Close Reading The SOAPStone Method 1

Why do I need to read closely? To gain the bigger picture To recognize and appreciate the craft and specific techniques/tools of the craft To understand that which sets art apart from “books” What is “highly acclaimed”? Why distinctions between “fiction” and “literature”? (See any major bookstore’s aisle categories.) 2

Speaker Subject Tone Occasion Organization Audience Narrative style How? SOAPStone Speaker Tone Organization Narrative style Evidence Subject Occasion Audience Purpose 3

Subject What is the literal topic of this piece of literature? What’s it all about? The general topic, content, and ideas contained in the text Summarize What is the story? Whether an essay, poem, play, novel, etc., it has a story. 4

Occasion Where and when does it take place? What is the rhetorical occasion of the text? Is it a/an— Memory? Description? Observation? Diatribe? Elegy? Critique? 5

Occasion, pt. 2 Note the immediate occasion Note the larger occasion The issue that— catches the writer’s attention and triggers a response Note the larger occasion The broad issue The center of ideas and emotions in the work Example: “Left at the Light” Program for helping the homeless Occasion: Immediate—leaving (driving past) someone who was begging for money in the medium of a left-hand turn lane without helping Larger—how to help the homeless without enabling any destructive behaviors/addictions a homeless person may have 6

Audience Level of general knowledge Level of diction What do they already know? Ex. Literary analyses; Process analyses Level of diction Slang Informal Formal Ceremonial What assumptions can I make about the intended audience? Does the author identify them? 7

Purpose What does the writer accomplish with his or her literary work? What appears to be the writer’s intent? In what ways does the writer convey the message of the purpose? How does the writer try to spark a reaction from the audience? 8

Speaker The voice telling the story Not necessarily the writer! What assumptions can you make about the speaker? Age? Gender? Social class? Emotional state? (etc.) 9

Speaker, pt. 2 Assess the speaker’s character Supply evidence for your conclusions from the text. Let the facts lead you to the speaker. What does the speaker believe? What biases may the speaker have? What approach/appeal does the speaker make for his or her argument? How do you know? Produce the EVIDENCE! 10

Tone What is the author’s attitude toward the subject? What emotional sense does the writer present? How do the following tools/vehicles for meaning present tone? Diction—word choice Syntax—sentence construction & order Imagery—concrete representations to connect the reader with the writer’s subject/pov/tone From what source/s do the images come, primarily? 11

Organization How does the writer organize/structure the text? How does the writer arrange his or her content? So? What effect does the organization have on the overall meaning of the work? 12

Narrative Style How does the writer tell the “story”/unravel the subject? What does the writer reveal? conceal? invert? subvert? Is the writing dramatic (play) in nature, poetic, episodic, objective? What point of view does the writer use? SO WHAT?? What effects does the writer’s narrative style have on the work as a whole? 13

Evidence The burden of proof is on you! Pull specific examples from the text, using direct quotations, paraphrases, and summaries to support your analyses/arguments. Use specific Literary devices Grammatical devices Rhetorical devices 14