Analyzing nonfiction and rhetoric 3 (soaps tone) (1)

1. ANALYZING
INFORMATIONAL TEXTS 3

2. When you begin studying rhetoric it may
be helpful to have a tool that aids you in
navigating a writer's purpose for writing
and the craft used to reach that purpose.
Craft, btw, is everything from strategies, to
purpose, to tone, to medium, to appeals to
ethos, pathos, and logos.

3. A TOOL FOR
ANALYSIS:
SOAPSTONE

4. T H E T O O L
A popular tool many students
use as an aide to rhetorical
analysis is
the acronym SOAPSTone.
Let’s break it down.

5. Who is speaking? Is
it the author? A
narrator? Who are
they? What kind of
credibility do they
have to be
speaking on the
subject?
S--Speaker:

6. Why is the
writer writing? Has
an event occurred
that prompted
them to speak?
O--Occasion:

7. Who is the intended
audience? Remember,
most of the time it is
not YOU. Common
audiences include: the
general American
public, liberal
audiences,
conservative
audiences, religious
audiences, parents,
young adults, voters,
women, and men.
Sometimes an
audience is specified
and put into context.
A--Audience:

8. SPECIFIC
AUDIENCE
EXAMPLE
Abraham Lincoln's intended
audience in the Gettysburg
Address was clearly the Union
residents, soldiers, and families
of soldiers from New England, all
of who were deeply affected by
the recent bloody battle at
Gettysburg.

9. The writer's intention:
to persuade, to assert,
to entertain, to
motivate, to clarify, to
temper, etc.
P--Purpose:

10. PURPOSE EXAMPLE
Take, again, for example
Lincoln’s Gettysburg address:
Lincoln is aiming to honor those
who fought and died in the battle
and to convince the others that
the fight is linked to a just and
verdant purpose that represents
the core values of the nation.
Lastly, Lincoln is attempting to
motivate his audience to not give
up on the war. So his purpose is
twofold: to motivate the living
and to honor the soldiers for
their courage.

11. The topic the writer is
concerned
with/writing about.
Subject:

12. This is simply the
writer’s attitude on
the subject in which
they are writing.
There are a TON of
tone words that you
can look up on the
internet.
Tone: