在作文中，“目的”一词指的是一个人写作的原因，如告知、娱乐、解释或说服。也称为目的或写作目的。

米切尔·艾弗斯说：“成功地确定一个目标需要定义、重新定义并不断澄清你的目标。”。“这是一个持续的过程，写作行为可以改变你最初的目的”（兰登书屋优秀写作指南，1993）。

实例和意见

• Lee Clark Johns作家经常混淆他们的商业目的（或要解决的问题）和写作目的。商业目的是他们正在解决的问题；写作目的就是他们为什么要写这份文件。如果他们只关注商业目的，他们很容易落入讲述所发生事情的陷阱。读者通常想知道你学到了什么，而不是你做了什么。

回答有关目的的问题

• Joy Wingersky作为一名作家，你必须决定你的写作目的，并将你的观点与目的相匹配。你想听起来更权威还是更个人化？你想通知还是招待？你想保持距离还是接近你的读者？你想听起来更正式还是更非正式？回答这些问题将决定你的观点，并让你更好地控制写作情况。

七个目的

• John Seely我们使用语言的目的多种多样，包括交流信息和想法，当我们说话或写作时，思考我们的主要目的是什么是很有帮助的：

To Interact An important function of language is to help us get on with other people, to interact. . . . This kind of language use is sometimes referred to--dismissively--as small talk. . . . Yet interacting with others forms an important part of most people's lives and the ability to talk to people one does not know . . . is a valuable social skill. To Inform Every day of our lives we communicate information and ideas to other people. . . . Writing or speaking to inform needs to be clear and this means not only knowing the facts, but also being aware of the needs of your audience. To Find Out Not only do we use language to inform, we also use it to find out information. The ability to ask questions and then follow them up with further enquiries is very important in both work and leisure. . . . To Influence Whether I look at life as a private individual, as a worker, or as a citizen, it is important that I should be aware of when others are trying to influence me, and of how they are trying to do it. . . . To Regulate Advertisers and politicians may try to persuade us of the rightness of a particular course of action; kegislators tell us what to do. They use language to regulate our actions. . . . To Entertain Fortunately language isn't all work. There is also play. And the playful use of language is both important and widespread. . . . To Record The previous six purposes all presuppose an audience other than the speaker or writer. There is one use, however, that does not. It is predominately a purpose for writing, although it can be spoken. In many different situations we need to make a record of something . . . so that it is not forgotten.

分析性文章的目的

• Robert DiYanni和Pat C.Hoy II撰写分析性文章的目的各不相同，但主要是这些文章让读者有机会看到你作为起草工作的一部分所做的严格分析工作的结果。这项工作通常依赖于对某种文本的批判性阅读、提问和解释。阅读、提问和解释的过程在分析性文章中不如在探索性文章中那么明显，但这一过程通过你在所阅读的文本和你对该文本所说的话之间、在你的证据和你的主张之间建立关系的方式间接地反映出来。

与读者交流

• 伊洛娜·莱基在最近的写作教学中，写作目的已成为一个中心焦点。例如，许多教室现在都有未经评估的写作日志，学生可以在这些日志中自由探索自己感兴趣的主题，并从中选择条目以形成完整的论文（布兰顿，1987年；斯帕克和萨多，1983年）。以这种方式选择主题进行写作有助于确保写作的内在动机，这可能导致对任务的承诺，而这反过来又被认为有助于写作和语言的提高。但是，就某一特定主题写作的直接目的既不是语言，也不是写作水平的提高。相反，这是一个更自然的目的，即与读者交流对作者个人有意义的事情。