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Home · KS3 · iLowerSecondary English · Reading skills · Purpose & viewpoint (RAO5)
RAO5 asks you to consider writers' purposes and viewpoints, and the overall effect of the text on the reader. It is one of the most heavily weighted reading objectives on the paper, and it is the skill behind two short questions every candidate must answer well. This masterclass shows you how to spot a writer’s purpose, track viewpoint across a whole text, and write answers that match the Pearson mark scheme.
The objective
Consider writers' purposes and viewpoints, and the overall effect of the text on the reader.
Qualification weighting
15.7% of the whole qualification - among the largest single reading weightings.
Content skill 1.4 - Identifying and exploring the writer's intention and viewpoint
In plain English: the examiner wants proof that you have worked out why the writer wrote the text, what attitude they hold towards the subject, and how the text is designed to land on you, the reader. It is not enough to copy out the writer’s words - you must explain the thinking behind them.
Every non-fiction text in Section A is written to do one main job. The five purposes you will meet are below, each with the signposting language that gives the game away. Most real texts mix purposes - name the dominant one.
To put forward one side of a debate and win the reader round to a position.
Signposting language
Tell-tale: A consistent, one-sided stance. The writer wants you to end up agreeing, not just informed.
To create a vivid picture so the reader can imagine a place, person or moment.
Signposting language
Tell-tale: You could draw the scene afterwards. Mood matters more than facts or instructions.
To make a process, idea or reason clear - answering "how?" or "why?"
Signposting language
Tell-tale: After reading you understand a process or reason - not just a list of facts.
To give the reader accurate facts and information about a subject.
Signposting language
Tell-tale: Mostly verifiable facts. Remove the opinions and almost nothing changes.
To move the reader towards an action, choice or feeling.
Signposting language
Tell-tale: You are nudged to do or buy or believe something. Feeling is targeted, not just thought.
Purpose is what the text is for; viewpoint is the writer’s attitude towards the subject. Viewpoint is rarely stated in one sentence - it builds across the whole text, so you must read for the pattern, not a single line.
Viewpoint
The writer’s stance: are they for or against the subject, warmly attached to it, or coolly detached? Look at which ideas are given most space and which words carry approval or disapproval.
Bias
A one-sided selection. Ask what evidence has been left out, whether opposing views are dismissed quickly, and whether the language is loaded rather than neutral.
Tone
The "voice" you hear: urgent, admiring, critical, ironic, measured. Tone can shift - track it at the start, the middle and the end to read viewpoint accurately.
Toolkit
Run any unseen text through these eight clues. Two or three pointing the same way is usually enough to name the purpose and viewpoint with confidence.
Two short open-response questions test this objective directly. Knowing exactly where each mark comes from is the difference between one mark and two.
Assesses RAO5 · Short open response.
Explain the deeper meaning and the effect on the reader. Avoid lifting the words directly from the text without explanation - the mark scheme does not credit unexplained lifts.
Assesses RAO4 + RAO5 · Short open response.
One mark for a reasonable explanation of preference and one mark for appropriate textual evidence that supports it.
Mark 1 + Mark 2 - meaning / impact
One mark for explaining the deeper meaning behind the words; one mark for the effect on the reader. An unexplained lift of the writer’s words earns nothing - you must add the thinking.
Mark 1 + Mark 2 - which text is more appealing
One mark for a reasonable explanation of your preference; one mark for appropriate textual evidence. There is no "right" text - both choices are creditable if the reason and evidence hold up.
RAO5 answers reward precise words for what a text does to its reader. Reach past "interesting" and "good" for the vocabulary below.
Makes the reader think
challenges, provokes, questions, persuades, convinces, reassures, informs, clarifies, alerts
Makes the reader feel
sympathy, outrage, alarm, nostalgia, admiration, unease, pity, urgency, guilt, hope
Describing the writer’s tone
critical, admiring, ironic, urgent, measured, sceptical, affectionate, indignant, detached, playful
Describing the overall effect
engaging, compelling, moving, unsettling, balanced, one-sided, vivid, authoritative, alarming, uplifting
Three short original extracts about the same subject, each written for a different purpose and viewpoint, with an exam- style question and a model answer marked in Pearson style. These texts are original works written for this page.
From a town council information leaflet (purpose: inform)
The new river path opened in March. It runs for two kilometres between the old mill and the railway bridge, and is surfaced for wheelchairs and pushchairs. The path is lit until ten o’clock each evening. Dogs are welcome if kept on a lead. A small car park with twelve spaces sits at the mill end; the nearest bus stop is on Bridge Road, a four-minute walk away.
Viewpoint & tone: Neutral and impersonal. The writer stays out of the way and lets the facts speak.
Exam-style question · 2 marks · RAO5
The writer says the path "is surfaced for wheelchairs and pushchairs". What did the writer mean by including this detail, and what is its effect on the reader? (2 marks)
Model answer
The writer means the path has a smooth, hard surface chosen so that wheels do not sink or get stuck, so people who use wheelchairs or push prams can use it easily (1 mark - explains the deeper meaning, not just a lift). The effect is that the reader sees the path as welcoming and open to everyone, which reassures families and disabled visitors that it has been planned with them in mind (1 mark - effect on the reader).
How the marks are awarded
This is the RAO5 "What did the writer mean / impact" item: 1 mark for explaining the deeper meaning (an unexplained copy of the words scores nothing), 1 mark for the effect on the reader.
From a campaign blog post (purpose: persuade / argue)
Picture your last walk by the river. Now picture it lined with discarded bottles, the reeds choking on plastic. This is not a distant problem - it is happening on your doorstep, today. Every bag you carry home, every litter pick you join, turns the tide a little. Surely none of us wants to hand our children a poisoned river. Give one Saturday morning this month. The river cannot wait, and neither should you.
Viewpoint & tone: Strongly one-sided. The writer is committed to the cause and wants the reader to act, using "you", emotive words and a closing call to action.
Exam-style question · 2 marks · RAO5
How does the writer try to influence the reader in this extract? Explain the writer’s viewpoint and its effect. (2 marks)
Model answer
The writer’s viewpoint is that river pollution is an urgent local crisis that every reader is personally responsible for solving (1 mark - identifies the viewpoint across the text, not one phrase). The effect is achieved through direct address ("your", "you") and the emotive image of children inheriting a "poisoned river", which makes the reader feel guilt and urgency and so more likely to volunteer (1 mark - effect on the reader linked to method).
How the marks are awarded
Viewpoint is judged across the whole extract: the steady one-sided stance plus the final call to action ("Give one Saturday") confirms a persuasive purpose, not a neutral one.
From a memoir (purpose: describe, with a personal viewpoint)
The river of my childhood was brown and slow and smelled of cut grass and diesel. On hot afternoons we lay on the warm planks of the jetty until the wood stuck to our skin, and watched the heron stand so still it might have been carved. Nothing happened there, and that was the point. The river kept its own unhurried time, and for one long summer it lent that time to us.
Viewpoint & tone: Affectionate and nostalgic. The writer looks back fondly; the tone is warm and the detail sensory rather than factual.
Exam-style question · 2 marks · RAO4 + RAO5
Texts B and C both describe a river. Which text do you find more appealing? Give one piece of evidence to support your choice. (2 marks)
Model answer
I find Text C more appealing because its calm, sensory description ("we lay on the warm planks of the jetty until the wood stuck to our skin") lets me picture and almost feel the lazy summer scene, which is more enjoyable to read than Text B’s pressure to act (1 mark - reasonable explanation of preference; 1 mark - appropriate textual evidence). [A choice of Text B, justified with its own evidence such as the emotive image of a "poisoned river", is equally creditable.]
How the marks are awarded
The RAO5 "which text is more appealing" item: 1 mark for a reasonable explanation of the preference and 1 mark for appropriate evidence. Either text can be chosen - the marks are for the quality of the reason and the evidence, not which one is picked.