SOAPStone: Poetry [Shema] Analysis
Speaker: Who is the speaker of the poem? What do you know about him or her?
Occasion: What is the occasion of the poem? What is the event that prompts the speaker to
speak?
Audience: To whom is the speaker speaking? What do you know about him or her?
Purpose: What is the purpose [for the person saying the words] of the poem? Why do you think the poet wrote the poem? [Why is it said twice daily?]
Subject: What is the subject of the poem? [of noted Part I? Part II.]
Tone: What is the tone of the poem? What is the speaker’s attitude toward the subject of poem?
One Final Idea to Ponder- Theme: What is the theme of the poem? What is the poet [being pointed] pointing out about people, society, or life?
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[Part I] “Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one. You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise. You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates…. [Part II] The Lord said to Moses, “Speak to the people of Israel, and tell them to make tassels on the corners of their garments throughout their generations, and to put a cord of blue on the tassel of each corner. And it shall be a tassel for you to look at and remember all the commandments of the Lord, to do them, not to follow after your own heart and your own eyes, which you are inclined to whore after. So you shall remember and do all my commandments, and be holy to your God. I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt to be your God: I am the Lord your God.” (Deut 6:4-9 & Num 15:37-41)