Assignment #1
To begin to create a foundation of examples and ideas to support the arguments you will be asked to make, you need to read reputable newspaper (or news magazine) articles. Read newspaper articles from
The New York Times, The New Yorker, New York Times Magazine, The Economist, Time, Newsweek, or weeklies of similar quality. You may also access local and national newspapers for articles
 You will need to read a total of 10 articles. Please keep up with this assignment. The dates of the articles must be spread out. In other words, do not read all 10 the week before you return to school. Choose articles that relate to current, global, national and local events equally. You may only include one sports article
 Mount each article (or print it out) to a piece of blank white paper and note the publication title, title and author of the article and date published (see example below).
 Title each paper Global, Nation, or Local. Author. “Title of Article.” Newspaper Name. Date. Page number. Type (Print or Web).
 Main points (list)
 SOAPSTone- (see explanation of SOAPSTone below)
 Your response
Here is an example on the topic of oil prices regarding an oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico:
Begley, Sharon. “How Quickly We Forget” Newsweek. May 7, 2010: NP. Web.
-Main point: The author cited previous oil spills like the Exxon Valdez near Alaska in 1989, but notes that after a period of public outrage, the public goes back to normal life with no changes.
-Main Point: Previous public apathy is shown by the quick return to normalcy after pandemic warnings about avian and swine flu.
-SUBJECT: Oil spills and their effects
-OCCASION: The recent spill in the Gulf of Mexico
-AUDIENCE: American public
-PURPOSE: To inform of the risks associated with this mishap and how and if it can be prevented in the future.
-SPEAKER: Environmentalist author
-TONE: indignantly pessimistic: Oil spills have become far too common; American citizens have been desensitized to the risks of energy production.
-MY RESPONSE: I agree that oil spills and other natural disasters draw public attentions and sympathy for a time, but that public attention is quickly drawn to the next sensational story without much real action.
What is Soapstone?
Soapstone (Speaker, Occasion, Audience, Purpose, Subject, Tone) is an acronym for a series of questions that students must first ask themselves, and then answer, as they begin to analyze texts and/or plan for their own writing assignments.
SOAPSTone provides a concrete strategy to help students identify and understand the main components of all writing, including their own.
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1) Who is the Speaker?
The voice that tells the story. Whose voice is going to be heard? Whether this voice belongs to a fictional character or to the writer himself, students should determine how a writer develops the personality/character/credibility of the speaker or narrator that will influence the overall meaning of the text. Think about: What assumption can you make about the speaker?
(e.g. age, gender, emotional state, etc.) What is the speaker’s point of view?
2) What is the Occasion?
The context and circumstances of the piece that prompted the writing.
Writing does not occur in a vacuum. All writers are influenced by the larger occasion: an environment of ideas, attitudes, and emotion that swirl around a broad issue. Then there is the immediate occasion: an event or situation that catches the writer’s attention and triggers a response. What is the rhetorical occasion of the text (to relate a memory, a description, an observation, an argument, a critique?) Think about: What is the setting? What is the intended emotional effect? What else was going on in the world when the author was writing?
3) Who is the audience?
The group of readers to whom this piece is directed. Successful writers must determine who the audience is that they intend to address. It may be one person or a specific group. This choice of audience will affect who and why writers write a particular text.
Think about: Who does the author want to be affected by the text?
4) What is the Purpose?
The reason behind the text. Writers need to clearly consider the purpose of their text in order to develop the thesis or the argument and its logic, or in the case of fiction, to develop a theme. Writers should ask themselves, “What do I want my audience to think or do as a result of reading my text?” What is the writer’s message and how does he convey it?
5) What is the Subject?
Students should be able to state the subject in a few words or phrases.
This step helps them to focus on the intended task throughout the writing process. Subjects, or topics, are then developed into full ideas, arguments, or themes. What is the speaker literally saying?
6) What is the Tone?
The attitude of the author toward his/her subject. The spoken word can convey the speaker’s attitude and thus help to impart meaning through tone of voice. With the written word, tone is created by conscious choices in diction, syntax, figurative language, imagery and selection of details to extend meaning beyond the literal. The ability to engage tone is one of the best indicators of a sophisticated writer. Think about: Diction –is the writing tight and efficient
(economical) or elaborate and long-winded (expansive)? Does the writer use proper and formal language? Tone –What is the speaker’s attitude about the subject? About the audience? Does the speaker seem sarcastic, aggressive, wistful, pessimistic, hopeful, bitter, reflective, skeptical, etc.?
Assignment # 2
Written with the clarity of a boy leaving childhood behind, The Catcher in the Rye explores the world with disarming frankness and a warm, affecting charisma which has made this novel a universally loved classic of twentieth-century literature. - From GoogleBooks.com
Read Catcher in the Rye by JD Salinger. You are expected to “READ ACTIVELY,” annotating the text which entails underlining pertinent lines and sections and writing notes in the margins or at the end of the chapters. Please note anything that you feel is important to the story (important choices and conflicts that characters face, traits of the main characters, descriptions of the setting, important events of the plot, literary devices used by authors, etc.) You are also encouraged to make summary notes at the end of each chapter and include your reactions and any questions that may arise as you read.
Prepare a two page position paper on the following topic:
Did you know that The Catcher in the Rye is among a list of books banned in libraries and schools across America? Some think that the topics, language, and themes in certain pieces of
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literature are not suitable for students. Not allowing someone to read or see something that has been written is called censorship. Some people believe censorship is good because it regulates and sets standards for students’ literature. Other people believe censorship is bad because it does not allow students to be exposed to all types of literature. How do you feel about it? In an essay, address how you feel about the censorship of literature. You must focus directly on The
Catcher in the Rye and why it is banned/censored, and also discuss and elaborate about censorship in general and how you feel it affects students. In your paper be sure to:
1) Use examples or references to the novel to support your claims. (Cite pg #s)
2) Write from the 3rd person point of view. (Do not use I, me, you, we, etc)
3) Make sure you cite any information you get from an outside source (Otherwise it is plagiarism)
4) Use MLA format
54 Route 138, Somers, NY 10589 • P: (914) 232-5061 • F: (914) 232-3416 • www.kennedycatholic.org