SOAPST

SOAPST

• S-speaker
• O-occasion
• A-audience
• P-purpose
• S-subject
• T-tone

S=SPEAKER
Identify the voice and the point of view from which she/he is speaking.

S=SPEAKER
Identify the speaker's values, biases, and beliefs.

S=SPEAKER
Determine if the speaker can be trusted.

O=OCCASION
What is the time and place?

O=OCCASION
Is there a particular historical context that influences the message or the speaker?

O=OCCASION
What specific set of circumstances prompted the author to write?

A=AUDIENCE
Who will hear or read this message?

A=AUDIENCE
What is this audience's biases or values?

A=AUDIENCE
Is this audience open to the message?

P=PURPOSE
What does the author want the reader to know, to understand, to do?

S=SUBJECT
What is the main idea? What is this work about?

T=TONE
What is the dominant tone and what is its effect?

T=TONE
Look primarily at the author's attitude.What words, images or figures of speech reveal the author's attitude?

T=TONE
Are there any shifts in tone within the text, and if so, what is the result?