S.O.A.P.S.

S Subject
What is the author’s topic? Think beyond the title—
what is it really about?
O Occasion
What event sparked the writing of this piece?
What is the context? What was happening
around the construction of this essay,
article, or speech?
A Audience
For what audience was this piece intended? Consider
gender, ethnicity, age, level of education,
occupation, and station in life.
P Purpose
What is the author’s purpose? With what idea does the
author want the audience to agree?
S Speaker
Based on the passage, what information can we gather
about the writer? What biases might this writer have?
What does he or she do to build trust with the audience?

©2017 Angie Burgin Kratzer All rights reserved. https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Store/Angie-Kratzer

B
 SOAPS Activator
The following transcript is from an actual 911 call.

Dispatcher: 911. What is your emergency?”

Caller: Yeah, I’m at the Grateful Deli. I specifically asked for, um, little um, turkey, and
little, um, ham and a lot of cheese and a lot of mayonnaise. And they are giving me a
hard time so I was wondering if you could stop by . . .
Dispatcher: You’re calling 911 because you don’t like the way they’re making your
sandwich?
Caller: Exactly.
Dispatcher: So don’t buy it. Just walk away and don’t buy it.
Caller: She’s telling me she won’t make if for me again, and I just want to solve this the
right way. (Caller rants for approximately two minutes about his problem.) The thing is, I
come here all the time, and I want to be able to come back here.

Map SOAPS for the text of this 911 call.

S The caller complains about his sandwich not being made right, and trying to use law enforcement to get his way.

O A Connecticut man at the Grateful Deli calls 911, because the restaurant made his sandwich wrong. He just wants
his sandwich made right, with him being a regular, so he can be able to come back again. The dispatcher sends
someone and tells the caller to wait outside for them, but tells them to just not buy the sandwich in the future.

A Middle-aged white men and women

P The author wants people to see how ignorant it is to call police for things that are not in need of a emergency, or
just because you're not getting your way.

S The writer is someone who believes that the 911 caller should be fined for calling an emergency phone number
over a sandwich.

Listen to the full 911 call at http://newyork.cbslocal.com/2012/06/14/conn-man-calls-911-

because-deli-made-his-sandwich-wrong/

©2017 Angie Burgin Kratzer All rights reserved. https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Store/Angie-Kratzer C