S
O
A
P
S
100
What does the first 'S' stand for?
Subject
100
What does the 'O' stand for?
Occasion
100
What does the 'A' stand for?
Audience
100
What does the 'P' stand for?
Purpose
100
What does the last 'S' stand for?
Speaker
200
What does subject mean?
The main idea of the source, or a description of it. It should be enough that someone who hasn't seen the source can imagine it just based off your subject
200
What does occasion mean?
The time and place the primary source was created
200
What does audience mean?
The group of people that the primary source was intended for. In other words, who was meant to see it?
200
What does purpose mean?
The 'why' the primary source was created. Why did the speaker take time to sit down and create the source?
200
What does speaker mean?
Any information about the creator of the primary source that might affect their perspective or biases. Their race, gender, social status, etc.
300
What's wrong with this example of subject?
"I see a lot of people and horses pulling handcarts across a river. They seem really tired. There are men, women, and children, and some of them are holding Bibles. I think these are Mormon pioneers"
It doesn't include the type of source that it is. This has good detail and we can imagine the scene, but we don't know if it's a painting, picture, or letter describing it.
300
What do you do if the source only gives you the time and not the place as well?
Use what the source gives you! Only write about the time if that's all it gives you, but make sure the source doesn't mention the place anywhere in the source or the caption
300
True or false: There is always a right or wrong answer when writing about audience
False. Audience is your best guess about who the speaker meant the source for. You want to be as specific as possible while still being able to provide evidence
300
Rate this example of purpose on a scale 1-10:
"I think the artist drew this painting of Mormon pioneers just because he was bored and wanted to"
3ish. This technically isn't wrong, but you should include more detail and better inferences. Why would he draw Mormon pioneers if he was bored? Why did he share the painting?
300
Rate this example of speaker:
C.C.A. Christensen is the artist of this painting of Mormon pioneers. He was a white convert to the LDS church, and a missionary. I think because he was part of the church, he had a good attitude towards Mormons and wanted other people to join the church as well"
10! This example tells us about the speaker, and how his background and religion probably affected his opinions and reasons for making the painting
500
Write an example of subject for this image
A newspaper drawing of a Virginia slave auction. The Illustrated London News, 1856
This is a drawing in a newspaper of a slave auction. There is a Black woman and the auctioneer on stage, with white men off to the side bidding. She looks anxious, while the white men look at her appraisingly.
500
Write an example of occasion for this image
A newspaper drawing of a Virginia slave auction. The Illustrated London News, 1856
Virginia, 1856. This drawing was created at the same time that slavery was still legal in the US, so I think this drawing is pretty accurate
500
Write an example of audience for this image
A newspaper drawing of a Virginia slave auction. The Illustrated London News, 1856
Since this is in the London news, I think this was created for people living in London, rather than people in the US. They wanted to show them what slavery in the US looked like, and make some kind of statement on it
500
Write an example of purpose for this image
A newspaper drawing of a Virginia slave auction. The Illustrated London News, 1856
I think they wanted to make some kind of statement on slavery in the US. Britain abolished slavery earlier in the 1800s, so maybe they wanted the US to as well. They wanted Londoners to support abolishing it in the US
500
Write an example of speaker for this image
A newspaper drawing of a Virginia slave auction. The Illustrated London News, 1856. The artist was Eyre Crowe, a Brit who traveled to the US and was saw what slavery was like. Most of his drawings focused on the conditions of slavery and urban life
Eyre Crowe was British but traveled to the US in the 1800s and saw how slavery was institutionalized there. I think he drew this for the London News because he wanted people in Britain/Europe to see what he saw in the US. He possibly wanted to get support for abolishing slavery in the US as well