SOAPSTONE: A method for analyzing discourse (speeches, essays, editorials, other writings) Please number and label each response. Each section should be two-three sentences minimum.
Provide specific textual support and analysis for each response.
- 1. S – Speaker: Discuss the authority and credibility of the speaker / writer. How does the speaker establish his or her ethos in the speech / passage? Explain specific ways that the speaker / writer helps to define him or herself as a trustworthy and/or qualified messenger.
- 2. O – Occasion: Analyze the reason(s) the writer / speaker is choosing to approach the topic at this particular moment in time. Is he / she writing / speaking in reaction to a specific event or person? Discuss how the occasion is revealed in the speech /passage.
- 3. A – Audience: Explain to whom this piece is directed. How do you know who the audience is? How is the audience defined? Discuss how the speaker / writer demonstrates understanding of the audience and how he or she uses that understanding to accomplish his or her goals.
- 4. P – Purpose: Analyze the purpose / argument / claim of the speaker / writer. Explore the purpose beyond its basic informative nature. You must identify at least one specific action expected of the audience. Discuss how the purpose is revealed in the passage.
- 5. S – Subject: Explain the general topic, content, and ideas contained in the text. Does the speaker / writer explicitly state the subject or is it implied?
- 6. Tone: Analyze the attitude of the speaker / writer. Tone extends meaning beyond the literal. Find tone in the author’s diction, syntax, structure, and imagery. Give specifics of the tone of the author and discuss how the tone affects the effectiveness of the passage. Use your list of tone words to pinpoint the specific tone(s) of the piece.