Tips for effective interpretive readings PDF

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Tips for effective interpretive readings Select your selection Sometimes you will be assigned something to read; at other times you will be given the opportunity to choose your own. When making this selection, keep both your time constraints and audience in mind. Make sure that what you’ll be reading is appropriate for the context and will fit into the time allotted. Plot your drama Read through your selection. Make a note of the rhythm and meter. Will you need to add voices for different characters? Where should you speed up or slow down your pace? Where should you lower or raise your voice? You may want to use different colored highlighters to help mark up the text for cues. Practice, rehearse, then do a dry run Do not do a dramatic reading on the fly. Unless you are a pro, like James Earl Jones below, you will, most likely, fall flat on your face. Practice your interpretive reading a few times so that you can master your pacing, volume and other dramatic flares. This will also help you with maintaining eye contact with your audience. When you know most of what you’re reading, you won’t have to look down and read it as much. Speak clearly Yes, you might want to change up your voice for different characters … but be careful. If you’re going to do an accent, be sure you do it respectfully and appropriately. Nothing is worse than listening to someone do an accent that they can’t do well … who thinks they’re doing it well.

Step 1: Pick the piece If it's a church service, chances are real good you will be assigned a reading; you read what's in the lectionary or what the preacher has requested. At other times, the choice is up to you. Take into consideration who the audience is, what the time limit is (sticking close to time limits is a way of making sure you're invited back), and what is appropriate for the situation. Most of all, pick a piece you can believe in. Step 2: Feel the heart Read through the passage out loud several times. Allow it to speak to you. Start to get a feel for its flow: should it slow down or pick up speed? Should you pause now and then? Should you repeat any phrases? Feel the rhythm. Are there characters you should use different voices for? Are there any gestures or movements you can use? Step 3: Own the truth Practice! Practice it out loud sitting down, standing up, and walking around. Let the words become a part of who you are. Plant them in your heart. Exaggerate the drama: have fun with it (then scale it back to what feels right). Master the pacing, gestures, vocal inflections. Get so comfortable with it that you will be able to look up from the page more often and hold eye contact with your audience. That makes the reading personal. Step 4: Share the wonder Present the reading to your audience. Let your heart speak to theirs. Allow the words come from within you and out. The inside-out process. And have faith that as you took these words into yourself, they will find fruit when you speak them out.

Select a story. Make sure it is one that your audience can appreciate with a structure that will be easy to understand. Analyze the story. In order to convey the story to your audience, you must thoroughly understand it. Read it several times. See if other writers and critics have written about the story. Act each part. Each character with dialogue has a different way of speaking. The narrator also has a speaking style. Practice reading your story, acting the part of each character. Be excited when the character is excited, pause when the character would pause. Remember that it is a dramatic reading--it is your job to be dramatic! Build toward the climax. Begin and end the story with low energy and make sure that your biggest gestures and loudest volume occur at the climax of the story. Rehearse. You should know the story well enough that you can look up from the book and make eye contact with the audience without getting lost. Practice your gestures until they seem natural. You may want to record your rehearsal to see how you look and sound. Perform the reading. Do not let nervousness make you forget all your hard work in preparing for the reading. Take a deep breath and a sip of water, then begin. Interpretive or dramatic reading Basically the reader is sharing an interpretation of an author with an audience, literally read and not memorized. 

Selections include stories, essays, speeches, raps, plays and scenes of plays.

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The reader communicates meaning and emotions to the listener, relying only on the spoken word through reading, without props, costumes, lighting or sound effects, or other devices including digital presentations, or wandering about a stage

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The reader assumes the identity of a character and portrays the dramatic, physical and emotional aspects of this character or of the situation

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External music or sound effects are to be avoided unless critical to the piece

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Stools and podiums for scripts may be used

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If there are several characters, each is identified through voice changes, gestures, and posture

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If there are more than one reader, there is no physical or eye contact between readers as in a play

Interpretive reading begins with a good understanding of the material 

The selection is focused and not too complex that the audience can identify with and understand it in one presentation

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The piece stands on its own: does it sound right? Will it be understood?

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What is the (your) emotional connection; how does it affect your reading and interpretation?

Once a reading is selected, analyze and study its sequence of thought:

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Summarize the general theme, or dominant meaning, you wish to convey

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Visualize or imagine a word picture that will help you relate your experience with the reading

What will be your introduction? Capture the audience's attention, and set the stage for the reading, point of view, context, etc. 

From what work is this selection taken? What is the title? Who is the author?

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What is the context, and role of any character?

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If two or more pieces are read, transitions should set the stage and connect the pieces

Practice reading aloud for continuity and smoothness: 

Keep your mind on the connected thought as you read

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Do the sequences of sentences build the theme or story?

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Practice reading the story out loud to a trial audience

Format your oral presentation to the audience's ability to identify with, understand and enjoy the piece Create an atmosphere or context with your voice: expressive reading uses many vocal tools. Vocal qualities show differences in characters, development of the action, and indications of emotions 

Rhythm, pace and cadence include pauses and effective spacing for words

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Pronunciation of words pays attention to the enunciation of sounds. Practice difficult words and their sounds as vowels and consonants, especially leading and ending sounds.

Hear James Earl Jones recite the American alphabet Emphasize prominent words or groups of words in order to make the meaning clear. Enunciate the final word in sentences Pay attention to punctuation (comma, question, exclamation, etc.) and expressions 

Inflection: raising and lowering pitch, as loudness and softness For example, a rising inflection is used in asking a question and expressing happiness, an expression of joyousness and life. A falling inflection expresses seriousness, completing a thought, or an indirect question.

One strategy can be to read the sentences but in place of words use only a sound as mmm or ahhhh. 

Use facial expressions and gestures, and timely, effective eye contact with the audience

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Bring out the music of the rhythm, but avoid sing-song reading. Adjust your voice in order to interpret the "music" and thought of the reading Deliberate or fast reading can convey emotion....