The purpose of any document, even outside of technical writing, is what the author’s intention in writing their document is. In previous literature courses, the purpose of writing was always categorized as to inform, to persuade, to entertain, and to educate. In technical writing, the purpose of your writing usually leans towards the intention to inform or to persuade. In addition, it is common for technical documents to have the both purposes of informing and persuading, often strengthening each other. For example, the purpose of my memo is to persuade, but through informing my audience on the subject, the persuasion in my writing is stronger. It is not unusual for technical writing to have the purpose of entertainment and/or education, but it is uncommon and is often not as big of a priority as informing and persuading the intended audience.