6.3 Evaluating the Author's Point of View and Perspective
Key Takeaways
- ATI's Craft and Structure objective R.2.4 asks test-takers to evaluate the author's point of view or perspective in a given text.
- On TEAS items, point of view usually means the author's stance on the topic, which differs from grammatical person such as first, second, or third.
- An author's own view usually follows a concession pivot such as 'although,' 'however,' or 'yet,' rather than appearing in opinions the author reports from others.
- Many healthcare authors hold a qualified perspective that supports an idea with conditions, so choices claiming total support or total opposition are frequent traps.
- An author's role, such as bedside nurse, administrator, researcher, or patient, shapes which details the author emphasizes and which concerns the author treats as most important.
6.3 Evaluating the Author's Point of View and Perspective
Quick Answer: ATI's objective R.2.4 is to "evaluate the author's point of view or perspective in a given text." On most TEAS items, that means identifying the author's stance—supportive, opposed, neutral, or qualified—and the lens that shapes it (for example, a nurse's patient-safety focus or an administrator's budget focus). Separate the author's own voice from the views the author reports, read what follows concession words such as although and however, and choose answers that match the author's degree of certainty.
Two Meanings of "Point of View"
Section 6.2 covered narrative point of view—first, second, or third person. That is a question of grammar: which pronouns the writer uses. The TEAS objective goes further. An author's perspective is the position the author takes on the topic, together with the values, experiences, or professional priorities behind that position.
| Concept | Question It Answers | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Narrative point of view | Who is speaking, and which pronouns are used? | "In our unit, we…" is first person. |
| Stance | Does the author support, oppose, stay neutral, or support with conditions? | The author favors bedside shift report but warns it needs staff training. |
| Perspective (lens) | What role or values shape how the author sees the issue? | A charge nurse emphasizes workload; a patient advocate emphasizes being informed. |
A third-person passage can still carry a strong perspective. Excerpt B in Section 6.2 was written in the third person, yet its author clearly opposed rushing AI tools into emergency departments.
The Four Common Stances
- Supportive (advocating): The author endorses an idea and presents evidence for it. Signals: effective, essential, should adopt, benefits.
- Opposed (critical): The author rejects an idea or warns against it. Signals: flawed, risky, should not, fails to.
- Neutral (balanced): The author reports several positions without choosing one. Signals: some researchers…, others…, the evidence is mixed. A neutral author does not end with a recommendation.
- Qualified (conditional): The author supports an idea under certain conditions or with reservations. Signals: promising but, only if, provided that, more research is needed. Qualified stances are common in health writing, and answer choices that capture the condition are often correct.
Separating the Author's Voice from Reported Voices
Authors frequently describe other people's opinions before giving their own. Test writers then offer the reported opinion as a distractor.
- Reported-view markers: critics argue, some clinicians believe, supporters claim, according to, it has been suggested. These introduce someone else's view.
- Author's-view markers: I contend, this evidence shows, the better approach is, clearly, we should. Also watch the sentence that follows a concession.
- The concession pivot: In "Although some managers worry about the time it takes, bedside report improves safety," the author concedes the worry but holds the view after the comma. The idea after although, however, yet, but, or nevertheless usually carries the author's position.
How Role and Background Shape Perspective
Different writers looking at the same event notice different things. Suppose a hospital shortens its visiting hours:
| Writer | Likely Emphasis | Likely Concern |
|---|---|---|
| Infection-prevention nurse | Crowding and exposure risk | Patient and staff safety |
| Patient's daughter | Missed time with a parent | Emotional support and communication |
| Hospital administrator | Security staffing and consistent policy | Cost and liability |
When a question asks how an author would most likely respond to a new idea, predict from the author's established priorities. A writer who has stressed patient safety throughout will likely judge a new policy by its safety effects, not by its cost.
Worked Example
Nurse managers have long debated whether change-of-shift report should happen at the bedside. Critics argue that bedside report takes longer and risks sharing private details within earshot of roommates. Those concerns deserve attention, and units should plan private handoffs for sensitive information. Yet after our medical-surgical unit adopted bedside report, patients said they felt better informed, and nurses caught two IV pump programming errors in the first month because both nurses checked the pump together. Bedside report is worth adopting, provided that staff receive training on protecting privacy.
- Reported view: Critics say bedside report is slow and risks privacy. This is not the author's position.
- Concession: "Those concerns deserve attention" acknowledges the critics.
- Pivot and stance: After Yet, the author gives evidence for bedside report and concludes it is worth adopting provided that staff are trained. The stance is qualified support.
- Lens: "Our medical-surgical unit" signals a nurse leader's firsthand, safety-focused perspective.
Common Traps
- Borrowed-voice trap: Choosing the opinion the author reports from critics or supporters.
- Intensity trap: Choosing "strongly supports without reservation" when the author attached conditions, or "completely rejects" when the author only raised concerns.
- Neutral-versus-agreement trap: An author who fairly summarizes both sides without recommending either is neutral, not supportive.
- Outside-opinion trap: Choosing a view you hold, or a view common in health care, that the passage never expresses.
In the bedside shift report passage in this section, which statement best describes the author's point of view?
A passage states: 'Some pharmacists believe that automated dispensing cabinets have eliminated medication errors. The data tell a more complicated story: the cabinets reduce some errors but introduce new ones, such as nurses overriding alerts to retrieve medications quickly.' What is the author's perspective on automated dispensing cabinets?
Throughout a passage, an author who works as a hospice nurse emphasizes patient comfort, family presence, and honoring patients' wishes. How would this author most likely respond to a proposal to limit family visits on hospice units to two hours per day?