SOAPSTone (Speaker, Occasion, Audience, Purpose, Subject, Tone) is the acronym behind a useful strategy for analyzing primary sources. This process will help you examine the different dimensions of a text, which can then be used to employ the text as evidence in discussion or writing. The description and guided application below are adapted from “Speed Dating Strategies: An Introduction to SOAPSTone” by Kerryann Tracy.

Acronym	Description
Speaker	​It is not enough simply to name the speaker. Search for details like: What do we know about the speaker (e.g., age, gender, class, occupation, origin)? What does the speaker believe? Include important facts about the speaker that might help you make judgments about his or her point of view.
Occasion	Occasion is not simply identifying the time and place. Consider the larger occasion or context:  What was the environment of ideas, attitudes, and emotions surrounding the issues involved?  What was the immediate situation that may have inspired this specific response?
Audience	To whom is this text directed? It’s not enough to say: “Anyone who reads it.” Consider: Which group or groups did the author intend to read this article? What assumptions can you make about the intended audience? How might the intended audience have been similar to or different from you?
Purpose	What is the speaker’s reason for writing the text? What is its intended effect? What change does the author want to see as a result? Is the author’s aim to entertain, to inform, to persuade, to critique, to complain, to explain, to describe, and/or to reflect?
Subject	The subject is the general topic, content, and ideas contained in the text. This can usually be stated in a few words or a phrase. The subjects of texts are frequently abstract: the right to die, racism, poverty, conformity, cloning, global warming, etc.
Tone	Tone is the attitude of the speaker towards his subject. For help with possible adjectives, see the “Talking about Tone” section just below this chart. What emotional sense do you take from the piece?  Consider how word choice, sentence structure, and imagery might point to tone.

Below are examples of adjectives you might use to effectively describe the tone of a text.

​aggravated  ambiguous amused angry apathetic apologetic appreciative

apprehensive arrogant dramatic ecstatic effusive elated elegiac

factual fanciful flippant foreboding ​​moralistic mournful nostalgic

objective outraged passionate patronizing pedantic perplexed

Below are tips for using SOAPSTone on Martin Luther King, Jr’s “I have a dream” speech delivered in Washington, D.C. on 28 August 1963.

Acronym	Description
Speaker	How does King’s background manifest itself in the speech? For example, you might consider that he was both a preacher and the son of a preacher.  What distinguished him from the many other speakers that day – as a person, a prominent figure in the civil rights movement, or a public speaker?
Occasion	What is important to understand about the historical context of this speech? Consider both the general background (the Civil Rights Movement), and this particular occasion (the March on Washington). How does King himself frame the occasion?
Audience	Who comprises King’s audience?  Which audiences are explicit (directly named) and which might be implicit (implied but not named)?  Where in the speech does he address specific audiences?
Purpose	What changes does King want to see as a result of this speech?  What other purpose(s), beyond advocating change, do you see in King’s speech?
Subject	The event was billed as a march “for jobs and freedom.” What other topics or issues, beyond these, does King address in his speech?
Tone	How would you characterize the tone of King’s speech?  Where do you see significant shifts in tone?

Sample SOAPSTone Analysis: “I Have a Dream” by Martin Luther King, Jr.

Note for students: This analysis shows how SOAPSTone reveals the many layers in a primary source. Notice how each element connects—King’s identity as a preacher (Speaker) shapes his biblical language (Tone), while his diverse Audience influences his inclusive message about the American Dream (Subject).

Speaker: Martin Luther King, Jr. was a 34-year-old Baptist minister and president of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC). His background as both a preacher and the son of a preacher shaped his powerful speaking style and use of biblical language. King held a PhD in theology and had studied Gandhi’s nonviolent resistance philosophy. His leadership of the Montgomery Bus Boycott and other civil rights campaigns, plus his personal experiences with segregation as a Black man from the South, gave him unique authority to speak about racial injustice.

Occasion: The immediate occasion was the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom on August 28, 1963, which brought over 250,000 peaceful demonstrators to the nation’s capital. The broader context included the 100th anniversary of the Emancipation Proclamation (which King calls “five score years ago”) and recent violent responses to civil rights protests in Birmingham. King frames the occasion as coming to “cash a check” – to demand the rights promised in America’s founding documents. The Lincoln Memorial setting symbolically connected the current struggle to Lincoln’s legacy.

Audience: King speaks to multiple audiences throughout the speech:

• Direct audiences: The marchers present (“my friends”), the Black community, white supporters (“our white brothers”), and the nation as a whole
• Indirect audiences: Congress and government officials who could pass civil rights laws, international observers watching America during the Cold War, and future generations

King carefully shifts between these audiences – telling Black Americans to maintain dignity and nonviolence, while also explaining to white Americans why change cannot wait. He emphasizes that all Americans’ futures are connected.

Purpose: King’s main purpose was to push for immediate civil rights reform, including voting rights, desegregation, and economic justice. Beyond this political goal, he aimed to:

• Keep the movement committed to nonviolent resistance despite frustration
• Share a vision of racial harmony that could bring people together
• Put moral pressure on America’s conscience
• Prevent the movement from turning to violence or giving up
• Show that the civil rights struggle aligned with core American values

Subject: While the march focused on “jobs and freedom,” King addresses broader themes:

• The broken promises of the Constitution and Declaration of Independence
• Ongoing racial injustice including police brutality, segregation, and voting restrictions
• Economic inequality affecting Black Americans
• The urgent need for action now (“the fierce urgency of now”)
• The connection between justice and freedom for all people
• A vision of racial reconciliation and unity
• The American Dream and why Black Americans cannot access it
• Hope for change despite current suffering

Tone: King’s tone shifts strategically throughout the speech:

• Opening: Formal and dignified, establishing the speech’s importance
• Early sections: Prophet-like and critical when describing injustices, using biblical images of exile and promised lands
• Middle sections: Urgent and warning about the dangers of waiting or turning to violence
• “I Have a Dream” sequence: Hopeful and poetic, moving from prose to powerful imagery
• Conclusion: Triumphant and spiritual, building to the emotional peak of “Free at last!”

The overall tone balances anger at injustice with inspiring hope for change. King uses the rhythms and images of Black church tradition while maintaining the serious tone needed for a national political speech. These tone shifts work to both comfort those who are suffering and challenge those who are comfortable, pushing all listeners toward his vision of the “beloved community.”

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