Telling fiction from non-fiction, working out a text's purpose (to inform, persuade or entertain) and its intended audience, and using book features such as contents, index, glossary and bibliography.
Where your child meets this in real life: Choosing the right book for a school project, spotting when an advert is trying to persuade you, and finding information quickly in an information book
SEAGReady breaks text types, purpose and audience into 3 steps, taught in order so each skill builds on the last.
Decide whether a text is fiction or non-fiction by checking its features: made-up characters and story language versus facts, figures and real information.
Work out why a text was written (to inform, persuade or entertain) and who it was written for, using clues in its language, layout and content.
Choose the right book feature for the job: contents (chapters in page order), index (alphabetical topics at the back), glossary (word meanings) and bibliography (sources the author used).
Read the passages below, then try these free sample questions from our text types, purpose and audience course. Every question comes with a full explanation, and hints that guide without giving the answer away.
Read the passage
Is 'Seabird City: The Cliffs of Rathlin Island' fiction or non-fiction, and how can you tell?
Answer: A. Non-fiction, because it gives real, checkable facts and figures, such as 'more than 100,000 seabirds'
The text is packed with real, checkable information: 'Around 150 people live there all year round', 'more than 100,000 seabirds crowd onto the island's western cliffs', and puffins lay 'a single egg in a burrow'. - There are no made-up characters and no story events - its job is to inform - A text with facts and figures you could check in another book is non-fiction 'Seabird City' is non-fiction.
Stuck? Start here: Does the text tell a made-up story with characters, or does it give real information?
In the book containing 'Seabird City', words printed in bold, such as 'colony' and 'burrow', are explained in one particular place. According to the passage, where?
Answer: A. in the glossary on page 47
The passage states it directly: 'words printed in bold, such as colony and burrow, are explained in the glossary on page 47'. - Glossary = word meanings - Index = where topics appear; contents = chapter list; bibliography = the author's sources The bold words are explained in the glossary on page 47.
Stuck? Start here: Find the 'Using this book' paragraph at the end of the passage.
Read the passage
What is the MAIN purpose of 'Take the Challenge at Carrick-a-Rede!'?
Answer: A. to persuade people to visit Carrick-a-Rede
The text is trying to make the reader DO something: visit. - Commands speak straight to the reader: 'Take the Challenge', 'Book online today and save 10%' - Excited, exaggerated language sells the experience: 'Breathtaking views', 'the tastiest traybakes on the north coast', 'the day out your family will never stop talking about' It slips in a few facts, but everything is arranged to persuade people to visit Carrick-a-Rede.
Stuck? Start here: Ask: what does this text want me to DO after reading it?
This is the exact interactive worked example your child sees in SEAGReady. Step through it and watch the method build up.
Read these two short texts about the same place. Text 1: 'Lough Neagh covers an area of about 392 square kilometres, making it the largest lake in the British Isles. Its waters supply almost half of Northern Ireland's drinking water.' Text 2: 'On the night of the great storm, Eimear saw a silver horse gallop across the surface of Lough Neagh, its mane streaming like spray.'
Which text is fiction and which is non-fiction? How can you tell?
Step 1 of 5
Read these two short texts about the same place. Text 1: 'Lough Neagh covers an area of about 392 square kilometres, making it the largest lake in the British Isles. Its waters supply almost half of Northern Ireland's drinking water.' Text 2: 'On the night of the great storm, Eimear saw a silver horse gallop across the surface of Lough Neagh, its mane streaming like spray.'
Which text is fiction and which is non-fiction? How can you tell?
Text 1 is non-fiction because it presents real facts and figures; Text 2 is fiction because it tells a made-up story with a character and an impossible event.
The key insight: Fiction and non-fiction can share the same setting - what matters is whether the text gives real information or tells an invented story!
Watch out: Calling Text 2 non-fiction because Lough Neagh is a real place. A real setting does not make a story true. Silver horses galloping on water and invented characters are sure signs of fiction.
These are the misconceptions we see most often in text types, purpose and audience, including the ones our practice questions are specifically designed to catch.
Struggling with text types, purpose and audience? The real gap is often in one of these earlier topics.
SEAGReady finds the exact step where your child gets stuck, teaches it with worked examples like the one above, and brings it back for review so it sticks.
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