Student Workbook for Oral Interpretation Bos Been Writ- Ten to Fulfill a Twofold Need at Kansas State College

WOHXBOOK FOR ORAL KJTKRI'RSTATIOH OLADSS &HA!iDT GOUM 3, S., flortiawetern UniTrereity, 1934 A THESIS submitted In pwtlal fulfillment of the rog J.p©a8:it8 for U» degree of uasteh op scnaras rjeporteient of Speech nASSAS STATE COLLH0E OP AQHICOLTORE AMD APPLIED SCISI3CE 1947 Oocu- menf li LD .71 TABLE OF COBTKBTS 'W IH7R0DUCTI0H 1 MATERIALS ASD SSETBODB 4 REVEST OP LITERATURE • « 7 BOUT 13 Articulation and Enunciation, .......... 15 Pronunciation ................. 4 85 Audibility. 73 Word Moaning and Sound. 77 Words In Halation to Ideas. ........... OS Ueaning and Interpretation. 109 Suggestions for the Listeners* Unjaynent. .... 145 WMMARY, 195 AaafCWIfiWEHKHTS 199 HEFEREHCES 200 APPfflror 201 IOTRQDUCTIOE Along with the raany aocial changes which have talton place In the African home during the twentieth century is the tend- ency toward decentralisation of the fanily group ao a unit of entertainment. Instead of the entire fatally gathering around the organ in the parlor to sing songs after dinner, a later has & "date" to see tiie musical cosaedy at the local oiisema; brother dashes off to bond practice? raothor turns on the radio to listen to Wayne King; and dad goes back to the office. In the past, the raenibers of the foaily hurried thren^ their after-dinner duties In order again to gather around tlie dining room table while the laap was placed near oothor or dad and "the book" was taken from the shelf wriore It had been plaoed tlie night before. Then, through the reading of nagio words by their parents, tlie faiaily heard the next exciting chapter of "A Tale of Two Cities," or another section of the "Illlad," Tlie lamp on tlie table faded away and tlir^ugh the oral interpretation of a story, they wore carried in their ijaaglnation to Paris, to anclont Greoce, to adventure and, most important of all, to an appreciation for tlie sound of good literature. Today reading aloud is a lost art. It stops aa a faally function ao tlie children outgrow bedtlae stories. In school they are taught to sight read and tlie child who forno his words aloud is told, "Head to yourself, Jack," ."iany people today believe that tlie only criteria for good reading is fast read* ing. They scan. They do not read. They have never read aloud. J This is oil© of the jnajor reasons for the need of "reaedlol" reading in schools and colleges today. Courses In oral interpretation which are taught In raost colleges which offer speeoh work have tho MM prinary alias I to revive oral reading no an essential part of tlie educational process - a process fomorly learned In the hotao; to teach students to read, hoar, understand, and approolate good literature; to Interpret the idea or ideas of the author and to project tho oosjplote interpretation of tlie printed page for the edification and onjoynont of tho listening audience. In order to oovor these alas, several courses in the vari- ous phases of interpretation are usually offored, and since interpretation can he taught only by repeated oral performance on the port of tho students, the classes are snail. For •maple, Northwestern University offers 11 coursos in interpretation. In addition to this, half-hour classes for indi- vidual Instruction in interpretation are open to students for all four undergraduate years. The number of courses In the field of interpretation offered at other colleges picked at randan ere as follows: Ohio State University, eight coursos; University of Virginia, three oouraesj University of Indiana, six courses; State College of Washington, five courses. At Xansas State College, one two-hour course In Interpretation is offered. The classes, instead of being o .all, average froa 20 to 25 students. Tho texts written on the subject of oral Interpretation are few, and those fow assume (1) that t ie material contained therein will not bo covered in one two-hour oourse} hence the notorial la detailed, and (G) that the classes will be sriall; therefore the selections for oral classrooa practice are long and few in nuraber. The Student Workbook for Oral Interpretation bos been written to fulfill a twofold need at Kansas State College. First of all, the workbook is keyed to toaohlng larger groups. The selections for classroom practleo run as high as SO for sooe exorcises. The selections are short. Thus, by Increasing the nunjbor of praotice pleoea and by choosing selections wliioh suit the purpose but are of short duration, the number of possible student recitations per class hour are iaeroasod. It has been aentioriod above that the available toxts on oral interpretation are too detailed for a two-hour oourse. However, tsiero ore portions of a number of tests which i.,ive the essentials necessary for Intelligent interpretation. The reading of this selected material has been added to the workbook as outside reeding* The texts referred to are on the reserve list in the colloge library. The second purpose of the Student Workbook for Oral Inter- pretation fulfills a need not only at Kansas State College, but at other colleges as well, Crocicer and Elch1 states Beny teachers of Oral Heading require the student to keep a notebook aa a record of the course. One of the chief purposes of the notebook is to record the analysis of the selections studied, Crocker and iJllch, Oral Heading (Prentice-Hall, lac., !;ew York, 1947) p. 437. Tho Student Workbook fop Opal Interpretation coabinee the need fop teaching large classes in a 11 dted aciount of tine with the need fop a student record of the work !» has covered — •11 in one volume, MATERIALS ABD HSTHODS »ben the wpitor was an undergraduate student of Inter- pretation she collectod, ovor a period of foup years, nunoroua aiaeogpephed pages of aateplal not found In toxta, drills and exercises added by the Instructors, pages of loctupo notes, outlines of outside reading, dippings of nodepn vepso and prose which attracted hop attention, notos containing popsonal la» preaalona of raaterlol read, opiginal writings, and a series of partially read books on interpretation. Over a period of years, they have been niaplaced, scattered or dlsoardod. As a teaohep of interpretation the wpltep lias given lecturos, mimeographed pages, text assignments, and so forth to students of interpretation at Kansas Ptate College, There ia no reason to bollovo tliat the present students ape any nope diligent in the prosopvation of tholp work in interpretation than the writer has boon of hope. As a student, the wpitor heard the cry for a way to koep all this Material together under one covep in ease kind of a flexible book which could be added to, written in, and kept. As a teachep of intepppotatlon, she felt this saoo need. In order to fill this need, coupled with the need fop natorial suitable for presentation to large classes, the Student 'Workbook for Oral Interpretation was written. ?hna, the eoKspilatlon of all aaterial necessary for a comprehensive course In interpretation for larger groups, couplod ulth apace for all student work both inside and outside of class, is a now isethad of presentation. (See Appendix for letters froa publish- ers afctosting tho fact t'mt t;iis form has not been published*) In presenting exercises and illustrations which are short (in order to allow for r.iore student participation with large classes) the writer could not draw heavily on aaterlal already published beoauso of its length, Therefore, aost of the exercises, sotae of the poetry, narrative selections, sample lecture recitals, short stories, etc., are original and have been written expressly for this workbook. On the other hand, a good eiany selections for oral read- lng ere drawn froa tho classics. The writer believes, however, that tho student should not be instructed in classic literature alone, and for that reason short selections from modern writers, sorae well known, others unknown, are also included. ?his feeling for an appreciation of the modern ia strongly expressed by Crocker and Sioa* whose book is Just off the press, but is not emphasized in any other book in tho field of interpretation. There is danger that students fed exclusively on the classics of yesteryear will never aake the acquaintance of those of today, fete is it tiiat one does not find copies of "The Atlantio," "Harpers," •The Saturday Review of Literature," for example, w "Crocker and Hlch, Oral Heading. ( Prentice-" lall, Hew York,* 1947) p. vii. on the newsstands of our small towns? lias education so dullod the taste of our generation that v?o rind no satisfaction In current writing of quality? Do we have the Idea t'*at great literature is associated only with the past? In order to Insure acre class recitation ovon though the classes are large, ti» writer has taken tlse following steps In t?ie preparation of her workbooUt (1) Included In the workbook raost of the naterial lioro- tofore presented through lectures by Mm Instructor* (2) Presented exercises wiileh are short but pertinent to the phase of interpretation being studied* (3) Phrased outside assignaeats in such a way tiiat they are presented orally by tho students during the class hour* (4) Prepared analysis blanks which are filled in by both Instructor and that part of the student body not participating orally so that loss class tine is taken up with criticise of the reader* (5) Prepared interview oioefco whioh are filled in and discussed by tlio student mid Instructor by appointment* This esphasls on claso tiiao for oral work by tho students is based on tlio wrltor»o conviction that interpretation can be taught only by repeated oral perfonaanca by tlie student* This form of tlrio coving is presented in no text on interpretation since, as oas mentioned before, it is asswasd that classes will bo snail and the study of Interpretation will not be covered In one semester* The Student Workbook for Oral Interpretation, whioh Is presented tout ense^able in this thesis under the heading "Body", Is written entirely in the second person* Relaxation is one of the primary necessities for interpretation.

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