Which term focuses on hints like tone and word choice that reveal the author's purpose?

• A. Audience
• B. Textual Clues
• C. To Explain
• D. Genre

Answer: (B)

Clues in the text—the hints readers use to infer why the author wrote it. Textual clues are the signals embedded in tone, word choice, and how details are presented that reveal the author’s purpose. When the author chooses a formal or informal tone, or selects vivid or loaded words, those choices point to whether the aim is to persuade, inform, or entertain. So this term is the best fit because it directly names the hints within the writing that expose why the author created the piece.

The option describing the audience refers to who the text is intended for, not the cues within the writing. The genre category labels what kind of text it is (fiction, nonfiction, etc.), not the signals about purpose. And a phrase like “to explain” describes a purpose, not a label for the cues that reveal that purpose.