An Introduction to SOAPSTone Modified from Kerryann Tracy

An Introduction to SOAPSTone Modified from Kerryann Tracy

Learning Targets I can define and identify speaker, occasion, audience, purpose, subject, and tone in the context of text analysis. I can analyze texts (in this case speeches) to better understand the author’s message and intention. I can evaluate the effectiveness of a piece of writing (or speech) based upon these factors.

SOAPSTone Speaker Occasion Audience Purpose Subject Tone

S O A P S T o n e Who is the Speaker? It is not enough simply to name the speaker. What assumptions can you make about the speaker based upon the text (e. g. , age, gender, class, occupation, emotional state)? What does the speaker believe and what evidence from the text do you have to support this?

S O A P S T o n e What is the Occasion? What is important to understand about the historical context based? How does the speaker frame the occasion? Occasion is not simply identifying the time and place. Consider the larger occasion or context: the environment of ideas, attitudes, and emotions surrounding an issue. Then examine the immediate occasion that may have inspired this specific response.

S O A P S T o n e Who is the Audience? To whom is this speech directed (both implicitly and explicitly)? It’s not enough to say: “Anyone who hears it. ” What is the relationship between the speaker and the audience? Where does the speech directly reference the audience? To what effect? What assumptions can you make about the intended audience and their reactions based upon the speech?

S O A P S T o n e What is the Purpose? What is its intended effect of the speech on the audience (emotional)? What change does the author want to see as a result (action)? Is the author’s aim to entertain, to inform, to persuade, to critique, to complain, to explain, to describe, or to reflect? Are there multiple purposes?

S O A P S T o n e What is the Subject? The subject is different from the purpose. The subjects of texts are frequently abstract: the right to die, racism, poverty, conformity, freedom etc. Look for the deeper meaning when determining the subject of a speech. Another way to think of this is write a one-word “meaning” for the speech and then build a statement around it.

Abstractions Love Anger Hate Peace Loyalty Integrity Pride Courage Deceit Honesty Trust Compassion Bravery Misery Childhood Knowledge Patriotism Friendship Brilliance Truth Charity Justice

Examples of Subject Statements One-word topic: Love Statement of opinion: Love is the most important but sometimes the most painful emotion. One-word topic: Knowledge Statement of Opinion: Knowledge means nothing without action based upon what we’ve learned.

S O A P S T o n e What is the Tone? Tone is the attitude of the speaker towards his subject. What emotional sense do you take from the piece? Does it stay consistent throughout, or do the speaker’s feelings shift? Consider how word choice, sentence structure, and imagery choices made by the speaker might point to the tone.

Talking About Tone aggravated ambiguous amused angry apathetic apologetic appreciative apprehensive arrogant dramatic ecstatic effusive elated elegiac factual fanciful flippant foreboding moralistic mournful nostalgic objective outraged passionate patronizing pedantic perplexed

Activity: In Your Groups Complete the elements of the SOAPStone chart together Column One: “Identify Element” “The tone is humorous but then shifts to…” Column Two: Textual Support “I just flew in, and boy are my arms tired, but in all seriousness, let’s talk about airplane safety. ”

Rotate Go to the next group’s work. Where do you agree with their analysis? Where do you disagree? What new insights do you gain about the speech based upon the group’s analysis? Write any notes to the group on their paper