pres

enta

tion

tem

plat

es

Text Analysis Methods

SOAPSTone• Speaker: Go beyond the person’s name. Go beyond

the biographical information you’re (potentially) given with the text. You should figure out what type of person the speaker is based on the text itself.

• Occasion: What prompted the speaker to deliver the text? What has happened? What is he responding to?

• Audience: Sometimes directly addressed in the text itself. Other times, you will have to figure it out. Consider the rhetorical appeals the speaker uses, and this will help you identify the audience.

• Purpose: What is the speaker trying to convince the audience to do/see/believe?

• Subject: The main idea the speaker is trying to communicate.

• Tone: The attitude the speaker effects. Consider diction choices, figurative and rhetorical appeals.

SEES

• SEES provides an easy, formulaic way to write a paragraph. It can, in fact, be used to write a body paragraph for just about any assignment. SEES is: Statement, Evidence, Explain, Significance. (NOTE: This MAY OR MAY NOT be three sentences.)

• Statement: topic sentence of the paragraph. It’s basically the claim you are trying to prove in that paragraph. It must relate directly to the thesis.

• Evidence: Textual evidence to prove your statement.

• Explanation: Your explanation for how the evidence proves the statement and thus satisfies the conditions of the thesis.

• Significance: Conclusion that shows importance of idea/concept.

SEES ExampleWhy did Patrick Henry believe that the time was right for America to build an army and declare itself independent from Britain?1. Statement: Answer the question.

• Henry believed that America must declare its independence from Britain because the British government was preparing for war.

SEES ExampleWhy did Patrick Henry believe that the time was right for America to build an army and declare itself independent from Britain?2. Evidence: Provide evidence to answer the question.

• Henry notes that the British have assembled a “martial array” in North America (Henry 35). He poignantly asks the politicians assembled if “Great Britain [has] any enemy” in North America (36).

SEES ExampleWhy did Patrick Henry believe that the time was right for America to build an army and declare itself independent from Britain?3. Explanation: Explain what your evidence means and make sure you’ve answered the question.4. Significance: Show the importance of your answer (a conclusion that can be drawn).• Clearly, Henry is forcing his audience to

realize that Britain has brought its army and navy to North America in order to prepare for war with the colonialists. If Britain is preparing for war, logically, so must the Americans.

Henry believed that America must declare its independence from Britain because the British government was preparing for war. Henry notes that the British have assembled a “martial array” in North America (Henry 35). He poignantly asks the politicians assembled if “Great Britain [has] any enemy” in North America (36). Clearly, Henry is forcing his audience to realize that Britain has brought its army and navy to North America in order to prepare for war with the colonialists. If Britain is preparing for war, logically so must the Americans.

• Note: More than 3 sentences; includes multiple pieces of textual evidence.