An Introduction to

SOAPSTone
Modified from
Kerryann Tracy
SOAPSTone
Speaker
Occasion
Audience
Purpose
Subject
Tone
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?
What is the Occasion?
What is important to understand about the
historical context? 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.
Who is the Audience?
To whom is this speech directed (both
implicitly and explicitly)? Its 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?
What is the Purpose?
What is the intended effect of the speech
on the audience (emotional)? What change
does the author want to see as a result
(action)? Is the authors aim to entertain,
to inform, to persuade, to critique, to
complain, to explain, to describe, or to
reflect? Are there multiple purposes?
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
weve learned.
What is the Tone?
Tone is the attitude of the speaker towards
his subject and/or audience. What emotional
sense do you take from the piece? Does it
stay consistent throughout, or do the
speakers 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, lets talk about airplane safety.
Rotate
Go to the next groups work.
Where do you agree with their analysis?
Where do you disagree?
What new insights do you gain about the speech
based upon the groups analysis?
Write any notes to the group on their paper