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Understanding a Message's Subject and Purpose
To view this video, visit https://www.youtube.com/embed/Zxgq2v2Tai0?rel=0&showinfo=0.
All messages are about something (the subject) and are trying to do something (the purpose). Whether you are reading an article, watching a commercial, or listening to a speech, you should think about the subject of the message and its purpose. Watch this video to understand how you can analyze any message.
Your Turn Analyze a message. Think of a message that you are currently studying. It might be a page in your textbook, or a story that you have read, or even the video you just watched. Analyze the message by answering these questions:
- What is the message about (its subject)?
- What was the original sender trying to do with the message (its purpose)?
- Can you trust this message based on its subject and purpose?
- Is the message now being used by another sender for a different reason? (For example, does your teacher have a different reason for presenting this than the original sender?) If so, what is the new purpose?
- If you showed this message to someone else, what would be your purpose?
Understanding a Message's Subject and Purpose by Thoughtful Learning is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
Based on a work at k12.thoughtfullearning.com/minilesson/understanding-messages-subject-and-purpose.