The Rational:
One of the parts that Plato believed the soul was divided into, was the rational side. This part of the soul is in charge of all the thinking and wisdom that we have. The rational is the area that motivates us to think and seek the truth. Asking questions like, what is true, what is false, and what is real. We reach this by using Metaphysics and epistemology. Metaphysics is when an account of most general features of reality are provided, like what kind of things exist. Epistemology on the other hand is when the origins, nature, and existence of human knowledge is investigated. According to Plato this was the ruling element of the soul because it is able to reflect good and evil and for him loving the truth meant that you love the good.
The Spirited:
The spirited part of the soul seeks honor, it supports and finds defense in the judgments of the rational part of the soul. This part of the soul, as Plato thought, is aggressive and short tempered and is also the cause of criminal behaviors. With this being said, it can be controlled when it is trained or educated, preventing bad things from being done and proceeding with doing genuine things. Plato believed that spirited motivations are presented in the soul.
Plato may or may not have been insightful about the human soul or psyche, but most of us nowadays reject the idea that people ought to be sorted and locked into social roles from a young age, instead of pursuing their own aspirations freely. So a question arises: how relevant is Plato, still, if we reject his top-down "utopian"/authoritarian social hierarchy? Rebecca Goldstein's "Plato at the Googleplex" offers one answer: very. I'm not as convinced as she.
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