SOAPSTone Reading/Annotation Strategy

Speaker

The voice that tells the Whose voice is supposed to be heard?

Whether it is a fictional character, the
story.

Occasion

The time and place of

the piece; the context
that prompted the
writing.

Audience

Purpose

The group of people to

whom the piece is
directed.
The reason behind the
text

Subject

The what is this

about

Tone (add The attitude of the

word
author
choice
comment
ary)

author, or a narrator, how are the

attributes of the speaker influencing the
perceived meaning of the piece?
What do we know about this historic or
contemporary person?
What role does he play in an historic
event?
Writing does not occur in a vacuum. All
writers are influenced by larger occasion:
an environment of ideas, attitudes, and
emotions that swirl around a broad issue.
Then there is the immediate occasion: an
event or situation that catches the
writer's attention and triggers a
response.
What is the Geographic and Historic
intersection at which this source was
produced?
The audience affects the purpose of the
text, how it is written, the inclusion of
certain elements.
Readers need to understand the purpose
of the text in order to develop a thesis,
analyze a piece of writing, or certainly
critique it.
Consider what the author wanted the
reader to take away from the reading.
What is the general topic, content, or
idea contained in the text?
Summarize in a few words or phrase.
The spoken word can convey the
speaker's attitude and thus help to
impart meaning through tone of voice.
It is often tone that extends meaning
beyond the literal, and the author
conveys this tone in diction (choice of
words), syntax (sentence construction),
and imagery (metaphors, similes, and

other types of figurative language).

*adapted from CollegeBoard

What is the attitude expressed by the

speaker?

Examine the choice of words, emotions

expressed, imagery used to determine
the speaker's attitude.