Sorting Exploration Writing by Its Purpose

The idea

Exam questions about early writing are answered from purpose more reliably than from content, and four purposes cover the field. A document written to a patron reports and justifies, so it emphasizes what was found and explains what went wrong, as Columbus's reports do. A document written to attract settlers promotes, so it lists resources and minimizes danger. A document written to defend the writer argues, and Smith's accounts of his own exploits belong here, which is why they grew more dramatic with each retelling. A document written to persuade a people to act exhorts, and Pontiac's speech is the example, built from a vision rather than from evidence. Ask who paid for the writing, who was meant to read it, and what the reader was meant to do.