Discusses Book 3 of Aristotle's "Rhetoric," especially the negative attitude expressed toward rhetorical delivery. (SRT)

Provides a test that acquaints students with the metrical structure of a poem by selecting a familiar song that will accommodate the words of the poem. (PD)

One of the frustrations students new to intercollegiate competitive oral interpretation experience is having to learn the "unwritten rules" for the events. These rules are neither intrinsically negative nor positive. Any of the practices embodied in these rules may be used effectively by a student performing an oral interpretation of…

Gives instructions for creating a shadow puppet theater in the classroom. Suggests this as a useful technique for motivating oral communication, particularly with shy children. (SJL)

Argues that the creative procedures of writing, performing, and interpreting poetry are subtly interrelated. Illustrates this argument with examples from the author's own poetry. (MM)

Discusses issues of interpretation versus reading in oral interpretation, or the performance of literature. Offers an extended classroom example to make the case for alternative kinds of performance and their ability to keep practices of performing literature valuable in the current academic scene. (SR)

Test scores across the country show American students are far more able to read narrative than nonfiction text. Some research speculates this is due to a great lack in the background knowledge of many children. Librarians are beginning to realize that a unique fit for the school librarian is as a provider of background knowledge materials for…

Peer assessment has been studied in various situations and actively pursued as a means by which students are given more control over their learning and assessment achievement. This study investigated the reliability of staff and student assessments in two oral presentations with limited feedback for a school-based thesis course in engineering…

Unlike traditional Readers Theatre, which is typically limited to literature-based scripts, Curriculum-Based Readers Theatre (CBRT) allows teachers and students to create scripts based on any topic, any work of literature, any textbook, or almost any collection of facts. It can be easily incorporated into the existing curriculum, and because this…

This proceedings presents 19 papers delivered a National Developmental Conference on Individual Events, addressing individual events, Lincoln-Douglas debate, and parliamentary debate. After presenting the conference schedule, the list of attendees, and resolutions, papers in the proceedings are: "The Ghostwriter, The Laissez-Faire Coach, and…

Suggestions are offered in this paper for adapting C. S. Lewis's poems for oral interpretation. A discussion of Lewis's lifelong correspondence with his friend Arthur Greeves provides insights into Lewis's perceptions of his own writing. Eighty poems selected from Lewis's "Poems" as appropriate for oral interpretation are classified…

Outlines common abuses that occur when students first use dramatic analysis in oral interpretation. Offers guidelines to help make students' efforts more productive; uses William Carlos Williams's poem "The Red Wheelbarrow" as an example. (PD)

Outlines an exercise that gets students to experience the oral composition of poetry. Describes methods for implementing the exercise; discusses results and advantages. (PD)

Explains how oral interpretation is uniquely communicative and how the double bind theory of communication can include creativity. Discusses (1) double bind and oral interpretation, (2) creating aesthetic text, and (3) the performance of double bind. (PD)

Uses contemporary language theorists to argue that texts considered nonliterary by traditional standards share properties that theorists praise in literature, such as complexity, richness of language, and potential for interpretation. Insists that performance and literature have a historically sanctioned symbiotic relationship so strong that to…