1. S O A P

2. S - Subject
O - Occasion
A - Audience
P - Purpose
S - Speaker

3. S - Subject
The general topic, content, and ideas contained in the text. You should be able to state the main subject in a few words or a short phrase.
About? Topic? Broad terms (Lost love, war, death of a spouse)

4. O – Occasion
The time, place, context, or current situation of the piece. It is important that you understand the context that encouraged the writing to happen, but don’t confuse occasion with purpose. Also, think of it as the “genesis” of the writing, or what possibly got it started. Why did the author sit down and write about this?
Where? What? (A spouse has died and is mourning, ran into him in the store and began to reminisce)

5. A – Audience
The group of readers to whom this piece is directed. The audience may be one person or a certain people. Be as specific as possible! Authors do not just write and hope that someone reads it. They write for a specific audience. Imagine the author having a conversation, who is he sitting across from.
To whom is the speaker speaking?

6. P – Purpose
The REASON behind the text. What is the author trying to tell you? What does the author want the audience to take away? You might think in terms of “to”. Example, to inform, to persuade.

7. S – Speaker
The voice that tells the story. You might believe that the author and the speaker are the same, but usually this is not true. You need to be able to differentiate between the author and speaker. The author could be a man, but the speaker could be a woman.

8. T²
T – Title – how does the title of the poem affect what you know. By looking at title first can we infer anything about the poem?
T – Tone – What is the tone that is conveyed in the poem. Mood or atmosphere.