Question

Read the excerpt from "The Crab That Played with the Sea.” Before the High and Far-Off Times, O my Best Beloved, came the Time of the Very Beginnings; and that was in the days when the Eldest Magician was getting Things ready. First he got the Earth ready; then he got the Sea ready; and then he told all the Animals that they could come out and play. And the Animals said, ‘O Eldest Magician, what shall we play at?’ and he said, ‘I will show you. He took the Elephant—All-the-Elephant-there-was—and said, ‘Play at being an Elephant,’ and All-the-Elephant-there-was played. He took the Beaver—All-the-Beaver-there-was—and said, ‘Play at being a Beaver,’ and All-the Beaver-there-was played. He took the Cow—All-the-Cow-there-was—and said, ‘Play at being a Cow,’ and All-the-Cow-there-was played. He took the Turtle—All-the-Turtle-there-was—and said, ‘Play at being a Turtle,’ and All-the-Turtle-there-was played. One by one he took all the beasts and birds and fishes and told them what to play at.

Based on the details in the excerpt, what is its primary purpose?
to inform
to describe
to persuade
to entertain

Answer 1

I believe that this excerpt was written with the purpose of entertainment. It doesn’t state any facts or use any persuasive literary devices, so it’s neither persuasive nor informative. The answer is D. to entertain.

Answer 2

The primary purpose of this excerpt is to entertain.

This excerpt is was taken from "The Crab That Played with the Sea” by Rudyard Kipling. Generally, the main purpose of a piece of literature is to entertain the reader. In other words, what a person that writes fiction always tries to do is providing the reader with an entertaining story. An author can also have another purpose besides entertaining, such as persuading; however, it is not the case of Kipling with "The Crab That Played with the Sea", which was written to entertain mainly young readers.