Affectionately remembers a college professor and his particular approach to poetry reading and discourse. Refers to a Sufi tale regarding teaching and learning to demystify previous philosophical and pedagogical confusion. (JK)

From the director's point of view, a "memorable monologue" is one in which the actor exhibits imagination and invention in role-playing. Memorable audition monologues require a measured degree of "risk taking" and uninhibited abandon--the first task is to select monologues that suit the type of script and the role being cast.…

Describes six inadequate approaches used in teaching, analyzing, and interpreting poetry, and suggests a useful key" for the interpretation of poems. (SW)

Describes an exercise that introduces students to the unique characteristics of the third-person narrator and also improves skills in observation, story telling, and analysis. (PD)

Presents the script of a Readers Theater production to complement a previous article on Bertholt Brecht in theory and practice (EJ 225 131). (JMF)

Discusses the characteristics of audio books as a prototype of electronic books. Topics include vocal interpretation; the demands that audio books place on listeners; the advantages of listening over reading; and a vision of the electronic book of the future. (KRN)

Physical aspects of listening skills are described, including speech rate, syllable tone, word-word separation vs. joining, listening for "focus," word clues per message, and intonation. (LB)

Presents a discussion on the interpretations of museums and zoos. Introduces the applications of living history, museum theater and explains the terms interactors, explainers, and curators; keepers; and technicians. Lists the locations having the explained applications. Includes 29 references. (YDS)

Despite high levels of disengagement in urban literacy classrooms, few teachers have seen fit to explore spoken word--the performance of poetry--as a tool to engage students in literacy. Spoken word poetry serves as a powerful means of self-representation for youth that are traditionally portrayed as threatening, menaces to society that do not…

Understanding communication (of which individual events is a part) requires a triangle among theory-practice-criticism, and any missing component dramatically hinders understanding and ability. Students compete in, and judges judge, forensics to better enhance communication understanding and abilities. The process of oral interpretation requires a…

James E. Murdoch's contributions to the arts were widely diversified. Aside from acting, the man was interested in both the practical and theoretical aspects of elocution. The thread of continuity which existed between elocution and interpretation became apparent to Murdoch through his analysis of the works of Sheridan, Walker, and Rush, the…

A pilot study analyzed oral interpretation ballots collected at two college forensics tournaments to determine the average number and classifications of comments on the ballots. A total of 1,737 comments from 304 ballots of oral interpretation events (prose, poetry, program, duo, and dramatic) were analyzed. Results indicated a mean of 5.71…

A study investigated whether there was a significant difference in the comprehension and appreciation of literature studied through oral interpretation when compared to silent reading. Two hundred and sixty-three third, fourth, and fifth graders from Terre Haute, Indiana were separated into experimental and control groups, and were given pre- and…

Interest in oral traditions has benefitted the field of interpretation in two ways: a new emphasis on the social and cultural contexts of performance, and an expanded perspective on performance manifestations. In Richard Schechner's concept of "restored behavior," the interpreter engages in a reconstruction of living behavior independent…

A study examined changes in recall of a ballad that is part of an oral tradition in North Carolina, noting what changes occur, why those changes occur, and what lines are most susceptible to change. When a story is passed along orally, it sometimes changes so much that it may not be recognizable as the same when two versions are compared. Subjects…