Describes a program of oral interpretation of poetry for children as a springboard into the language arts program. Describes the poetic nature of children, acknowledges rhythm as an important component of spoken language and poetry, and suggests possibilities for bringing children and poetry together through rhythmical experiences. (JMF)

Presents a rhetorical perspective for examining Shakespearean dramatic texts and an instructional framework for translating that perspective into the teaching of solo performance of Shakespearean dramatic literature. Describes techniques for implementing classroom performance that will develop and demonstrate student understanding of the text.…

Study determines whether the preservation of poetry shape by an oral interpreter enhances the listener's mental perception and comprehension of selected poetry. Evidence supports the hypothesis that receivers could identify, comprehend, and appreciate the oral interpretation of poetry which stressed the preservation of its shape. (JMF)

Draws information from documents in the ERIC system to define oral interpretation, demonstrate its benefits for students, and describe classroom approaches to oral interpretation, including readers' theatre. (DD)

Explores the extent to which the scholarship of interpretation-in-performance parallels the knowledge of written literary criticism and contends that solo and group performance is a form of "published scholarship". (MH)

Describes an end-of-year assignment in which students, working in groups of three, prepare a program of literature for oral interpretation. (SR)

Examined the ability of 10 4-year olds to generate and identify themes by relating text to life experiences and identifying with the feelings of characters. The children could not generate theme statements after they heard the story, but could talk about thematic elements and identify an appropriate theme statement from choices offered. (SH)

Describes how the national park service interprets the Blackstone River Valley National Heritage Corridor. (CCM)

Slam poetry was born in the Green Mill Tavern, a one-time Chicago speakeasy where Al Capone imbibed, when a construction worker and poet named Marc Smith revolutionized poetry readings with an Uptown Poetry Slam in 1986. Slam borrows heavily from the rhythms and wordplay of rap and hip-hop, as well as the stream of consciousness and metaphysical…

This essay examines the art of oral interpretation from a "vocal" perspective--that is, it focuses on the crucial nature of vocal dimensions in oral interpretation. Moreover, the essay argues for an interpreter's hierarchy of vocal needs (modeled after Abraham Maslow's 1970 theory). The interpreter's hierarchy of vocal needs involves…

A study examined introductions used in competitive oral interpretation events. A total of 97 introductions (from four oral interpretation events at a nationally recognized Midwestern intercollegiate forensic tournament) were analyzed using four categories: Descriptive, Simple Theme, Descriptive and Simple Theme, and Argumentative Theme. Results…

This 47-item bibliography lists selected sources which offer advice, instruction, and opinion on the subject of clerical reading, including when and how it should be done. Basic speech textbooks and articles; secular oral interpretation textbooks and articles; religious source materials; and classical collections of sermons are annotated and…

The materials in this paper were drawn from an action caucus called to seek common criteria for the presentation and judging of oral interpretation and forensic tournaments. The first section of the paper consists of presentations made by participants. Topics covered in these presentations are (1) consistency in judging, (2) the role of oral…

The creative use of dramatic performance in the senior high school and college introductory literature classroom involves students as participants rather than as spectators, and encourages recognition and understanding of poetic images, character relationships, symbols, and other literary principles essential to comprehend if students are to…

That a play has one central action which is its formal cause is the most influential interpretative idea to emerge among theatre writers since the old model of situation/incident/complication/climax/denouement. Unfortunately, the action concept has been insufficiently developed, excessive hopes have been pinned on it, and it has become a reductive…