Oral Interp… Reading Strategies & Marking Scripts Prose, Poetry, HI, DI, Duet, Duo

Choosing Your Piece Determine the mood of the piece (informational, dramatic, humorous) you would like to perform Visit the LIBRARY or BOOK STORE often! Search for books by TOPIC, by AUTHOR, by TITLE or by TYPE of literature

Finding Your Piece Search short stories Search biographies/autobiog. Search horror/unusual stories Search the Humor section Search classic books and authors Search children’s stories Search your literature book Ask your English teacher for suggested reading

Finding Your Piece Watch rounds at speech tournaments Write down TITLES and AUTHORS that you see in performances Search by authors to find other selections you may also like Search the internet… BUT BEWARE of online texts! You cannot perform a piece that has not been published

READ… don’t skim! Take your time and really READ the collections you find Skimming does not immerse you in the story or allow you to see the possibilities Titles can be deceiving!

Marking Your Script Determine places to STRESS or PAUSE for emotion, humor, rumination, and effect Use / for pause, underline for stress Determine places to increase or decrease your VOLUME Use ^ for increase, < for quieter

Marking Your Script Determine places to increase or decrease your RATE Use italics for quicker rate, and s p a c i n g for slower rate Determine places to increase or lower your PITCH Use + for increase, ~ for lower

Marking Your Script Determine your GESTURES and BODY PLACEMENT for each character and the narrator Use space in the margins and between lines to make notes about all physicality to yourself Determine appropriate places to have PAGE TURNS Do not turn pages in the middle of thought groups

Marking Your Script Make decisions about each character, and what the author intended for them to sound like and look like Determine places to utilize certain character voice and/or accents Use your margins to make notes to yourself, and use [brackets] around the words to be used for each vocal choice

Reading Strategies Once you have your piece: Refer to your handout Choose 3 of the 25 After performing the exercises, type up a report explaining your process and what you’ve learned about your piece by using each strategy

DUE DATES Reading strategies report DUE Sept. 25 Intro should also be written by then Piece should be cut, marked, booked & timed Performance of Dramatic Prose on Mon. & Wed., Sept. 29 and Oct. 1

Marking Practice Read the story to yourself Re-read, and this time, mark the script as you see places for pausing, voices, and vocalics Get into 2 groups: guys and girls Discuss your markings and defend your decisions for the class