Who is the author, and why does it matter?

Authors are artists of words. They bring their own style of writing to the world in hopes of becoming a well known written story teller. But that doesn't necessarily mean all authors are good word artists. Some have strengths that others lack, and some seem so near perfection all you can do is build off their work. But like every other kind artist on this planet, word artists have their own individual tone and style. A picture painted by one painter is never exactly the same painting as when created by another painter. This statement holds true for authors as well. Every author is a little different and who the author of a text is, greatly effects what the audience will grasp from reading.


People who write books, poems, plays, and even essays all have a very distinctive voice that can be created only by them. So whomever the author is and the past experiences they have had greatly effect the meaning the audience can get from reading a piece writing. Take for example a very well written essay about the migrational habits of blue crabs. If the audience knew the author of this essay was a middle aged man from Montana with no known background in marine biology, they wouldn't give too much respect to his essay. But say the author was instead a nobel peace prize winning marine biologist who specifically studies the migrational habits of blue crabs, you might say that this essay carries a lot more weight. And by weight I mean logos. So in this case, an author with a well rounded knowledge of the subject is taken more seriously. This by no means tells us that the middle aged man from Montana did not do his research and wrote a correct essay, but instead it tells us that who the author is really effects how the piece is received.

When reading any kind of literature, the author must be taken into consideration. Because his or her own style, tone, and logos (credibility) effects the kind of reaction you will have. Being credible is one way of gaining readers' respect, but another is relatability or ethos. Does the author's character or attitude match up with the subject they are writing about? And how will their ethos effect the way something is written? If an atheist author is writing about God and Jesus, his piece would probably be received as satire or comedy. That author's ethos would cause his book to not be taken seriously, unlike if a Priest had written it. But a reader who had not known who the author was might not get the full meaning of the work and understand why it had been written. This is yet another reason why the author really plays a major role in the act of fully understanding a text.

It is human nature to be interested in who the author of a text is. Readers generally want to know what kind of person had written what they are reading, and if they can relate to them in some way. No matter what the subject of the text is, you must consider how the author is able to connect to the text itself. Be that with a knowledge of the subject or even comedy, who the author is will always change the meaning.