Part One — Basic Principles
Chapter One — A Beginning and an End
Expect This!
Interpretation Requires Communicating
Interpretation Engages an Audience
Interpretation Involves a Literary Work in Its Intellectual and Emotional Entirety
Interpretation Celebrates a Literary Work in Its Aesthetic Entirety
Important Early Questions: Why Perform? Is this Acting?
Sources of Material
Intertextuality
Choosing Your Selection: Three Touchstones
Preliminary Analysis: Hoyt’s Poem
Preliminary Analysis: Dickinson’s Poem
Preliminary Analysis: Sherman’s Story
Remember This!
Bibliography
Chapter Two — Analyzing the Selection
Expect This!
Preparing the First Performance
Major Structural Components
Major Aesthetic Components
Using the Tools
Synthesis
Analyzing the Rehearsal and the Performance
Remember This!
Selections for Analysis and Oral Interpretation
Bibliography
ChapterThree — Voice Development for Oral Interpretation
Expect This!
Relaxation Technique
Breath Control
Volume and Projection
Pitch and Quality
Rate and Pause
Intelligibility of Speech
Dialect
Remember This!
Selections for Analysis and Oral Interpretation
Bibliography
Chapter Four — Use of the Body in Oral Interpretation
Expect This!
Technique
Posture
Kinesics
Sense Imagery
Empathy
Using Your Body in Rehearsal
Eye Contact
Analyzing the Rehearsal and the Performance
Remember This!
Selections for Analysis and Oral Interpretation
Bibliography
Part Two — Interpretation of Prose
Chapter Five — Style and Types in Fiction and Nonfiction
Expect This!
Style
Types of Prose
Remember This!
Selections for Analysis and Oral Interpretation
Bibliography
Chapter Six — Narration
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Who Is Telling the Story? Point of View
What Is Going on Here? Action and Plot
What Sort of People Live in This Story? Character
What Are They Saying to Each Other? Dialogue
Creating Character
Where Is All This Taking Place? Setting
Cutting and Excerpting
Analyzing the Rehearsal and the Performance
Remember This!
Selections for Analysis and Oral Interpretation
Bibliography
Part 3 — Interpretation of Drama
Chapter Seven — Solo Performance of Drama
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The Nature of Drama
Why Perform Drama?
What Is the Difference Between Acting and Interpretation?
Structural Elements of a Play
Analyzing a Scene
Working a Scene
Rhythm
Style
Scenography
Putting It Together
Remember This!
Selections for Analysis and Oral Interpretation
Bibliography
Chapter Eight — Technique in Drama
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Technique in Interpretation
Properties
Embodying Characters
Coordinating Bodies and Voices of Characters
Physical Contact
Interplay of Characters
Physical Focus
The Reading Stand
Cutting and Excerpting
Analyzing the Rehearsal and the Performance
Remember This!
Selections for Analysis and Oral Interpretation
Bibliography
Part Four — Interpretation of Poetry
Chapter Nine — Language of Poetry
Expect This!
Poetic Content
Classification of Poetry
Figurative Language
Poetic Syntax
Tone Color
Titles
Analysis and Poems
Remember This!
Selections for Analysis and Oral Interpretation
Bibliography
Chapter Ten — Structure of Poetry
Expect This!
Why Study Prosody?
Kinds of Verse
The Stanza
The Line
Cadences
Rhyme
Intention and Performance
Analyzing the Rehearsal and the Performance
Remember This!
Selections for Analysis and Oral Interpretation
Bibliography
Part Five — Group Performance
Chapter Eleven — Group Performance of Literature
Expect This!
Readers Theater
Chamber Theater
Group Performance of Compiled Scripts
Other Kinds of Literature
Directing the Group Performance of Literature
Some Concluding Cautions
Analyzing the Rehearsal and the Performance
Remember This!
Selections for Analysis and Oral Interpretation
Bibliography
Appendix A — Building and Presenting a Program
Selecting Material
Unifying the Program: A Traditional Method
Using Multiple Readers, Different Types of Literature, and Multimedia
Staging the New York Times
Other Options
Adapting to the Audience
Timing
Appendix B — A Brief History of Theories of Interpretation