"Speech to the Troops at Tilbury" SOAPST

S- Getting subjects ready for war, under Queen Elizabeth’s faith, encouragement/support, and leadership.

O- 1588, war between English troops and Spanish Armada (at Tilbury).

A- English troops.

P- To encourage, to ensure, to motivate, to instill confidence, to ensure loyalty, to prepare.

S- Queen Elizabeth

T- Courageous, humble, powerful, encouraging, trustworthy, confident.

a.     By viewing and understanding the SOAPST for Queen Elizabeth’s “Speech to the Troops at Tilbury” the reader perceives a general background on the speech, understanding the reason for it (occasion), as well as the context it contains (subject/purpose). By seeing the tone of the speech, the reader can thoroughly understand the emotions and feelings the speech conveys (the pathos aspect of the writing). Viewing the speaker to be Queen Elizabeth, the reader understands this as a sense of ethos/credibility, affecting the way he/she perceives the speech itself. The speaker being such a powerful woman-figure in history completely changes how one grasps the writing. Being that the English troops are the audience of the speech, the reader may have greater success in comprehending why the speech contains such passion and encouraging faith and emotion, as Elizabeth must do just that to truly prepare the soldiers for war.

b.     This speech is fairly effective in delivering its message to the intended audience. Queen Elizabeth uses a great amount of pathos working towards her purpose of preparing the troops for war. By appealing to them on an emotional level, she skillfully achieves the action of instilling strength, confidence, and trust in the soldiers, therefore getting them mentally prepared for war, as she can no longer do much physically. She also accomplishes this task through her diction, with the mention of emotion provoking words such as “God”(Queen Elizabeth, page 40), “loyal hearts” (Queen Elizabeth, page 40), and “my loving people” (Queen Elizabeth, page 41). War is, for the most part, an emotional experience, and Queen Elizabeth seems to understand this. She is aware that she is speaking to the troops, and refers to them and herself as a whole to instill in them the idea that they are not alone, as well as “her people” to instill in them a sense of fear or motivation to fight, as they are not only fighting for themselves, but for the greater whole of an entire nation, amongst which the ruler has instilled her full trust and confidence into the victory of. The speaker being Queen Elizabeth herself makes the speech both credible and worth listening, as it will most likely deliver an important, powerful message. Although lacking logos, the Queen is still able to deliver a powerful speech, emotionally appealing to the troops facing war, to whom logic and facts, at such a moment, would serve no useful purpose.