Authorial Intent

TEXT RESPONSE ESSAY

Notes on today’s lesson

 Looking at the topic of Text-response essay

 Choices for the exam: The Memory Police or Oedipus the King
 Whichever text you choose to write about, it is so important to discuss authorial intent. Do not forget this,
please.

 Authorial Intent is an aspect that's going to be relevant to Text Response and it's also handy to understand
for Argument Analysis!

 Please write down points that are important for you (paraphrase in your exercise book).
Authorial Intent

When we talk about authorial intent, what is really being referenced is the author’s reason for
writing their piece in the way that they have and what messages they are trying to convey.
More generally speaking:
 Why has the author made a point of telling us as readers the weather at that time?
 Why has that character been given that particular line of dialogue?
 Why have they brought in that specific tone for this part of the text?
These are all the kinds of questions that you should be asking yourself when you’re reading
through material that you have to analyse.
Views and Values

 Authorial intent is also viewed as the writer’s ‘views and values’. (We’ve gone over this in
term one)
 If you’re unsure what views and values actually mean, you can kind of think of it as though the
‘views’ are how the author sees something and the ‘values’ are how the author thinks about
something.
 Essentially, their opinions and perspectives are their views, whereas their morals and principles
are their values.
 These two elements will often be central to the overall intention behind writing their text.
Why is authorial intent important?

 Authorial intent plays a major role in your interpretation of the text; if you can’t figure out what
the intent is, you will often miss out on key points and messages throughout the text.
 If you are lucky, the author will make it really clear to you as a reader what their intent is;
however, this often is not the case.
 With That being said, whether their intent is stated or implied it doesn’t matter - there will
always be something there for you to talk about.
How To ‘Find’ Authorial Intent In The
Text: Key Identifiers To Look Out For
 If you come across a text that makes it a little bit more difficult to figure out what the author is actually
trying to say, a good place to start is to look at the context behind the piece of writing.
 Moreover, The time period the novel/play is set in is often a good indicator of what the author is saying.
The author will often be using their text as a means by which they can comment on or critique one or
more elements of that society, or perhaps as a metaphor for events that are occurring at the time the text
is/was written.
 Alternatively, they may be portraying their view about the events that actually occurred during that time.
 For example, if you have a text that is set in the Greek Mythology eras, it is likely that the author’s
message has something to do with teaching the audience the dangers of defying the will of the gods. This
is usually the case in Greek tragedy, it's the gods who ultimately call the shots and the audience should
learn from this.
Some other reasons you might consider
include:
 to highlight the importance of something
 to criticise a behaviour or mindset
 to ridicule certain actions
 to warn against something
 to discourage people from doing something
 to convey certain political messages or controversial opinions
Useful vocabulary and sentence starters

 When you come to actually putting together a paragraph, it is really important that you don’t
forget to include authorial intent at some stage (at least once per paragraph).
 A good way to double-check that you’ve incorporated authorial intent is to go back through
your paragraph and make sure that the author’s name is in there somewhere. If you’ve talked
about authorial intent you likely will have said something like:
 ‍‘In doing so, (Author) condones the (whatever it is they condone).’
General Sentence examples for
authorial intent
Write these sentence starters in your books:
 Through (example from text) AUTHOR (offers, provides, asserts) a (condemnation,
evaluation…) of (idea, theme, concept, action…)
 In doing so, AUTHOR (establishes, condemns, reveals…)
 (scene, event…) allows AUTHOR to (suggest, convey, assert,…) that…
 AUTHOR’s depiction of (character) as (courageous, morally conscious, selfish…) emphasises
their belief that…
 AUTHOR’s suggestion that… (serves as a reminder, highlights, emphasises the importance
of…)
 (Hence, thus, as a result…) AUTHOR asserts that…
Oedipus the King sentence starters for
authorial intent
 Sophocles intended to explore the complex interplay between fate and free will, demonstrating
how even the most determined efforts to avoid destiny can lead individuals directly to it.
 Through Oedipus's relentless pursuit of truth, Sophocles aimed to depict the human desire for
knowledge and the painful consequences that often accompany the discovery of hidden truths.
 The play serves as a commentary on the social and political dynamics of Sophocles’ time,
reflecting concerns about leadership, power, and the welfare of the state.
 Sophocles intended to illustrate the role of the gods and divine will in human affairs, showing how
the gods' decrees and prophecies shape the course of human events, often in ways that are beyond
human comprehension.
 The play was intended to provoke thought on moral and ethical questions, such as the nature of
justice, the consequences of one's actions, and the responsibilities of leadership.