SOAPSTone in Night (RL.1, 6)

Analyzing SOAPSToneS in Night 

Directions: Please copy and paste the below information into a Word Doc and type your response. Please make your response a different color. 

You can read more about what SOAPSTone means at the bottom of this document.  Links to an external site.

1. "S" is for Speaker: List everything you know about the speaker. How do you know it? 

2. "O" is for Occasion: What is the time/place in the text? What would inspire the author to write this? 

3. "A" is for Audience: Who is this text for? What perspective do you understand from reading Wiesel’s first-person account vs. articles about the same topic? 

 4. "P" is for Purpose: What does the author want the audience to do, think, or feel when they read the text? In other words, what is the author’s reason for writing this text? 

 5. "S" is for Subject: What topics are addressed in this text?

Tone: the author’s attitude toward the subject and audience.   

Word choices greatly impact the tone. Examples of tone include: despair, joy, uncertainty, etc.  Certain connotations can change the meaning of a sentence.  Describe the tone in each of these examples from Night. 

 6. Identify the tone: “He felt time was running out.  He was speaking rapidly, he wanted to tell me so many things.  His speech became confused, his voice was choked.”

7. Identify the tone: “Were there still miracles on this earth?  He was alive.  He had passed the second selection.  He had still proved his usefulness.” 

8. Now think of the overall tone of the whole text. Write one word that describes the overall tone. 

S is for Style: the way in which an author uses language. Elements of style may include: 

• Sentence length 
• Dialogue 
• Parallel structure 
• Punctuation 
• Word choice 
• Repetition 
• Formal vs. informal language

9. Describe the style in the following example.  What effect does the style create? 

“At last, we began the return journey.  How I longed for an order to run! The military march.  The gate.  The camp.  I ran toward Block 36. “