seeking out this article solely for enjoyment. Then it’s a tough choice between persuading and informing! Overall, though, it doesn’t seem like the author presents us with one overarching, controversial viewpoint. The article considers multiple angles and summarizes multiple opinions from experts without trying to convince readers to do or believe one thing. That means it’s likely meant to inform.

Given that information, if you saw this question, which answer would match best?

The passage’s purpose is most likely to

a. Convince readers to lobby for banning TikTok

b. Educate readers on the perils of social media use

c. Advocate for increased privacy measures for TikTok users

d. Describe TikTok’s adverse effects on attention span

e. Report the relative insignificance of TikTok’s safety violations

What do you think?

Well, we can eliminate A and C because those both “convince” and “advocate” are synonyms to persuade, not inform. D can be eliminated because it’s off-topic; this passage doesn’t discuss attention span. Between B and E, B is a bit more general. It discusses social media use in general, not TikTok specifically. That leaves us with E as the stronger answer: “report” is a fine synonym to inform, and “relative insignificance of TikTok’s safety violations” roughly matches “TikTok’s security risks + mostly aren’t worrisome.”

SSAT Practice Questions with Author’s Tone

Now let’s try this out on an SSAT-style practice passage. Read this passage, then proceed to the question.

Upon this a question arises: whether it be better to be loved than feared or feared than loved? It may be answered that one should wish to be both, but, because it is difficult to unite them in one person, it is much safer to be feared than loved, when, of the two, either must be dispensed with. Because this is to be asserted in general of men, that  they are ungrateful, fickle, false, cowardly, covetous, and as long as you succeed they are yours entirely; they will offer you their blood, property, life, and children, as is said above, when the need is far distant; but when it approaches they turn against you. And that prince who, relying entirely on their promises, has neglected other precautions, is ruined; because friendships that are obtained by payments, and not by greatness or nobility of mind, may indeed be earned, but they are not secured, and in time of need cannot be relied upon; and men have less scruple in offending one who is beloved than one who is feared, for love is preserved by the link of obligation which, owing to the baseness of men, is broken at every opportunity for their advantage; but fear preserves you by a dread of punishment which never fails.

The primary purpose of the passage is to

a. Detail how the author believes a successful ruler should behave

b. Advise rulers on how to ensure a long reign

c. Encourage citizens to fear their rulers

d. Facilitate communication between rulers and subjects

e. Illuminate the complications of monarchy

What do you think? When you’re ready to check your answer, scroll down to the very bottom of the page for the answer and explanation.

If you’d like to see this process in action or try out another practice passage, check out our Author’s Purpose Youtube video! We’ll walk through an SSAT-style passage and break down this type of question together.

Answer: The best answer to the SSAT practice question is A. This passage is persuading, and its main idea might be something like rulers + feared over loved. “Detail” means to walk through in depth. While it’s often used as a synonym to inform, in this case, the author is walking through his assertion in depth, so it still fits. “How a successful ruler should behave” summarizes the idea that a ruler should be feared rather than loved.

The Prince by Niccolo Machiavelli is in the public domain