ORAL INTERPR

ETATION

DISCUSSION STARTER“Above all, the art of reading aloud

should be cultivated”-Alfred Lord Witehead

How can careful reading help you better understand literature in a way where you can interpret it using your voice?

A special performance (Humorous Interpretation by Grant Markwell)

At this time, get with a partner and read your short passage to them. After, critique one another in terms of techniques you have learned.

SPECIAL ACTIVITY

LOOKING AHEADAs you become a better oral interpreter, your

understanding of literature will be enhanced because you will become a more careful reader. Careful reading will lead you to new insights about the meaning of the literature as well as make more sensitive to the beauty of the language.

The audience too, will share this intellectual and emotional experience , for you will not only entertain audience members with your performance, you will bring literature alive for them.

Oral interpretation is still an important part of your life.

Storytelling, radio, news, essays

INTRODUCTION

WHAT IS ORAL INTERPRETATION?

Do not impersonate a familiar voiceSimply create an appropriate and original voice to give life to words on a page.

After analyzing the meaning and feeling behind those words, you use your voice and body to share the words with others.

ORAL INTERPRETATION

The art of communicating works of literature by reading aloud well.

Oral Interp is one of the oldest human social activities. Until paper replaced memory, people needed to communicate orally.

ORAL INTERP HISTORY

HOW CAN I USE THIS IN DAILY LIFE?Your own history is available to you

in human form. You can ask your parents, grandparents or other family members or friends to tell you how things were “way back when”

When the story is being told, oral tradition is kept alive.

TO USE ON THE JOBThe business world now realizes that

storytelling can be an effective tool to persuade a potential client of the quality of a product, or to convince employees of a policy change.

How/why do you think this is so?

YOU CAN CHANGE THE WORLDNelson Madela was convicted of the charges

against him and sentenced to life in prison. However, he was freed in 1990 after serving 17 years.

Mandela continued his involvment in politics. His efforts in the end paid off. He ended up receiving the Nobel Peace Price for his efforts in promoting a democratic South Africa. Mandela was elected president in 1994.

“During my time I have dedicated myself to this struggle of the African people. I have fought against white domination. I have cherished ideal of a democratic and free society in opportunities. It is an ideal which I hope to live for to and achieve. But if needs be, it is an ideal for which I am prepared to die.

RECALLING THE FACTS

1.Why is impersonating a familiar voice not interpretation?

2.How might businesses use the art of storytelling?

THINKING CRITICALLYAt current rates, some 90 % of

the world languages will vanish during the next century. As these languages face extinction, what can be done to preserves the stories and memories that will be lost in the disappearing words?

CHOOSING YOUR

MATERIAL

S E C T I ON 2

TIPS ON CHOOSINGAnthologies: books that include literary works

by subject matter (such as love, war, nature)

Ask your teacher to provide suggestionsAsk Connie Kibbey for literature that could be

read aloud.

3 THINGS TO CONSIDER• your own tastes in literature. • Choose something of quality. • The occasion or desires of your

audience.

RECALL THE FACTS1. Name three things you should

consider in selecting material for an interpretive reading.

2. What are the literary works called that collect material by subject matter?

INTERPRETI

NG YOUR

MATERIAL

S E C T I ON 3

• To interpret a selection well, you must first understand it.

• You do this by considering both the meaning and the feeling of the piece.

• After that, you must adapt your interpretation to the requirements of the form: prose, poetry, or drama.

MEANINGAn important part of the process

analysis is to know what each word means (and how each word relates to every other word) so that you can share that understanding with the audience.

Denotation: the dictionary meaningConnotations: the implied meaning

THEMESThese are central ideas in a literary

work

Knowing this theme helps you to make choices in interpreting the denotative and the connotative meanings of all the words.

FEELINGWhat feelings the author is trying

to convey?

Mood: a feeling in the work, an emotional tone.

INTERPRETING PROSE

You must determine who is the narrator.

Who is the narrator telling the story to?

What relationship does that person have to the described event?

POINT OF VIEW First person: using “I” to identify the

narratorThird person: describing characters as

“he” or “she”Second person: the author addresses

“you”

INTERPRETING POETRYMeter: Instead of measuring distance,

meter measures the rhythm in a line of poetry.

Rhythm: the flow of stressed and unstressed syllables.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TZ1S1cl8JOw

INTERPRETING POETRY CONT.

Rhyme: a repetition of sounds between words or syllables or the endings of lines of verse.

Imagery: the language that creates mental pictures. These pictures differ in the minds of the reader and the listener.

INTERPRETING DRAMA

The goal of the actor is to make the performance as close to real life as possible.