how does the structure of “stopping sharks by blasting their senses” help the reader determine...
TRANSCRIPT
How does the structure of “Stopping Sharks by Blasting their Senses” help the reader determine the author’s purpose?
In this lesson you will learn how to determine an author’s purpose by
analyzing the function of each section of the text.
Let’s Review
• Article by Joseph Caputo
• Informational Text
• Eric Stroud’s research about repelling sharks
Let’s Review
chronological
comparison cause & effect
problem & solution?
Text structure is how information in text is organized.
Let’s Review
Main Idea – what a text is mostly about
Core Lesson
Jot down the main idea of each paragraph in the text.1
2Ask, “Why did the author present the information in this way?”
3Add the parts together to determine the author’s purpose for writing.
Core Lesson
How does the structure of “Stopping Sharks by Blasting their Senses” help the reader determine the author’s purpose?
Conservationists also want to keep dogfish from being caught. In the Northeast Atlantic, dogfish are critically endangered, meaning that stocks have decreased by at least 95 percent in the past 20 years. The cause of this population decline is unknown, but it’s likely a combination of accidental and intentional overfishing. The repellents Stroud is developing could aid dogfish, as well as the approximately 12 million sharks worldwide that are unintentionally caught as bycatch every year. Shark populations don’t recover quickly; the animals mature slowly and don’t have many offspring.
Core LessonFishermen from Maine to South Carolina don’t intend to catch the spiny dogfish, but the small, bottom-feeding shark frequently gets swept up in trawling nets and caught in fishing lines. “It just wrecks everything,” says Glen Libby, president of the Midcoast Fishermen’s Cooperative in Maine. “Your fish look like they’ve been through a food processor,” especially after rubbing in the nets against the dogfish’s sandpaper-like skin. Dogfish aren't very profitable, either: something about the bladderless shark’s strong taste just doesn’t appeal to the American palate. … “I think some sort of repellent would be helpful,” Libby says.
Many fishermen are accidentally catching sharks, and they’re not happy about it.
What is this paragraph
mostly about?
Core Lesson
Conservationists also want to keep dogfish from being caught. In the Northeast Atlantic, dogfish are critically endangered, meaning that stocks have decreased by at least 95 percent in the past 20 years. The cause of this population decline is unknown, but it’s likely a combination of accidental and intentional overfishing. The repellents Stroud is developing could aid dogfish, as well as the approximately 12 million sharks worldwide that are unintentionally caught as bycatch every year. Shark populations don’t recover quickly; the animals mature slowly and don’t have many offspring.
• Dogfish are endangered
• Lots of sharks caught yearly
• Stroud’s repellents could help prevent sharks from being caught
Core Lesson
Conservationists also want to keep dogfish from being caught. In the Northeast Atlantic, dogfish are critically endangered, meaning that stocks have decreased by at least 95 percent in the past 20 years. The cause of this population decline is unknown, but it’s likely a combination of accidental and intentional overfishing. The repellents Stroud is developing could aid dogfish, as well as the approximately 12 million sharks worldwide that are unintentionally caught as bycatch every year. Shark populations don’t recover quickly; the animals mature slowly and don’t have many offspring.
What is this paragraph
mostly about?
Overfishing is hurting shark populations, and Stroud is working to help solve this problem.
Core Lesson
Many fishermen are accidentally catching sharks, and they’re not happy about it.
Overfishing is hurting shark populations, and Stroud is working to help solve this problem.
Problem Problem & Solution
Core Lesson
Ask yourself, “Why did the author present the information in this way?”
Is he persuading me to do
something?Is he going to tell me a story?
Is he giving me information?
Core Lesson
Add it together.
Many fishermen are accidentally catching sharks, and they’re not happy about it.
Overfishing is hurting shark populations, and Stroud is working to help solve this problem.
+
Core Lesson
Answer the question: “Why did the author present the information in this way?”
Aha! The author’s purpose is to
inform.
Core Lesson
How does the structure of “Stopping Sharks by Blasting their Senses” help the reader determine the author’s purpose?
The structure leads us to determine that the author’s purpose is to inform readers about the problem of shark bycatch and a possible solution that Eric Stroud is developing.
Core Lesson
Jot down the main idea of each paragraph in the text.1
2Ask, “Why did the author present the information in this way?”
3Add the parts together to determine the author’s purpose for writing.
In this lesson you have learned how to determine an author’s
purpose by analyzing the function of each section of the
text.